The Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board has had a busy year so far in 2026. Our licensing analysts and board members have worked through a substantial number of land surveyor licensure applications, issuing fourteen professional land surveyor licenses as of mid-year 2026 — four of them through comity from other states. The Board has issued 30 land surveying firm certificates of authorization so far this year.  Our investigations committee has also stayed busy, meeting every other month to review complaints submitted by members of the public, organizations, and fellow professional land surveyors alike.

Looking ahead, the Board plans to use our future updates to address common questions and issues related to professional land surveyor licensure and business compliance.  Our first installment is below.

Does Your Land Surveying Business Need a Certificate of Authorization?

As the investigation committee processes complaints, one of the most common violations we discover is the lack of proper authorization from the board to provide land surveying services in Georgia.   The Board specifically requests that all land surveyors practicing in the state please read and understand the information below:

A Certificate of Authorization (COA) is not required for individual professional land surveyors operating solely under the licensee's own name, with no separate business entity involved or implied.  All land surveying businesses must obtain a Certificate of Authorization from the GA PELS Board.  A land surveying business may or may not be a formal entity set up with the GA Secretary of State such as an LLC or corporation.  The COA requirement extends to any entity that offers land surveying services.  For example, “John Doe, PLS” is allowed to offer land surveying services under his personal name only and is not required to obtain a COA, but “John Doe Land Surveying” is considered to be an entity and is required to obtain a COA, even if he is the only person within the firm and is effectively a sole proprietor.  

In Georgia, professional land surveying services may be provided through a business entity organized or authorized to do business in the state — as long as at least one principal, officer, member, partner, agent, or employee holds an active professional land surveying license. This requirement also extends to all branch offices of local and out-of-state business entities operating within Georgia.  A COA must be obtained for each branch office, not just the home office of the business.

Any business entity practicing or offering to practice land surveying in Georgia must apply to the Board and obtain a Certificate of Authorization before providing said services to the public. See OCGA § 43-15-23.1 specifically for land surveying firms.  Note that each branch office of a business entity must obtain a separate Certificate of Authorization that identifies the professional land surveyor assigned to the office. Applications for a Certificate of Authorization can be submitted online through the Board's website at www.pels.georgia.gov.

Note: Obtaining a Certificate of Authorization from the GA PELS Board is a separate process from registering as a corporation, LLC, or partnership with the Georgia Secretary of State's Corporations Division. Businesses structured as corporations, LLCs, or partnerships that provide engineering or land surveying services in Georgia must obtain both types of registration — including a Certificate of Authorization from the Board. Sole proprietors are the only exception, since there's no legal separation between the owner and the business.

Certificates of Authorization issued by the Board expire on June 30 of even-numbered years unless renewed beforehand. Certificates can be renewed online at https://pels.georgia.gov/.  Renewal reminders are emailed to the address on file for the business.  The Board fully investigates those businesses found to be in violation of the law.

Thanks,

Dean Olson, SAMSOG Treasurer

My version of 2024 Carlson has a so-called drawing inspector, but it is useless.  Does anyone know of a way to improve the Carlson drawing inspector or am I missing something?

If you are a land surveyor, and you are truly pleased with your CAD based desktop software, I would love to hear what it is and why you like it!!

Thanks! Will Donaldson

I am looking for Plats by Trenholm. So far I have asked and have received no solid information

I hope someone knows

thank you

Taso

My question is, if the individual works on an ALTA survey that includes Table A Item 5, would the applicant get credit for 1 boundary and 1 topographic survey with that one project?

Click to Open Research Paper

Thanks

Josh Stice

joshua.stice@woolpert.com

770-866-0662

Getting a head start! We need your best plats!

SAMSOG’s entries in 2025 were outstanding and we want to see your name as a winner in 2026.

SAMSOG’s 2026 Annual Plat and Mapping Competition

This will be a juried contest. All winning entries will be exhibited at the SAMSOG Technical Seminar on January 15th-16th, 2026. Map/Plat entries should be a PDF file. No paper copies. Entrants need not be members of SAMSOG. (For winners that go to the NSPS competition, paper copies will be required.) A member of SAMSOG must sponsor the map, plat or project under consideration and their name must be so noted on the nomination form. The entry plat/map must have been completed after June 30, 2024 and may not have previously been entered in this contest. The entry may be freehand, machine drafted, or computer aided drafted. The maximum map size is 36” by 48”.

Prizes to be awarded

1^st Place $250, admission for two to the Conference Luncheon and a Certificate. Prizes will be awarded at the 2026 SAMSOG Technical Seminar Awards Luncheon.

For the plat, submit a high-resolution PDF via e-mail or provide a link for download if the file size is too large for e-mail. (The form will be posted on the SAMSOG website.) No multiple entries for the same category.

