Part C, Section 3:  Protocol for Entry onto Property

Notwithstanding Section 16 of the Surveys Act, prior to entering a property an ALS and/or their authorized staff are expected to make a reasonable effort to contact the landowner/occupant of any property they need to pass over or through while performing a survey.

Section 16 of the Surveys Act applies only for the purpose of measuring along and ascertaining the bearings of any line or boundary and does not apply to other types of work done by land surveyors.

If contact with the landowner or occupant is not possible, a calling card should be left behind to inform the landowner/occupant that the ALS and/or their authorized staff have passed over or through their property while performing a survey. The calling card should be left where it may easily be found by the landowner.

As an ALS may not be on site with a field crew, it is important to train field staff to minimize and mitigate potential property damage. The ALS is responsible for any damage caused while performing the survey.

Calling cards for rural and urban property are available from the ALSA website. The text of the calling cards and commitment to property damage mitigation for field staff are provided in the Essential Resources for Alberta Land Surveyors document.

An ALS must train field staff to take all reasonable steps to protect the privacy of the landowner or occupant even if there is no property damage.

Field staff must identify the Alberta Land Surveyor and the surveyor’s corporation they are working for when asked by the landowner or occupant.

Section 16 of the Surveys Act should not be the first line of defence when communicating with the landowner or occupant. Landowners and occupants are concerned about their privacy and the protection of their property and are usually not familiar with how land surveys are conducted and why it is necessary to access a property that is not the subject of the survey.
 
* Proposed changes shown in red.
 

Rationale

The ALSA office is getting more complaints (some formal discipline complaints; others informal complaints) from landowners about field crews coming onto their properties and invading their privacy.

The existing code of conduct for entry onto property focuses on damage to property but does not address privacy issues.

Landowners are asking the ALSA to address these issues with all practitioners so other landowners do not have to deal with the same fears/scare that they encountered.
 

Deadline

The deadline for responses is Tuesday October 10, 2023. Responses may be submitted to Executive Director Brian Munday at munday@alsa.ab.ca.