Complaints

If you have a concern about a particular Alberta Land Surveyor, please contact the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association. We will do our best to help answer your questions and address your concerns.

There may be some situations in which you wish to file a formal complaint against an Alberta Land Surveyor. We encourage you to talk to the Alberta Land Surveyor first before filing a formal complaint as many situations can be resolved by speaking with the Alberta Land Surveyor in question.

How to Make a Complaint

A complaint can be made orally or in writing. The Association prefers that complaints be made in writing so that it is clear what has happened and what the nature of the complaint is. Your letter should state that you are making a formal complaint and whether you are accusing the practitioner of unskilled practice or unprofessional conduct or both. Please describe in as much detail as you can what has happened and what steps you have taken, if any, to try to resolve the matter. Please note that formal complaints may be made against any Alberta Land Surveyor or surveyor’s corporation or any Alberta Land Surveyor that has retired within the past 12 months.

Complaints are to be addressed to the Registrar.

Mediation

When the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association receives a complaint, the Registrar will contact the Alberta Land Surveyor involved to inform him or her that a complaint has been received. The Registrar will then try to determine if mediation is possible.

Investigation 

If both parties do not agree to mediation or mediation does not work, the Registrar must forward the complaint to the Chairman of the Discipline Committee. The Chairman of the Discipline Committee must investigate the complaint and the investigation usually involves the Chairman speaking to both the Alberta Land Surveyor and the complainant and, quite often, other affected parties as well.

The Chairman of the Discipline Committee must determine whether or not the complaint is frivolous or vexatious or whether there is enough evidence for the complaint to proceed to a formal hearing. If the Chairman of the Discipline Committee decides that the complaint is not to go forward to a formal hearing, then the complainant has the right to appeal the Chairman’s decision to the entire Discipline Committee. The complainant may appeal the Discipline Committee Chairman’s decision but the appeal must be received by the Association within 30 days of the complainant receiving the notice that the complaint is not proceeding to a formal hearing.

Hearing 

If the complaint does proceed to a formal hearing, the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association will draft the charges and the Notice of Hearing. As the complainant, you will likely be asked to appear as a witness and testify under oath. A panel of the Discipline Committee will hear all evidence presented before it and render a decision. The Discipline Committee has the authority to make an order against a practitioner if he is found guilty of unskilled practice or unprofessional conduct or both. The order can range from a reprimand to a suspension of the practitioner’s license. Please note that the Discipline Committee does not have the authority to order the practitioner to compensate the complainant for any damages that may have occurred.

Decision

The Alberta Land Surveyor may appeal the Discipline Committee’s decision to the Council of the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association and then to the Alberta Court of Appeal. Neither the complainant nor the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association has the right to appeal the Discipline Committee’s decision.

Once a decision is rendered, the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association shall inform the complainant of the Discipline Committee’s Findings and Order.

Other

A landowner may disagree with an Alberta Land Surveyor as to the location of a boundary but that does not mean that the practitioner is unskilled or that a complaint should be filed. Instead, ask the Alberta Land Surveyor how he determined the boundary and if you are still not satisfied, it may be necessary to hire another Alberta Land Surveyor for a second opinion.

The complaints process is set out in the Land Surveyors Act and the regulation. If you have any questions about the discipline process, please contact the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association.

Speak with the Alberta Land Surveyor first.

If your concern is not resolved, please contact Registrar Dave McWilliam at:

alsaregistrar@shaw.ca