Definition of Surveyor for the Isco-88

CONFIDENTIAL TO RECIPIENT

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF GEOMETERS (FIG) REPORT

DEFINITION OF “SURVEYOR” FOR THE ISCO-88

Frances Plimmer

School of the Built Environment

University of Glamorgan

______

BACKGROUND

It is evident that there exists a large degree of ignorance within government and other organisations as to the range of surveyors’ skills and activities. Yet, land and buildings are a fundamental requirement to all physical human activities (housing, manufacturing, retailing, leisure etc.) and the need to ensure that such a basic resource is appropriately and successfully managed cannot be underestimated.

This is the work of ‘surveyors’ and yet if national governments and international organisations are not made aware of this fact, there is a danger that the skills of surveyors will be overlooked and the work of managing the world’s land and buildings will go to others less qualified with the potential that such limited, valuable and irreplaceable resources will not be managed efficiently and effectively. It is, therefore, vital that comprehensive, up-to-date and reliable information is presented to such organisations so that the roles of surveyors within the international community and the benefits which result from using surveying skills are recognised, for the benefit of the global community.

BRIEF

The aims of this report are:

to produce a model definition of ‘surveyor’;
to classify ‘surveyor’ (as defined) for the purposes of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88), the classification of which is based on occupations (refer later); and
to classify ‘surveyor (as defined) for the purposes of the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), the classification of which is based on activities (refer later).

Subject to funding, it is the intention to broadening the research to adapt the definition of ‘surveyor’ for other major international classifications, so that the case for employing surveyors can be made to all international organisations which require property-based skills.

STRUCTURE

This report begins (at page 3) with the established International Federation of Geometers’ (FIG) definition of the ‘surveyor’ which is developed further (pages 4 and 5) for the purposes of this report to reflect both the current role of surveyors in the 1990s and the international context in which the relevant classifications have been established.

Each of the international classifications for ISCO-88 and ISIC are explained (beginning at pages 6 and 18 respectively), together with the way the surveyor and surveying activities are current included.

The amended definition of ‘surveyor’ is then adapted for each of the two international classifications, with indications made (in bold type) of proposed amendments to the existing text of the current ISC0-88 and ISIC documents.

The report concludes (page 30) with a recommendations as to further progress.

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF GEOMETERS’ (FIG) DEFINITION OF THE ‘SURVEYOR’

At its General Assembly in Helsinki, Finland on 11 June 1990, FIG adopted the following definition of the surveyors’ activities.

Practice of the surveyor’s profession may involve one or more of the following activities which may occur either on, above or below the surface of the land or the sea and may be carried out in association with other professionals.

The determination of the size and shape of the earth and the measurement of all data needed to define the size position, shape and contour of any part of the earth’s surface.
The positioning of objects in space and the positioning and monitoring of physical features, structures and engineering works on, above or below the surface of the earth.
The determination of the position of the boundaries of public or private land, including national and international boundaries, and the registration of those lands with the appropriate authorities.
The design, establishment and administration of land and geographic information systems and the collection, storage, analysis and management of data within those systems.
The study of the natural and social environment, the measurement of land and marine resources and the use of the data in the planning of development in urban, rural and regional areas.
The planning, development and redevelopment of property, whether urban or rural and whether land or buildings.
The assessment of value and the management of property, whether urban or rural and whether land or buildings.
The planning, measurement and management of construction works, including the estimation of costs.
The production of plans, maps, files, charts and reports.

In the application of the foregoing activities surveyors take into account the relevant legal, economic, environmental and social aspects affecting each project.

(FIG, 1991 p. 9)

THE ‘SURVEYOR’REDEFINED

It is evident that the above definition focuses on the work of the ‘land surveyor’, and while this is an extremely important aspect of the work of the surveyor, the emphasis within the definition places an unreasonable bias on such work when considering the variety of work undertaken by surveyors world-wide.

There is, therefore, a need to balance out the activities of the other surveyors by expanding the relevant definitions which apply to such surveyors as building surveyors and general practice surveyors, in order to define their activities to the greater degree than at present and thereby to reflect the range of those activities more accurately and fully in the classifications of the international organisations.

The following is, therefore, suggested as a revised definition of ‘surveyor’ and surveying activities, based on the original FIG definition, with deletions from the original text struck out and additions displayed in bold type:

A surveyor is a professional person with the academic qualifications and technical expertise to practice the science of measurement; to assemble and assess land and geographic related information; to use that information for the purpose of planning and implementing the efficient administration of the land, the sea and structures thereon; and to instigate the advancement and development of such practices, to effectively manage the construction process and the maintenance of landed assets, to manage the use, transfer, disposal, development and redevelopment of land and buildingsand to advise interested parties on all financial aspects of landed property.

