I'm interested in contracting myself out to do gps work for registered surveyors. My question is it legal and is there a market?

Assuming that you're not a licensed land surveyor yourself, the legality will probably depend upon the specific services offered and the jurisdiction in which they are offered.

In California, it would be illegal for an unlicensed individual to provide or offer to provide GPS measurement results (e.g., adjusted coordinates) for surveying purposes. It might be legal to provide raw GPS data files if the client furnished detailed instructions regarding which stations to occupy and when to occupy them, but this is a gray area and subject to challenge.

As for the market, survey-grade GPS equipment is in such widespread use that it's easy to find a licensed subcontractor to provide results. This would leave you competing largely on the basis of price -- a difficult business model to successfully pursue -- and would render you an attractive target for licensure violation complaints.


Modified By Jim Frame on 7/15/2001 at 10:26 AM