2.3 Registration of Surveyors, Technologists and Technicians
Key Takeaways
- Section 9(1)(a) makes passing the qualifying examination recognised or conducted by the Council the primary route to registration as a surveyor.
- Section 9(1)(b) admits a non-Nigerian holding an accepted foreign qualification, subject to reciprocity and to satisfying the Council of sufficient practical experience.
- Section 9(7) requires a survey technologist or technician to have passed an approved examination AND to have had two years' practical experience in an office approved by the Council.
- Section 22(4) deemed certain office-holders registered at the commencement of the Act, including past and present Surveyors-General of a State and heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force survey units.
- Section 22(6) deemed a licensed surveyor whose licence had been suspended or cancelled under the old Survey Act to be subject to a striking-off direction under section 17(1).
2.3 Registration of Surveyors, Technologists and Technicians
Statutory reference: SURCON Act, Cap S18 LFN 2004, sections 9 and 22.
1. The qualifying examination route (section 9(1)(a))
A person is entitled to be registered as a surveyor if he passes the qualifying examination for registration, recognised or conducted by the Council under the Act. Note the disjunction: the Council may either conduct the examination itself - which is what the Surveyor's-cadre professional examination is - or recognise an examination conducted by someone else. That is the statutory hook for section 10, under which the Council approves institutions, courses of training and qualifications.
All registration under section 9 is expressed to be "subject to rules made under subsection (5) of section 7" - the register rules, including the fee rules that require ministerial confirmation.
2. The foreign-qualification route (section 9(1)(b) and 9(2))
This route has four conditions, all of which must be satisfied:
- The applicant is not a Nigerian. (The paragraph opens "not being a Nigerian" - a Nigerian with a foreign qualification comes through paragraph (a) or subsection (3), with the qualification assessed under section 10.)
- He holds a qualification granted outside Nigeria which is for the time being accepted by the Council.
- He is by law entitled to practise for all purposes as a surveyor in the country in which the qualification was granted.
- The proviso: that other country accords Nigerian professional surveyors the same reciprocal treatment, and he satisfies the Council that he has had sufficient practical experience as a surveyor.
Section 9(2) limits the effect: registration under section 9(1)(b) shall be granted for one year and shall be renewable on an annual basis for another two years.
3. The certificate-and-experience route (section 9(3))
"Subject as aforesaid, a person shall also be entitled to be registered as a surveyor under this Act if he holds a certificate recognised by the Council and has not less than two years' post-qualification practical experience in the profession, and he has passed an examination approved by the Council."
All three limbs are conjunctive: the recognised certificate, the two years, and the approved examination. This is the provision that describes the ordinary Nigerian pathway - an accredited qualification, pupilage, then the professional examination.
4. The universal conditions (section 9(4))
In addition to evidence of qualification, the applicant must satisfy the Council that he is of good character, has attained the age of 21 years, and has not been convicted in Nigeria or elsewhere of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty.
5. Pupil surveyors (sections 9(5) and 9(6))
Entitlement to registration as a pupil surveyor arises if the person either holds a certificate recognised by the Council or has passed an examination approved by the Council, and has not had two years' post-qualification practical experience. The entry must show that the registration is provisional, and no entry so made may be converted to full registration without the consent of the Council specified in writing in that behalf.
6. Technologists and technicians (section 9(7))
A person is entitled to be registered as a survey technologist or a survey technician if he:
- has passed an examination approved, from time to time, by the Council; and
- has had two years' practical experience as a survey technologist or survey technician in an office approved by the Council.
Both limbs are required. This is the statutory basis for the separate Technologist's-cadre and Technician's-cadre examinations listed in Parts E.3 and E.4 of the application form.
7. Transitional provisions (section 22)
When the Act repealed the Survey Act 1958 and the Survey Act 1970 and dissolved the Surveyors Licensing Board, it had to carry the existing profession across. Section 22 does that.
Section 22(4) - any licensed surveyor licensed at commencement is deemed to be registered as a surveyor under the Act. Without prejudice to that, the following categories are also deemed registered on commencement:
| Paragraph | Category deemed registered |
|---|---|
| (a) | All past and present holders of the office of Surveyor-General of a State |
| (b) | All past and present heads of the Survey Regiment of the Corps of Engineers, Nigerian Army |
| (c) | Past and present heads of the Hydrographic Department of the Nigerian Navy |
| (d) | Past and present heads of the Aerial Photographic Unit of the Nigerian Air Force |
| (e) | Persons who satisfy the exemption qualification in paragraph 3 of the Second Schedule to the 1970 Regulations, Papers I-V of Part II of the Surveyors Licensing Examinations, and have been engaged in an approved office in Nigeria for not less than five years preceding commencement |
Section 22(5) places the duty on the registrar to make the appropriate entries for anyone deemed registered under subsection (4).
Section 22(3) carries forward acts done under the old Acts with continuing effect - as to preparation and maintenance of the register, licensing and registration, and disciplinary action - treating them as done under the new Act by the Council or the Disciplinary Committee.
Sections 22(6) and (7) handle the disciplined. A licensed surveyor whose licence had been suspended or cancelled under section 19 of the Survey Act 1958 and who had surrendered it under section 21 of that Act is, from commencement, deemed subject to a direction under section 17(1) ordering the registrar to strike his name off the register. Such a person may apply to the Disciplinary Committee under section 17(8) at any time after the expiration of six months from the restoration of his licence, and the Committee may in its absolute discretion, after such enquiry as it considers desirable, allow or refuse the application.
Sections 22(8) and (9) cover those in the pipeline: notwithstanding sections 9(1) and (2), a person is entitled to registration if, before commencement, he was entitled to be licensed, or would be so entitled on completion of a course of instruction or training in which he was then engaged at an institution recognised by the Council - but a person who failed to complete that course is not entitled.
8. Interpretation worth memorising (section 23)
- "approved qualification" - any qualification for the time being approved by the Council.
- "Council" - the Surveyors Council of Nigeria established under section 1(1).
- "Minister" - the Minister charged with responsibility for matters relating to surveying.
- "surveyor" - any person registered or deemed to be registered as such under this Act.
- Section 23(2): a person is registered if his name is for the time being entered in the register.
That definition of "surveyor" is circular by design, and the circularity is the point: in Nigerian law a surveyor is not a person with a degree or with skill, but a person on the register.
A surveyor from another country holds a qualification the Council accepts and is entitled to practise for all purposes in the country of grant. What further condition does the proviso to section 9(1)(b) impose?
Under section 9(7), what must a candidate satisfy in order to be registered as a survey technologist?
Which category was NOT deemed registered at the commencement of the Act by section 22(4)?
How does section 23 of the Act define 'surveyor', and why does the definition matter?