The determination of the size and shape of the earth and the measurement of all data needed to define the size position, shape and contour of any part of the earth’s surface.
The positioning of objects in space and the positioning and monitoring of physical features, structures and engineering works on, above or below the surface of the earth.
The determination of the position of the boundaries of public or private land, including national and international boundaries, and the registration of those lands with the appropriate authorities.
The design, establishment and administration of land and geographic information systems and the collection, storage, analysis and management of data within those systems.
The study of the natural and social environment, the measurement and management of land and marine resources and the use of the data in the planning of development in urban, rural and regional areas.
The planning and implementation of the use, development and redevelopment of the environment, whether urban or rural and whether land or buildings.
The assessment of value for all purposes, including the taxation of and the investment in landed property and the management of property throughout its life, whether urban or rural and whether land or buildings including chattels, plant and machinery and livestock.
The planning, measurement and management of the development and construction worksprocess, including the estimation of costs procurement of materials and labour and the control of budgets.
The planning and implementation of the repair, maintenance and refurbishment of existing buildings.
The production of plans, maps, files, charts, management systems, valuations and reports.

In the application of the foregoing activities surveyors take into account the relevant legal, economic, environmental financial, managerial, and social and technical aspects affecting each project.

It can be seen that the original categories 6 - 8 have been augmented, category 9 replaced with a description of the work of the building surveyor (generally) and an additional category 10, which replaces category 9. The original FIG definition has been not therefore been radically altered. There has merely been an extension made to reflect aspects of surveyors’ work which had not previously been mentioned or which had previously been understated.

This limited alteration is considered to be more acceptable at the present time than a replacement of the original with a radically restructured version.

In order to facilitate identification of ‘surveyors’, it is useful to point out that surveyors may add a descriptor to their ‘surveyor’ title. It is, therefore, anticipated that the following list of titles (while not exhaustive) are indicators of the variety and range of surveyors’ roles:

Building Surveyor

Development Surveyor

General Practice Surveyor

Investment Surveyor

Land Surveyor

Management Surveyor

Minerals Surveyor

Planning Surveyor

Rural Surveyor

Quantity Surveyor

Valuation Surveyor

Based on this revised definition, the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) was investigated to consider the way surveyors are currently represented and the way in which the current representation should be changed.

The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) is considered first.

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS

The International Standard Classification of Occupations (which was adopted by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians as ISCO-88) provides a system for classifying and aggregating occupational information obtained by means of statistical surveys and is one of the standards of international labour statistics.

AIMS

The ISCO-88 has three main aims (ILO 1990 p. 1):

to facilitate international communication about occupations by supplying national statisticians with a tool to make national occupational data available internationally;
to make it possible for international occupational data to be produced in a form which can be useful for research as well as for specific decision-making and action-oriented activities; and
to serve as a model for countries developing or revising their national occupational classifications.

CONCEPT

The international occupational data in ISCO-88 is based on the concept of the kind of work performed for job and the concept of skill.

Job is defined (ibid. at p. 2) as “a set of tasks and duties executed, or meant to be executed, by one person . . . and is the statistical unit classified by ISCO-88. A set of jobs whose main tasks and duties are characterised by a high degree of similarity constitutes an occupation . Persons are classified by occupation through their relationship to a past, present or future job.”
Skill is defined (ibid.) as “the ability to carry out the tasks and duties of a given job . . . [and] has for the purposes of ISCO-88 the two following dimensions:
(a)skill level - which is a function of the complexity and range of the tasks and duties involved; and
(b)skill specialisation defined by the field of knowledge required, the tools and machinery used, the materials worked on or with, as well as the kinds of goods and services produced.”

The following are the four broad skill levels which are defined (ibid. p. 2) in terms of the educational categories and levels which appear in the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), COM/ST/ISCED (Paris, Uesco, 1976):

(a)the first ISCO skill level comprises “. . . primary education which generally begins at the age of 5, 6 or 7 and lasts about five years;”

(b)the second ISCO skill level comprises “. . . first and second stages of secondary education. The first stage begins at the age of 11 or 12 and lasts about three years, while the second stage begins at the age of 14 or 15 and also lasts about three years.. . .”

(c)the third ISCO skill level comprises “. . . education which begins at the age of 17 or 18, lasts about four years, and leads to an award not equivalent to a first university degree.”

(d)the fourth ISCO skill level comprises “ . . . education which also begins at the age of 17 or 18, lasts about three, four or more years, and leads to a university or postgraduate university degree or equivalent.”

(The operational definitions of the four ISCO-88 skill levels apply whether the necessary occupational skills are acquired through formal education or vocational training.)

DESIGN AND STRUCTURE

The conceptual approach adopted for ISCO-88 has resulted in a pyramid the hierarchical structure of which consists of ten major groups at the top level of aggregation, subdivided into 28 sub-major groups, 116 minor groups and 390 unit groups (refer Table 1).

