Association of Nova Scotia Land Surveyors


APPEALS

Pursuant to Land Surveyors Regulations made under subsection 12(1) of the Land Surveyors Act S.N.S. 2010, c. 38 O.I.C. 2013-337 (September 10, 2013), N.S. Reg. 308/2013 as amended by O.I.C. 2014-58 (February 25, 2014), N.S. Reg. 32/2014), the Association must grant any applicant for registration the right to an appeal.  Please refer to Procedure for Appeal to the ANSLS Registration Appeal Committee.

There are three requirements for registration when a candidate may initiate an appeal.  These relate to articles, examinations and the student project.  The specific information related to each of the above is summarized below.

The following documents provide additional information on the internal review process:

Internal reviews of registration decisions                                Summary of the Internal Review Process

 

Appeals Process - Articles

An individual whose articles are refused by the Board, within 30 days of receiving a written notice of refusal and the reasons for it, may send a written request for an appeal to the Executive Director.  The request should set out the reasons , in the individual’s opinion, why the articles should be approved.  The Council must, within 30 days after receipt of a request, forward the matter to the Registration Appeals Committee for a review of the articles.   

P
lease refer to the Registration Appeal Committee Terms of Reference.


An individual who requests a review must be notified in writing by the Association of the date, place, and time that the Registration Appeals Committee will review the articles and is entitled to appear and make representations to the Council when it reviews the articles. The date for the review will be no later than 60 days after the date upon which the Committee received the request from Council.
 

Please refer to additional information regarding articles.

 

Appeal Process - Examinations

Final marks are sent in writing to the candidates within 30 days from the day the candidate wrote the exam.  The candidates then have 30 days from the time of receiving the results to request an appeal.   Each appeal is sent to the Executive Director who notifies the Registration Appeal Committee, the members of which were not on the original Board sub-group who scored the exam.  These Registration Appeal Committee members will independently mark the exams using the provided answer key.  The Chair of the Registration Appeal Committee will be designated as the Lead Marker.  Once the appeal is marked, the results are provided to a lead marker who is responsible for compiling the marks into a spreadsheet.

The final mark of the exam will be determined as follows:

• If both markers grade the exam less than 70%, the final mark is the average from the two markers.
• If both markers grade the exam at 70% or greater, the final mark is the average from the two markers.
• If one marker passes the exam and one fails the exam, the lead marker will independently mark the exam.

The exam passes if two out of three markers pass the exam and the average mark of the three markers is 70% or greater.  Once the appeal period is over, the ANSLS Executive Director sends all the candidates who fail a breakdown of their marks within 30 days. 

Please refer to additional information regarding examinations. 

 

Appeal Process – Survey Project

After completion of any of the three reviews the Candidate can, within 30 days, appeal the decision(s) of the special examiners.  At this point the process will cease and the Executive Director will notify the Registration Appeal Committee, the members of which were not involved in the original decisions.  Within 60 days of notification, the Registration Appeal Committee members will review the entire project up to the disputed point in the review.  The Registration Appeal Committee will follow the same review process as the original examiners and rate the disputed aspects of the Survey Project.

The Registration Appeal Committee can:

        (a)   Agree with the disputed ratings of the original examiners and order the process to continue. 
      (b)
 Disagree with any or all of the disputed ratings of the original examiners and order the process to continue with consideration to the Registration Appeal Committee decisions with respect to the disputed ratings.

If there are further disputes with the original examiners ratings after the process continues the same Registration Appeal Committee will review the Survey Project from that point in the process.  The Registration Appeal Committee will either agree or disagree with the original examiners with the same results as above.   All decisions of the Registration Appeal Committee, at any point in the review process, are final. 

Please refer to additional information regarding
the student project.

Survey Project Rating Sheet                            Survey Project Evaluation Guide

 

Disposition by Registration Appeal Committee

The Registration Appeal Committee must do 1 of the following upon completion of the registration appeal process:

 1)
                 (a)    confirm the original decision of the Board;
                 (b)    vary the original decision of the Board; 
                 (c)    dismiss the original decision of the Board.

 2)  
The Registration Appeal Committee must give its decision, with reasons, in writing within 30 days. 

 3)   
A decision of the Registration Appeal Committee is final.

 4)    The Registration Appeal Committee must send a copy of its written decision to all of the following parties:
        
        (a)    the appellant, by registered mail or personal service;
                (b)    the Association, by regular mail or personal service.