Plats may be a single drawing, or they may originate as part of a set of drawings. For the SAMSOG Contest, in addition to the plat for judging, you must provide any sheets necessary which allow the judges to evaluate the plat’s compliance with minimum technical standards as set forth by the State of Georgia and/or ALTA/NSPS as appropriate. All entries must be received by 5pm on Monday, November 10th, 2025. Use one entry form per submission. Just click on link below:

SAMSOG’s 2026 Annual Plat and Mapping Competition: Entry Form

All entries will be judged on adherence to the minimum standards as set forth by the State of Georgia and/or ALTA/NSPS as appropriate. The judges will consider quality, content, innovation in layout, interpretability, presentation, applicability to typical client or persons using this type of map, and correctness. Neatness and accuracy of scale will also be considered. The decisions of the judges are final. SAMSOG will sponsor the 1^st place winners for Subdivision, Boundary, Topographical, ALTA/NSPS and Miscellaneous Categories from this competition in the National NSPS Plat Contest and the 1^st place winners will be responsible to provide plat copies for the NSPS Submission. (Use one entry form per document submitted.)

Please send me your plats via email or send me a link to download!!!
Thanks:
Dr. Roger C. Purcell, P.E., P.L.S.

Georgia Southern University

email: rcpurcell@georgiasouthern.edu

Mail/Shipping Address (if necessary):

Dr. Roger C. Purcell, P.E., P.L.S.

105 Ashley Marsh Drive

          When the Central of Georgia Railroad consolidated with Norfolk-Southern about 1990, the former’s records, going back to 1833, were given to the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah.  The Central of Georgia provided a substantial subsidy to catalog and index the records.  There were 144,000 items, including books containing copies of the deeds for rights of way and other property, right of way plans, and index maps.  Included also were the records of several smaller railroad companies that had consolidated with the Central of Georgia in the past.  Included also are the minute books, account ledgers, and some right of way plans of the Savannah and Ogeechee Canal Company.

          Norfolk-Southern also acquired Southern Railway along with its records, and gave the records to the Atlanta History Center.  Recently, the Central of Georgia records at the Georgia Historical Society were transferred to the Atlanta History Center, and Norfolk Southern donated $500,000 for the cataloging and conservation of both sets of records.  The two sets of records cover many railroad rights of way throughout Georgia.

          On a related matter, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad records were in its headquarters on East Liberty Street in Savannah.  It was very convenient to go there to get whatever records one needed.  In the early 1980s CSX acquired Seaboard and Seaboard’s records were divided between the CSX offices in Tucker, Georgia, and Jacksonville.  I have found it almost impossible to get any of Seaboard’s records since.

          On another related matter, the location of the right of way of the Savannah and Tybee Railroad in Chatham County has been a matter of confusion.  The railroad was built about 1890.  The plan for the right of way was never recorded in the courthouse.  The deeds state the right of way extends 50 feet on each side of the center of the right of way, but the tracks were taken up many years ago, though the cuts and fills are still visible.  So there is little on the ground to indicate exactly where the right of way is located.  The Central of Georgia conveyed the center 20 feet of this right of way that is within the town of Tybee Island to the city.  Tybee Island has never really done anything with this strip, and, for the reason stated, it is difficult to determine its exact location.  The only plan I have found for the Savannah and Tybee Railroad right of way is a detailed one made in 1922 that was in the Chatham County Engineer’s Office.  This plan is not tied down to anything on the ground except the railroad tracks, which, as noted, have been taken up.  All the old records of the Chatham County Engineer’s Office were transferred to the University of Georgia and are now in the basement of the Main Library there.

          Here are some articles about the Central of Georgia Railroad and Southern Railway records that were transferred to the Atlanta History Center:

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/norfolk-southern-500k-contribution-unites-railroad-history-collections/ZUGEGQPCZFEJRBXCN7D6M6IALQ/

https://www.gpb.org/blogs/hullingers-musings/2025/10/10/one-track-destination-southern-railway-collections-delivered 

https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2025/10/11/ahc-ghs-historical-records-agreement/

Both part-time and full-time positions are available. If you have a bachelor's or higher degree in land surveying or a closely related field and would like to help with the next generation of land surveyors, this may be your opportunity.

Feel free to contact me directly for more information if you are interested or just follow the link below to find out more and apply.

Trent Turk
tturk@geolandconsulting.com

https://lnkd.in/eg6-RY5k

Moving forward, I'll be doing some additional verification for new clients to make sure they're legitimate. I hope this helps you avoid a similar situation.

Best, Scott North

I was reading through the City of Forsyth Subdivision Ordinance and came across the below information for monuments. Aside from the obvious difference in length and size of pins I thought it was interesting that they “shall be spaced so as to be within sight of each other” and “no more than 1,400 feet apart in any straight line”.

Do local municipalities have the ability to create ordinances that are more stringent than the State Requirements?