Licensed Land Surveyors 1 LAWS OF MALAYSIA REPRINT Act 458 LICENSED LAND SURVEYORS ACT 1958 Incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968 IN COLLABORATION WITH PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BHD 2006 2 LICENSED LAND SURVEYORS ACT 1958 First enacted ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1958 (Ord. No. 11 of 1958) Revised ..................... 1991 (Act 458 w.e.f 13 April 1991) PREVIOUS REPRINT First Reprint ... ... ... ... ... 2001 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 458 LICENSED LAND SURVEYORS ACT 1958 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section 1. Short title 2. Interpretation 3. Establishment of the Board 4. Constitution of the Board 5. Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Board 6. Meetings of the Board, and quorum 7. Power to appoint Secretary, examiners and other officers 8. Register 9. Persons entitled to be registered 10. Licence to practise and renewal of licence 11. General funds of the Board, accounts and expenses 12. Arrangements with reciprocating territories 13. Powers of a licensed land surveyor 14. Deposit of plans 15. Approval of title surveys 16. Correction of errors 17. Disciplinary powers of the Board 18. Appeal to the High Court 19. Illegal practice 20. Existing licensed surveyors 21. Regulations 22. Repeal SCHEDULE 4 Laws of Malaysia ACT 458 Licensed Land Surveyors 5 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 458 LICENSED LAND SURVEYORS ACT 1958 An Act relating to the licensing and control of land surveyors and for matters connected therewith. [1 May 1958, L.N. 131/1958] Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Licensed Land Surveyors Act 1958. Interpretation 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-- "Board" means the Land Surveyors Board established under section 3; "boundary mark" means any mark authorized by law for the purpose of marking boundaries; "Director General of Survey" means the officer performing the duties of the head of the Survey Department of the States of Peninsular Malaysia; "Government surveyor" means any public officer of Malaysia who is authorized by the Director General of Survey to undertake any title survey; "licence to practise" means a licence to practise as a licensed land surveyor issued under section 10; "licensed land surveyor" means a person whose name has been placed upon the Register and to whom a licence to practise has been issued by the Board; 6 Laws of Malaysia ACT 458 "member" means a member of the Board; "Minister" means the Minister charged with the responsibility for lands; "reciprocating territory" means any country or territory within the Commonwealth with which arrangements may have been made by the Board with the approval of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the recognition of the status of land surveyors; "Register"means the register of licensed land surveyors kept in accordance with section 8; "Secretary"means the person appointed as such under section 7; "survey plan" means a plan signed by a licensed land surveyor recording the work carried out by him on a title survey, or a plan signed by an officer authorized by the Director General of Survey to do so and recording the work of a Government surveyor; "title survey" means any survey which by any written law is required for the purpose of or in connection with the registration of any title to land or any assurance or instrument affecting or purporting to affect title to land, and includes in connection therewith-- (a) the delimitation of the boundaries of any land whether privately owned or not; (b) the emplacement, replacement and removal of boundary marks; (c) surveys required for the correct inter-relation of boundaries or of boundary marks; and (d) the making and recording of all measurements and c a l c u l a t i o n s relevant thereto and the drawing and reproduction of plans therefrom. Establishment of the Board 3. (1) There shall be established a board to be called the Land Surveyors Board which shall have an office in Peninsular Malaysia. (2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and shall have a common seal. Licensed Land Surveyors 7 Constitution of the Board 4. (1) The Board shall consist of-- (a) the Director General of Survey; (b) the Deputy Director General of Survey; (c) a Director of Survey, appointed by the Minister; and (d) three licensed land surveyors who are registered under section 9 and resident and practising in the States of Peninsular Malaysia, appointed by the Minister. (2) The members appointed under paragraphs (1)(c) and (d) shall hold office for three years or for such shorter period as the Minister may specify and shall be eligible for reappointment. Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Board 5. (1) The Director General of Survey shall be Chairman of the Board and the Deputy Director General of Survey shall be the Deputy Chairman thereof. (2) The Chairman, if present, or in his absence the Deputy Chairman, shall preside at meetings of the Board. In the absence of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman the members present at the meeting of the Board shall elect one of themselves to act as Chairman of the meeting. Meetings of the Board, and quorum 6. (1) The Board shall meet at such times and such places as the Chairman may appoint. (2) The quorum at all meetings of the Board shall be four members present. (3) The member presiding at any meeting of the Board shall have an original vote and also, if upon any question the votes shall be evenly divided, a casting vote. (4) The Board may make rules for the conduct of its business. 