AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 11, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

96

Introduced by Assembly Member Hoover

February 13, 2026

An act to amend Sections 8767, 8773, and 8773.2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to land surveyors.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: yes

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law establishes a record of survey review process, which requires a county surveyor to examine a record of survey for compliance with specified requirements, and authorizes the county surveyor to charge a reasonable fee for examining a record of survey, as provided, and not to exceed the cost of the service. Existing law requires that, if a record of survey complies with the specified requirements, the county surveyor must endorse a statement of examination on the record of survey and present it to the county recorder for filing. Existing law requires that, if the record of survey does not comply with the above requirements, the county surveyor must return it to the person who presented it with a written statement of the changes necessary to make it conform.

This bill would, instead, require the county surveyor to return the record of survey to the licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer who presented it with a written statement of the changes necessary to make it conform.

Existing law requires every person authorized to practice land surveying, if a corner or an accessory thereto, as specified, is found, set, reset, or used as control in any survey, to stamp with their seal and file with the county surveyor or engineer of the county where the corner is situated a written record of the establishment or restoration of the corner or accessory, except as specified.

This bill would expand those provisions to also include every licensed civil engineer, would delete the option of filing the survey with the county engineer, and would make conforming changes.

Existing law requires a corner record, as defined, to be examined for compliance with specified provisions, including that a corner record be signed and sealed by a land surveyor or civil engineer, as specified. Existing law requires that a monument set by a licensed land surveyor or registered civil engineer be permanently and visibly marked or tagged with the licensee’s certificate number, as specified.

This bill would revise the above corner record examination provisions to delete the authority for the county engineer to examine the corner record, and would require a county surveyor, when examining a corner record for compliance, to include compliance with specified monument identification and tagging requirements, as specified. By requiring a higher level of service from a county surveyor, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 8767 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

8767.

If the county surveyor finds that the record of survey complies with the examination in Section 8766, the county surveyor shall endorse a statement on it of their examination and shall present it to the county recorder for filing. Otherwise, the county surveyor shall return it to the licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer who presented it, together with a written statement of the changes necessary to make it conform to the requirements of Section 8766. The licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer submitting the record of survey may then make the agreed changes and note those matters which cannot be agreed upon in accordance with the provisions of Section 8768 and shall resubmit the record of survey within 60 days, or within the time as may be mutually agreed upon by the licensed surveyor or licensed engineer and the county surveyor, to the county surveyor for filing pursuant to Section 8768.

SEC. 2.

Section 8773 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

8773.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 8773.4, a person authorized to practice land surveying in this state or a person licensed to practice as a civil engineer in this state shall complete, sign, stamp with their seal, and file with the county surveyor of the county where the corners are situated, a written record of corner establishment or restoration to be known as a “corner record” for every corner established by the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States, except “lost corners,” as defined by the Manual of Surveying Instructions (2009), published by the federal Bureau of Land Management and every accessory to such corner which is found, set, reset, or used as control in any survey by such authorized person.

(b) After the establishment of a lost corner, as defined by the Manual of Surveying Instructions (2009), published by the federal Bureau of Land Management a record of survey shall be filed as set forth in Section 8764.

(c) Any person authorized to practice land surveying in this state or any person licensed to practice as a civil engineer in this state may file such corner record for any property corners, property controlling corners, reference monuments, or accessories to a property corner.

SEC. 3.

Section 8773.2 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

8773.2.

(a) A “corner record” submitted to the county surveyor shall be examined by the county surveyor for compliance with subdivision (d) of Section 8765 and Sections 8772, 8773, 8773.1, and 8773.4, endorsed with a statement of their examination, and filed with the county surveyor or returned to the submitting party within 20 working days after receipt.

(b) In the event the submitted “corner record” fails to comply with the examination criteria of subdivision (a), the county surveyor shall return it to the licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer who submitted it together with a written statement of the changes necessary to make it conform to the requirements of subdivision (a). The licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer submitting the corner record may then make the agreed changes in compliance with subdivision (a) and note those matters that cannot be agreed upon in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (c), and shall resubmit the corner record within 60 days, or within the time as may be mutually agreed upon by the licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer and the county surveyor, to the county surveyor for filing pursuant to subdivision (c). The county surveyor shall file the corner record within 10 working days after receipt of the resubmission.

(c) If the matters appearing on the corner record cannot be agreed upon by the licensed land surveyor or the licensed civil engineer and the county surveyor within 10 working days after the licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer resubmits and requests the corner record be filed without further change, an explanation of the differences shall be noted on the corner record and it shall be submitted to and filed by the county surveyor. The licensed land surveyor or licensed civil engineer filing the corner record shall attempt to reach agreement with the county surveyor regarding the language for the explanation of the differences. If they cannot agree on the language explaining the differences, then both shall add a notation on the corner record explaining the differences. The explanation of the differences shall be sufficiently specific to identify the factual basis for the differences.

(d) The corner record filed with the county surveyor of any county shall be securely fastened by the county surveyor into a suitable book provided for that purpose.

(e) A charge for examining, indexing, and filing the corner record may be collected by the county surveyor, not to exceed the amount required for the recording of a deed.

(f) If the preparer of the corner record provides a postage-paid, self-addressed envelope or postcard with the filing of the corner record, the county surveyor shall return the postage-paid, self-addressed envelope or postcard to the preparer of the corner record with the filing data within 20 days of final filing. For the purposes of this subdivision, “filing data” includes the date, book or volume, and the page at which the corner record is filed by the county surveyor. This subdivision shall not apply to a county surveyor’s office that maintains an electronic database of filed corner records that is accessible to the public by reference to the preparer’s license number.

SEC. 4.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.