Statute Details
- Title: Land Surveyors (Exemption) Order
- Act Code: LSA1991-OR1
- Legislative Type: Subsidiary legislation (Order)
- Authorising Act: Land Surveyors Act (Chapter 156, Section 41(1))
- Citation: Land Surveyors (Exemption) Order
- Key Provisions: Section 1 (Citation); Section 2 (Exemption)
- G.N. No.: S 79/2000
- Revised Edition: 2002 RevEd (31 January 2002)
- Commencement (as shown in extract): 1 March 2000
- Current Status (per extract): Current version as at 27 March 2026
What Is This Legislation About?
The Land Surveyors (Exemption) Order is a Singapore subsidiary instrument made under the Land Surveyors Act. In plain terms, it creates a narrow exemption from the licensing/qualification requirements imposed by the Act—specifically, it exempts certain survey activities from the operation of section 10 of the Land Surveyors Act.
The Land Surveyors Act is designed to regulate who may perform land surveying work that is connected to official records, professional certification, and the accuracy of survey outputs. However, not all surveying activity has the same public impact. This Order recognises that some surveying is carried out for internal business or employment purposes and does not require the same level of professional certification. The exemption therefore targets “private/internal” surveying work that is not used to produce certified survey information for third parties.
Practically, the Order helps businesses and individuals understand when they can carry out surveying work without needing to comply with the Act’s section 10 requirements. For lawyers advising clients—developers, contractors, utilities, survey equipment operators, or in-house teams—the key is to assess whether the work falls within the two conditions in section 2(a) and 2(b).
What Are the Key Provisions?
Section 1 (Citation) is straightforward. It provides the short title by which the Order may be cited: Land Surveyors (Exemption) Order. This is standard legislative drafting and does not itself create substantive rights or obligations.
Section 2 (Exemption) is the operative provision. It states that any person who performs or executes any survey or engages in any survey work in the specified circumstances shall be exempted from section 10 of the Act. The exemption is not automatic for all surveying; it is conditional and applies only where both of the following requirements are satisfied.
Condition (a): Exclusively for the person’s own use or the employer’s use
Under section 2(a), the survey or survey work must be performed or executed exclusively for one of two purposes:
- for the person’s own use in the course of business; or
- for the use of the person’s employer where the work is performed exclusively in the course of employment.
This wording is important. The exemption is limited to internal use. If the survey work is intended to benefit third parties, or if it is carried out for mixed purposes (partly internal and partly external), the “exclusively” requirement may not be met. Lawyers should therefore examine the client’s workflow: who commissioned the survey, who will receive the outputs, and whether the outputs are used beyond the internal business/employment context.
Condition (b): No certified survey information is produced
Section 2(b) adds a second, equally critical limitation. The survey work must not involve the preparation of any field note, plan, report or other information derived from the survey that requires certification of the person (or any other person) as to its accuracy or correctness.
In other words, the exemption is designed for surveying that does not generate professional, certification-dependent outputs. If the survey results are compiled into documents that must be certified—whether by the person performing the survey or by another person—then the exemption will likely not apply.
For practitioners, this raises practical questions:
- What documents are produced (field notes, plans, reports, or other derived information)?
- Are those documents required by law or regulation to be certified?
- Is certification being sought or provided in the transaction chain?
Even if the surveying is “internal,” the exemption may fail if the work produces outputs that are treated as certified survey information. Conversely, if internal surveying is done but no certification-dependent documents are prepared, the exemption may still be available.
Scope of “any person” and “any survey work”
The exemption applies to any person—not only licensed surveyors or professionals. It also covers any survey or survey work (broadly framed). However, the breadth of the terms does not expand the exemption beyond the two conditions. The legal analysis remains conditional: the activity must fit within both (a) and (b).
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Order is very short and consists of:
- Section 1: Citation (short title).
- Section 2: Exemption from section 10 of the Land Surveyors Act, with two cumulative conditions (2(a) and 2(b)).
There are no additional parts, schedules, or detailed procedural provisions in the extract. The entire legal effect is contained in section 2’s two-part test.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
Section 2 applies to any person who performs or executes surveying work or engages in survey work. This includes individuals, employees, contractors, and businesses—provided the activity meets the exemption conditions.
In practice, the exemption is most relevant to situations where surveying is carried out for internal operational needs (for example, internal planning, construction layout support, or business-related measurements) and where the outputs are not packaged into certified survey documents intended for third-party reliance. If the work is performed in the course of employment, the exemption hinges on whether it is for the employer’s exclusive use. If performed for a business, it must be for the person’s exclusive use in the course of that business.
Why Is This Legislation Important?
This Order matters because it clarifies the boundary between regulated surveying activities and non-regulated internal surveying. For lawyers, the exemption provides a structured legal test that can be applied to real-world fact patterns—particularly where clients conduct surveying-like tasks without engaging a licensed land surveyor.
The key legal significance is that the exemption is tied to section 10 of the Land Surveyors Act. While the extract does not reproduce section 10, the exemption indicates that section 10 imposes requirements that would otherwise apply to persons performing or executing survey work. By carving out certain internal, non-certification-dependent surveying, the Order reduces compliance burdens for activities that do not implicate the public protection rationale of the Act.
From an enforcement and risk perspective, the two conditions create clear compliance checkpoints:
- Purpose test (exclusivity): Is the survey exclusively for internal use (own business or employer’s use)?
- Output/certification test: Does the work avoid producing field notes/plans/reports or other derived information that requires certification as to accuracy/correctness?
Practitioners should advise clients to document these elements—e.g., internal policies on use of survey outputs, contractual terms about who receives survey materials, and whether any certification process is triggered. Where clients intend to provide survey outputs to third parties, submit them to authorities, or use them in contexts requiring certified accuracy, the exemption may not be available and professional licensing/compliance may be required.
Related Legislation
- Land Surveyors Act (Chapter 156), in particular section 10 (referenced by the exemption) and section 41(1) (authorising the making of the Order).
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Land Surveyors (Exemption) Order for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.