8 Laws of Malaysia ACT 458 Power to appoint Secretary, examiners and other officers 7. (1) The Board may appoint a Secretary, examiners and such other officers as from time to time shall appear to be necessary for the discharge of the functions of the Board. (2) The Secretary shall not be a member of the Board and shall not have any vote in its deliberations. Register 8. (1) The Board shall cause a Register to be kept which shall contain the names, addresses and qualifications of all licensed land surveyors, and all such other matters as may be prescribed.In the event of the cancellation or suspension of any licence to practise, the Board shall cause an entry thereof to be made in the Register. (2) The Register shall be maintained and kept by the Secretary at the office of the Board and shall be open to inspection by any person on payment of the prescribed fee. (3) The Board shall, before the thirty-first March in each year, publish in the Gazette a list of the names of all licensed land surveyors and shall within six weeks of the issue, cancellation or suspension of any licence to practise publish a notice thereof in the Gazette. (4) A copy of any entry in the Register purporting to be certified by the Chairman or Secretary as a true copy, shall in all proceedings whatsoever be prima facie evidence that the person named therein is a licensed land surveyor and possesses the qualifications mentioned therein or that his licence has been cancelled or suspended. (5) The Board shall remove or amend any entry in the Register which is proved to its satisfaction to have been fraudulently procured or made, or to be incorrect. (6) The Secretary shall remove from the Register the name of any person, not being a Government surveyor, whose licence to practise has not been renewed before the first day of February in any year. Licensed Land Surveyors 9 (7) The Board may, if it thinks fit, restore to the Register any name removed therefrom with or without the payment of the prescribed fees. Persons entitled to be registered 9. (1) Subject to this Act every person shall be entitled to have his name placed upon the Register upon making application to the Board and proving to the satisfaction of the Board that-- (a) he has attained the age of twenty-one years and is of good character; (b) (i) h e has obtained the prescribed certificate or competency issued by the Board after passing the prescribed examinations; or (ii) he has passed a professional examination recognized by the Board as carrying exemption from the Board's examinations and has passed such further examination and has completed such further period of training in the States of Peninsular Malaysia or the Republic of Singapore as the Board may prescribe; (c) he has made a declaration in the form and manner prescribed in the Schedule; (d) he has paid the prescribed registration fee; and (e) he has not had his name struck off the register and is not under suspension from practice under section 16 or 17. (2) The name of any Government surveyor who is otherwise eligible for registration under this section may be placed upon the Register without payment of the prescribed registration fee. Licence to practise and renewal of licence 10. (1) The Board shall issue to each person other than a Government Surveyor, registered in accordance with section 9 upon application by such person in the prescribed form and on payment of the prescribed fee a licence to practise in the prescribed form, valid for the year of registration: Provided that no such licence shall be issued to any such person who is not a citizen without the approval of the Minister. 10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 458 (2) Every such person intending to continue to practise as a licensed land surveyor thereafter shall apply annually, in the prescribed manner for a licence to practise and shall pay the prescribed fee for such licence. (3) The licence to practise shall subject to the proviso to subsection (1) be issued by the Secretary and shall be in force from the date of issue to the end of the year. Any licence to practise taken out during the month of January shall be deemed to have been in force from the first day of that month. (4) The licence to practise shall remain the property of the Board and shall be returned to the Board when so required by the Board. General funds of the Board, accounts and expenses 11. (1) All fees and fines payable under this Act and such other sums as may be paid to the Board shall be credited to the general funds of the Board. (2) There shall be paid from the funds of the Board to the members such fees for attendance and such reasonable travelling expenses and subsistence allowances as may from time to time be approved by the Minister. (3) All salaries, remunerations, allowances and other expenses incurred by the Board in the discharge of its functions may be paid out of the general funds of the Board. (4) The accounts of the Board shall be audited annually by an auditor appointed by the Board with the approval of the Minister. The accounts, together with the auditor's report, shall be submitted to the Minister. Arrangements with reciprocating territories 12. (1) The Board may enter into arrangements with the Surveyors Board or other competent authority of a reciprocating territory for the recognition of the status of any person authorized by such Board or other authority to practise as a licensed land surveyor in such reciprocating territory and may prescribe what additional evidence of character and competency must be produced before such person may be licensed under this Act. Licensed Land Surveyors 11 (2) The Board may enter into arrangements with the Surveyors Board or other competent authority in a reciprocating territory for the setting and acceptance of joint papers in professional subjects under the examination rules prescribed by the Board. Powers of a licensed land surveyor 13. (1) Subject to this Act a licensed land surveyor whose name appears on the Register and who has paid the annual licence fee in respect of the current year, shall be entitled to practise his profession as a land surveyor and shall be authorized to undertake title surveys. (2) Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of the Director General of Survey to employ Government surveyors, whether licensed land surveyors or not, on any type of title survey whatsoever. (3) Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of any person, not being a licensed land surveyor to undertake surveys other than title surveys. (4) A licensed land surveyor and his assistants may, for the purpose of carrying out a title survey, at any reasonable time during the hours of daylight enter upon all lands which he is employed to survey, and upon any neighbouring lands and any buildings on such lands and may emplace any boundary mark in or upon such lands and may dig up any ground for the purpose of emplacing such boundary mark and may cut down and remove any timber or other growth which may obstruct any survey line or any boundary causing as little damage as possible thereby: