When a Tennessee local government hires a land surveyor, does it have to follow the same procurement process used for architects, engineers, and construction services?

Plain-English summary

The Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors asked whether land surveying counts as a "construction service" when public entities buy it. The reason matters: Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(a) imposes a specific procurement procedure for "architectural, engineering and construction services" purchased by municipal corporations, counties, the state, development districts, utility districts, human resource agencies, and other political subdivisions. If surveying is in that bucket, it gets the same qualifications-based process. If not, the local government has more flexibility.

The AG's answer was no. The statute does not define "construction services," but the AG turned to the ordinary dictionary meaning: construction is "the building of something, typically a large structure." Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-18-102(3) defines the practice of land surveying as services using mathematics and applied sciences to measure and locate lines, angles, elevations, and natural and man-made features; to determine areas and volumes; to monument property boundaries; to plat and lay out lands and subdivisions; and to prepare maps, records, plats, field notes, and property descriptions. Those activities involve land location and land use, not building. So surveying is not a construction service under § 12-4-107(a).

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2017. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's qualifications-based selection regime for design professionals is set out in Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(a). For "architectural, engineering and construction services" procured by listed public entities, the statute requires a particular procurement process. The classification matters because qualifications-based selection is meaningfully different from lowest-bid contracting or general-services purchasing. A misclassification could create procurement-law exposure for the local government and friction for the surveyor competing for work.

Why the question came up. Surveyors sometimes work in close proximity to construction projects. They lay out the parcel that will be built upon, set boundary monuments, and may help prepare a site for design and construction. That proximity creates the natural question: is surveying part of construction?

Why the answer was no.

First, the term "construction" carries an ordinary meaning. The AG cited the New Oxford American Dictionary's "building of something, typically a large structure." Surveying does not build anything; it measures and records.

Second, Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-18-102(3) gives a detailed definition of land surveying that is entirely about measurement, location, mapping, and platting. The statute lists the activities by category: applying mathematics and the related sciences to measure lines, angles, and elevations; locating natural and man-made features; determining areas and volumes; monumenting property boundaries; platting and laying out lands and subdivisions, including topography, drainage, alignment, and grades of streets; and preparing maps, records, plats, field notes, and property descriptions. None of these are construction.

Third, the legislature chose its categories. When § 12-4-107(a) names "architectural, engineering and construction services," and does not name land surveying despite a separately-defined statutory profession of land surveying, the omission is meaningful. The AG did not lean heavily on this, but it reinforced the textual conclusion.

What § 12-4-107(a) doesn't reach. This opinion narrowly addresses surveying. It does not say anything about engineering or about architectural services that incorporate surveying inputs. Local governments procuring engineering services that include incidental surveying still must follow § 12-4-107(a) for the engineering procurement; what they do for stand-alone surveying contracts is governed by whatever other procurement rules apply.

Common questions

Q: Can a Tennessee local government use a regular bid process for surveying services?
A: According to this opinion, yes; surveying is not a construction service under § 12-4-107(a), so the qualifications-based selection process the statute requires for construction services does not apply.

Q: Does this mean land surveyors are unregulated for public-project work?
A: Not at all. Surveyors remain regulated under Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-18-101 et seq. by the Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors. The opinion is only about procurement categorization.

Q: What about engineering firms that do incidental surveying?
A: An engineering procurement falls under § 12-4-107(a). The opinion did not say anything about how to handle bundled engineering plus surveying contracts; the regulatory framework for the lead service likely controls.

Q: What does "construction" mean in this statute?
A: The AG used the ordinary dictionary meaning: "the building of something, typically a large structure." That excludes measurement, mapping, and platting activities that are the core of surveying.

Q: Is this still good guidance for procurement officers?
A: The legal categorization in this opinion has not been overruled, but procurement officers should verify the current text of § 12-4-107(a) and any local procurement rules before relying on it for a specific contract.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(a) (architectural, engineering and construction services procurement)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-18-101 et seq. (regulation of land surveyors)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-18-102(3) (definition of practice of land surveying)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2017/op17-017.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
March 7, 2017
Opinion No. 17-17
Construction Services and Land Surveying - Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(a)

Question
Is land surveying a construction service required to be procured by a municipal corporation, county, state, development district, utility district, human resource agency, or other political subdivision using the process described in Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(a)?

Opinion
No. The practice of land surveying is not a construction service.

ANALYSIS

Tennessee Code Annotated § 12-4-107(a) provides that "[a]ll contracts for architectural, engineering and construction services procured by any municipal corporation, county, state, development district, utility district, human resource agency, or other political subdivision created by statute" must meet certain procurement requirements.

The question is whether land surveying is a "construction service." Title 12 does not define "construction services," but the term is generally and customarily understood to mean services integral to the building of a structure. See New Oxford American Dictionary 3rd ed. (2010) definition of "construction" as "the building of something, typically a large structure."

Tennessee Code Annotated § 62-18-101 et seq. deals with the regulation of land surveyors and defines the "[p]ractice of land surveying" as

any service of work, the adequate performance of which involves the application of special knowledge of the principles of mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences and the relevant requirements of law for adequate evidence to the act of measuring and locating lines, angles, elevations, natural and man-made features in the air, on the surface of the earth, within underground workings and on the beds of bodies of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes, for the monumenting of property boundaries and for the platting and layout of lands and subdivisions of land, including the topography, drainage, alignment and grades of streets, and for the preparation and perpetuation of maps, records, plats, field notes, records and property descriptions that represent these surveys . . .

Tennessee Code Annotated § 62-18-102(3).

As the "practice of land surveying" involves land location and land use services, but does not include the building of things, it is not a construction service.

HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General and Reporter

ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General

MELISSA BRODHAG
Senior Counsel

Requested by:
Jay Caughman
Chairman, Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors
500 James Robertson Parkway
Davy Crockett Tower, 5th Floor
Nashville, Tennessee 37243