Table 1 ISCO-88 major groups with number of sub-groups and skill levels

Major Groups / Sub-Major
Groups / Minor
Groups / Unit
Groups / ISCO
skill
level
1 / Legislators, senior officials and managers / 3 / 8 / 33
2 / Professionals / 4 / 18 / 55 / 4th
3 / Technicians and associate professionals / 4 / 21 / 73 / 3rd
4 / Clerks / 2 / 7 / 23 / 2nd
5 / Service workers and shop and market sales workers / 2 / 9 / 23 / 2nd
6 / Skilled agricultural and fishery workers / 2 / 6 / 17 / 2nd
7 / Craft and related trades workers / 4 / 16 / 70 / 2nd
8 / Plant and machine operators and assemblers / 3 / 20 / 70 / 2nd
9 / Elementary occupations / 3 / 10 / 25 / 1st
10 / Armed forces / 1 / 1 / 1
Totals / 28 / 116 / 390

(Source: ILO, 1990, at p. 3)

Further sub-divisions of ISCO-88 occupational groups, providing successively finer detail, were carried out on the basis of skill specialisation, defined by reference to the field of knowledge required, the tools and machinery used, the materials worked on or with, as well as the kinds of goods and services produced.

For each of the groups at the four levels of aggregation of ISCO-88, a code number, a title and a brief description of the content is provided. In the case of the unit groups, the main tasks of the occupations belonging to each of them are briefly described and some of the relevant occupational titles are listed as examples.

SURVEYORS WITHIN ISCO-88

From the alphabetical index of occupational titles, it is possible to identify the title “surveyor”, as follows:

2148Surveyor, aerial

2148Surveyors, cadastral

2148Surveyor, geodesic

2148Surveyor, hydrographic

2148Surveyor, land

3115Surveyor, marine

2148Surveyor, mining

2148Surveyor, photographic

2149Surveyor, quantity

2148Surveyor, topographic

The following (ibid. at p. 47 - 59) describes relevant aspects of Sub-Major Group 21 (Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Science Professionals), beginning with a general description of Major Group 2 (Professionals) (ibid. at p. 47).

MAJOR GROUP 2

PROFESSIONALS

Professionals increase the existing stock of knowledge, apply scientific or artistic concepts and theories, teach about the foregoing in a systematic manner, or engage in any combination of these three activities. Most occupations in this major group require skills at the fourth ISCO skill level.

Tasks performed by professionals usually include: conducting analysis and research, and developing concepts, theories and operational methods, and advising on or applying existing knowledge related to physical sciences including mathematics, engineering and technology, . . . providing various business, legal and social services; . . . preparing scientific papers and reports. Supervision of other workers may be included.

. . . depending on the specific tasks and degree of responsibility in executing them, as well as on the national educational and training requirements, it may be appropriate to classify some of the occupations that are identified here into Major group 3, Technicians and associate professionals. . . .

Occupations in this major group are classified into the following sub-major groups:

21Physical, mathematical and engineering science professionals

. . .

SUB-MAJOR GROUP 21

PHYSICAL, MATHEMATICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCE PROFESSIONALS

Physical, mathematical and engineering science professionals conduct research, improve or develop concepts, theories and operational methods, or apply scientific knowledge relating to fields such as physics, astronomy, meteorology, chemistry, geophysics, geology, mathematics, statistics, computing, architecture, engineering and technology.

Tasks performed by workers in this sub-major group usually include: . . . advising on, designing and directing construction of buildings, towns and traffic systems, or civil engineering and industrial structures, . . . surveying land and sea and making maps; studying and advising on . . . efficiency of production and work organisation; preparing scientific papers and reports. Supervision of other workers may be included.

Occupations in this sub-major group are classified into the following minor groups:

. . .

214Architects, engineers and related professionals

. . .

Minor Group 214

ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS AND RELATED PROFESSIONALS

Architects, engineers and related professionals conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories and operational methods, or apply existing knowledge in such fields as architecture and engineering, as well as in the field of technology and economic efficiency of production processes.

Tasks performed usually include: conducting research and advising on, designing and directing the construction of buildings, towns, traffic and landscape systems, and advising on and directing their maintenance and repair; . . . developing and applying commercial-scale method to extract water, oil, gas and other minerals from the earth, . . . surveying land, sea and other areas and producing graphic, digital and pictorial representations; . . . preparing scientific papers and reports. Supervision of other workers may be included.

2141Architects, town and traffic planners

. . .

2147Mining Engineers, metallurgists and related professionals

2148Cartographers and surveyors

2149Architects, engineers and related professionals not elsewhere classified

2141ARCHITECTS, TOWN AND TRAFFIC PLANNERS

Architects, town and traffic planners conduct research and advise on and design residential, commercial and industrial buildings, layout of towns, landscapes and traffic systems, and plan and monitor their construction, maintenance and rehabilitation.