New Technology for a New Century
International Conference 
FIG Working Week 2001, Seoul, Korea 6–11 May 2001

Abstracts

Key words: surveying qualifications, non-geodetic surveying.

In an era that is characterized worldwide by free market rules, unrestricted movement of professionals and globalization accompanied by high qualifications and expertise requirements, professional names and definitions have lost their original meanings and contents. In modern times under the old professional names a large number of professional activities are understood, which are associated traditionally with the specific profession. Indeed professional names nowadays represent an umbrella-name underneath of which specific activities are covered or assigned to.

Surveying being one of the oldest technical disciplines is no exception to this rule. But in addition to the general features that are imposed to all professions worldwide, the surveying profession is suffering from some specific and endogenous problems. Surveying in the beginning of the 21st century is confronted with two quaking problems:

1. The impact of new technological developments;
2. The activities belonging and associated with the surveying profession;

In regard to the second problem, one may divide the surveying activities into two characteristic parts: The geodetic and the non-geodetic activities. While there is full acceptance and knowledge about the geodetic activities worldwide, this is not the case for the non-geodetic activities. However, non-geodetic surveying activities is a profession's domain, where surveyors managed to become successful professionals with high level qualifications standards verified by the wide acceptance they have found by the objective and final accreditation body, the free market, whether national or international. By doing so non-geodetic surveyors managed to overcome the burdens from which the profession is currently suffering from. Non-geodetic surveyors have indeed "broaden the scope of our activities" in the words of the current FIG President R. W. Foster and have paved the way for a successful market access of a highly qualified, highly respected surveying professional.

In this paper an effort has been made to give an overview of the most common non-geodetic activities, which are either not represented or are underrepresented in FIG, including the specific educational and / or qualification requirements associated with them and which are associated with a title, i.e. quantity surveyor. Individual activities independent and separated of a surveying professional title are not discussed here due to their large number and scattered nature. The surveying professional titles mentioned here are:

1. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYOR
2. BUILDING SURVEYOR
3. BUILDING ENGINEERING SERVICES SURVEYOR
4. CIVIL ENGINEERING SURVEYOR
5. CONSTRUCTION SURVEYOR
6. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER
7. ESTATES SURVEYOR
8. FACILITY MANAGER
9. MINING SURVEYOR
10. MUNICIPAL SURVEYOR
11. TOWN PLANNING SURVEYOR
12. QUANTITY SURVEYOR
13. RURAL AND SURVEYING ENGINEER

Globalization makes it imperative to know that under the term surveying a great number and variety of activities are included and understood. The surveying profession as a whole should be aware of this reality and what counts more to make use of it for the benefit of the profession as a whole worldwide. Such understanding and dynamic acceptance of the whole spectrum of surveying activities will help solve the endogenous problems of the profession, raise the confidence and image of the surveyors in the technical world and the society and provide competence and competitiveness to the individual surveyor. FIG has its leading role in this endeavor.

CONTACT

Dr Basil Psarianos, Assoc. Professor
President of European Group of Surveyors
National Technical University of Athens
Dept. of Rural and Surveying Engineering
9 Hiroon Polytechniou Str.
GR-15780 Athens
GREECE
E-mail: psari@survey.ntua.gr 

24 March 2001

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