This Act is enacted to establish the complete basic information of land, integrate the administration system of surveying and mapping and geographic names management, enhance the quality of surveying and mapping affairs, and achieve the goal of sharing the resources of surveying and mapping.

The term “competent authority” referred to in this Act means the Ministry of the Interior at the central government level; the special municipal government at the special municipal level, and the county(city) government at the county(city) level.

The definitions of the terms used in this Act are as follows:
1. Surveying and mapping: means the surveying and mapping of land, above or under the sea level.
2. Surveying: means the process of collecting, analyzing, calculating, valuing, integrating, and managing for a land with its geographic information that have the character of spatial layout.
3. Mapping: means the process of displaying specifically the terrain features, surface features, and varieties of natural and human materials according to the result of surveying.
4. Map: means the final work or related result of mapping.
5. Basic survey: means processing a survey as the basic of surveying and mapping for the purpose of establishing a national survey datum and basic control point.
6. Survey datum: the basic datum for land surveying and mapping, including the geodetic datum, the vertical datum, the depth datum and the gravity datum and so forth.
7. Reference system: the system that is built by using the survey datum as the basic control survey references, including the coordinate system, the vertical system, the gravity system and other relevant systems.
8. Basic control survey: the surveying which is conducted by utilizing the information such as the fine calculation of points coordinates, altitude or other relevant data as the basis of surveying and mapping and of which the purpose is to put into consideration the need for a nation-wide overall control surveying.
9. Densified control survey: the sub-control survey that is carried out based on the basic control survey and of which the purpose is for the need to conduct the regional control survey.
10. Applied survey: Any survey conducted for the purpose of specific benefits and advantages. This excludes the basic survey.
11. Survey marks: the control points which are set up to carry out the surveying. The ones that are required to be maintained for good with clear marking are “permanent survey marks”. The ones which are maintained until the completive day of the surveying are temporary survey marks.
12. Surveying and mapping results: the images, data, maps, graphics, information and other relevant results obtained according to the purpose of the surveying and mapping.
13. Basic topographic maps: the topographic maps which are drawn by using surveying and mapping data gathered with the utilization of the basic scale (authorized by the relevant central government agencies). These maps include data such as the main terrain, land features and basic geographic information.
14. Administrative maps: maps that include the administrative borders, location of the governments of such administrative regions and relevant geographic information.
15. Charts: maps with topics related to the submarine topography below the lowest low-water line and hydrological data.
16. Aerial survey photography and remote sensing: operations of which the purpose is to utilize aircrafts or satellites as the platform for equipments such as cameras or sensors to capture images of the surface of the lands and other relevant information.
17. Geographic names: the names of specific locations, regions or geographic entities on the surface of the land, including physical geographic features, administrative regions, settlements, streets or public facilities that serve as landmarks.
18. Standardized geographic names: the geographic names which are pronounced by this Act and used by all the government organizations.
19. Survey industry: the professional engineer offices, companies or professional engineering consulting firms that are engaged in the surveying and mapping business according to this act.

The following items fall within the scope of governance of the central authority concerned:
1. The formulation (drafting) of policies, systems and act and regulations concerning surveying and mapping.
2. The planning, implementation and management of surveying and mapping affairs at the central-governmental level.
3. The communication, coordination, planning and cooperation with respect to international surveying and mapping affairs.
4. The establishment of survey datum and reference system.
5. The registration and management of nation-wide surveying and mapping projects, the results and information.
6. The surveying, mapping and publication of basic topographic maps, administrative maps and charts of the entire nation.
7. The formulation of the nation-wide geographic names survey projects and the geographic names management system.
8. The supervision of surveying, mapping and geographic names affairs carried out by municipal and county (city) governments.
9. The management of the survey industry.
10. The implementation and management of other issues related to nation-wide surveying and mapping.
The central authority concerned are entitled to consign the tasks prescribed in Items 2, 3 and 5 to 10 of　the previous Paragraph to be performed by the sub-agencies, other agencies, institutions, groups or individuals and the authorities concerned of the municipal and the county (city) governments.

The authorities concerned of the municipal and the county (city) governments are in charge of the following tasks with its own jurisdiction:
1. The planning, implementation and management of the encrypted control surveying tasks.
2. The planning, implementation and management of the applied surveying tasks.
3. The registration and management of the surveying and mapping projects, results, data/information and the permanent survey marks.
4. The preparation and publication of the administrative maps and the ones of townships, cities and districts.
5. The implementation and management of issues related to geographic names.
6. The implementation and management of other issues related to surveying and mapping.
The authorities concerned of the municipal and the county (city) governments are entitled to consign the tasks prescribed in Items 1, 2 and 4 to 6 of the previous Paragraph to be performed by the sub-agencies, other agencies, institutions, groups or individuals and the authorities concerned of the township (city and district) offices.

The authorities concerned at all levels shall appoint a specific agency or unit to specifically focus on the planning and coordination of all the affairs related to surveying and mapping.

The following sections outline the items for the basic survey:
1. The surveying of the survey datum.
2. Basic control survey.
The basic control survey should be conducted based on the survey datum, while the encrypted control survey should be conducted according to the results of the basic control survey.
Rules concerning the precision, operation methods, implementation procedures and other related issues of the implementation of the basic survey shall be set forth by the central authority concerned.

In principle, the basic survey shall be conducted by the central authority concerned. Should the basic survey be conducted by other authorities or agencies, its implementation plans should be agreed upon by the central authority concerned prior to the commencement. Any changes or modifications should also be agreed by the central authority concerned first.
The results of surveying and mapping carried out by the previous Paragraph said "other authorities or agencies” should be submitted to the central authority concerned for assessment and approval within six months of the completion of the task. Results that comply with the rules concerning the precision should be filed (archived) for the management purpose. Any revisions or modifications of the rule-complying results should be processed in the same manner.
The military authorities or agencies are waived from the limitation prescribed in this Article when the basic survey that the authorities or agencies conduct involves military secrets.

Should the surveyors of the central authority concerned or other authorities or agencies request to enter public or private lands or buildings for inspection or measuring for the need of conducting the basic survey, the owner, occupant, manager or user of the land or the building shall not reject such requests. However, an agreement should be obtained from the authorities that manage the lands used by national defense facilities prior to entering the lands.
The previous Paragraph the surveyors of the central authority should present supporting documents related to the execution of the task or show any marks or signs for identification purposes. A notice shall be sent to the owner, occupant, manager or user of the building or the land within 7 days prior to the land inspection or surveying.
The previous Paragraph 1 to 2 apply when the survey industry are consigned by the central authority concerned or other agencies or institutions to accomplish the basic survey.

The following rules shall be observed when the central authority concerned or other authorities or agencies intend to use public or private lands and buildings to set up the permanent survey marks for the purpose of conducting the basic survey:
1. Under the circumstances that the original condition of use of the public lands is not affected, the managing agency (institution) shall not reject the request of the utilization of the public lands unless it has some proper reasons and reports to its supervising authority to obtain the approval of rejection.
2. Under the circumstances that the original condition of use of the building is not affected, the managing agency (institution) should be notified in advance and the building shall be provided in priority for use of setting up and maintaining survey marks.
3. Should the use of the private land be required, the consent from the land owners or managers to supply the land for use free of charge should be attained in advance. Negotiations of purchases or leases are required when necessary. Should all the negotiations fail to reach a conclusion, the land will be legally expropriated or conscripted.
4. Should the survey marks need to be placed in privately-owned buildings, the consent from the owners or managers to supply the building for use free of charge should be attained in advance. Expropriation or conscription by negotiations are needed when necessary.

The previous Article 1 to 2 for inspection or surveying need remove or demolish obstacles . Should losses occur to the owner, the occupant, the manager or the user by relocating or demolishing any affiliated things on land, indemnifications should be negotiated and provided. Should the negotiations fail, the parts which are privately-owned will be legally expropriated.

Institutions, groups and individuals should try to avoid constructing buildings near the survey marks or carry out any behaviors that might affect the surveying. If the institutions, groups or individuals reckon that the existing permanent survey marks might affect the exercise of their rights, an application with a detailed description of the reasons of how the marks might affect the exercise of their rights should be submitted to the agency that places the marks to request the removal and re-building of the marks. If the agency that places the marks deems that the permanent survey marks in issue do affect the exercise of the applicant’s rights, the removal and rebuilding shall be permitted. Should the agency that places the marks deems that the permanent survey marks in issue do not affect the exercise of the applicant’s rights, the application will be rejected. Moreover, the permanent survey marks which have become ineffective may be demolished.
Except for one of the following scenarios, the previous Paragraph the expenses incurred by moving and re-building the permanent survey marks shall be liable by the applicant:
1. To provide public lands or buildings for use according to Items 1 or 2 of Article 10.
2. To provide private lands or buildings without reward according Items 3 or 4 of Article 10.
3. To lease private lands or buildings according to Items 3 or 4 of Article 10. However, the rules of the leasing agreement should be observed should there be other rules in the leasing agreement.
The moving and re-building of the survey marks of Paragraph 1 should be carried out based on the previous Article 1 to 3.
The person who removes or damages the permanent survey marks without any specific reasons and thus results in the ineffectiveness of the marks shall be liable of the expenses incurred by rebuilding or reconstructing the marks.

People who stack useless objects, hang ropes or paint or put stains on the permanent survey marks that subsequently leads to the negative impacts of the effectiveness of the permanent survey marks, an order to restore the marks to the original conditions with a given time-frame should be issued by the respective municipalities or the county (city) authorities concerned. If the order is not followed upon its expiration, the authorities concerned have the power to remove all the objects and obstacles on the survey marks and the persons receiving the order are liable for all the expenses incurred.

The central authority concerned should distribute the illustrated guides of the location of the permanent survey marks of the basic survey to the authorities concerned of the municipal and county (city) governments. The authorities concerned of the municipal and county (city) governments are responsible for maintaining the illustrated guides and carry out the on-site verification of the locations at a regular basis and record the most current status of the permanent survey marks. If the permanent survey marks are damaged or moved, such damages or unexpected movements should be reported to the central authority concerned.

The central authority concerned should announce the results and items of the basic survey and report to the relevant agencies. This article applies to the revisions.
The previous article applies when all levels of the authorities concerned wish to carry out the encrypted control survey.

Articles 9 to 12 are applicable when conducting the encrypted control survey.

Applied survey should be carried out according to the results of the basic control survey and the encrypted control survey. The types included in the applied survey are listed below:
1. Cadastral survey.
2. Topography survey.
3. Engineering survey.
4. Urban planning survey.
5. Hydrographic survey.
6. Mining area survey.
7. Forest land survey.
8. Other related applied survey.

Should the size of the applied survey projects done by agencies or institutions match the size or conditions set forth in the rules, the survey projects should be submitted to the competent authority for future reference and approval. Any changes or modifications shall be dealt with in the same manner.
Upon the completion of the afore-mentioned survey projects, the results should be sent to the direct supervising authority to be filed for the management purpose.
The military authorities or agencies are waived from the limitation prescribed in the previous Paragraph 1 to 2 requirements should the applied survey that the authorities or agencies conduct involves military secrets.

The previous Article the suitable types, scopes, operation methods, precision, the format of the information, results management and other rules to observe shall be determined by the central authority concerned with the industry competent authority.

Articles 9 to 12 are applicable when conducting the applied survey.

When the survey industry is consigned to carry out the cadastral survey, the professional survey engineers should have the professional cadastral survey qualification recognized by the land administration authorities.
Issues related to the business scope, qualification requirements, working items, operation precision, result examinations and approval, supervision and management as well as the professional subjects required to obtain the professional qualification of cadastral survey, required number of hours of training, the recognition procedures and other rules to observe shall be outlined by the central authority concerned.

To increase the circulation rate of map information, promote the information standardization and improve the quality of maps, the central authority is obligated to establish the map information management system and act as the official institution that maintains a copy of all the maps published in the country.
With respect to the maps published by government organizations (institutions), schools, individuals, legal people, groups or publishing houses, the publisher should deliver a copy as well as an electronic copy of the maps to the central authority concerned for filing purposes. The same procedure applies to maps that are re-published.

The format, operation methods, standard legends and other rules to observe concerning the maps produced and published by government organizations (institutions) shall be decided upon by the central authority.

To improve the level of quality of map production, the central authority may provide rewards to encourage the private sector to produce and publish high-quality maps. The relevant reward methods, evaluation and assessment processes and operation procedures shall be constituted by the central authority.

The central authority should publish maps of nation-wide administrative maps, basic topographic maps and charts at a regular basis.
Authorities of municipal and county (city) governments should publish maps of the respective administrative regions at a regular basis. The administrative border should be delineated based on the field investigation and inspection done by all levels of authorities.

An investigation of the information with regard to geographic names shall be performed prior to the commencement of the surveying and mapping work. For areas that have standardized geographic names, the results of the surveying and mapping should be marked it with the said standardized geographic names. However, this excludes results that do not involve geographic names information.

All levels of the authorities may invite scholars, experts, institutions, agencies and representatives of private sector groups to discuss and approve issues related to standardized geographic names.

The creation of standardized geographic names shall respect the geographic, historical, linguistic and traditional manners and habits.
The standardized geographic names of the administrative regions should follow those set forth in Local Government Act.
The standardized geographic names of settlement or physical geographic features shall be approved and finalized in the relevant meetings held by authorities of the respective municipal or county (city) governments. The said authorities should then report the results to the central authority for reference purposes.
The standardized geographic names of roads and streets shall be decided upon by authorities of the municipal and the county (city) governments.
The standardized geographic names of public facilities that serve as landmarks should be determined together by the industry competent authority and the authority of the location of the geographic names. The finalized geographic names should be reported to all levels of authorities.
(Paragraph 3) Settlement or natural features of which the geographic areas cross over different municipalities, counties (cities), the standardized geographic names shall be determined by relevant geographic names authorities .
(Paragraph 5) For geographic names of public man-made features that can be regarded as landmarks and also involve more than two industry competent authorities, or their areas cross over different municipalities, counties (cities), the standardized geographic names shall be determined jointly by relevant geographic names authorities and relevant industry competent authorities.
With respect to the previous three agreements, approvals shall be obtained from the central authority should the parties involved fail to reach the agreements.

All levels of authorities should create geographic names management files and update the content(s) at a regular basis.
The discussion and approval procedures of standardized geographic names, the modifications, announcements and the specification of the geographic names management files and any issues related to the management of geographic names shall be regulated by the central authority.

The regulations of　translating the standardized geographic names shall be finalized by the central authority with the Ministry of Education, related institutions, experts and scholars.

Any survey industry should employ more than one professional survey engineer and the engineers should hold a registered practicing engineer license and have more than two years of practical experience. Also, the industry should employ at least two surveyors and the surveyors should be supervised and managed by the professional survey engineer.
The afore-mentioned surveyor shall have one of the following qualifications:
1. Pass the professional survey engineer examinations.
2. Pass the public servant examinations at either the advanced level or the general level or equivalent special examinations related to surveying division of land administration section, land survey, survey, surveying and mapping, cadastral survey and any other subjects that are related to surveying and mapping.
3. Pass the accreditation examinations held by public career-training institutions of Level A or Level B surveyors.
4. Graduates of survey engineering or related departments (academic subject areas) at or above the level of senior high schools or vocational schools.
5. Holders of supporting documents (such as certificates or diplomas) that can prove that the holders have attended 720 hours or above of professional training courses on surveying and mapping provided by government agencies or institutions approved by the central authority concerned to provide such training courses and have passed relevant tests or examinations.

The operation of the survey industry is limited to be carried out ONLY by the following organizations:
1. Professional survey engineer offices.
2. Companies.
3. Professional engineering consulting firms.

The registered scope of business of the survey industry include the work of planning, research, analysis, assessment, appraisal, accreditation, empirical testing and production of surveying and mapping.

Professional survey engineers and surveyors who run the survey industry or are employed to practice in the sector should regard themselves as full-time continuous employees who should focus on practicing the surveying and mapping business in the sector and are prohibited to be engaged in any part-time work or job position. However, this restriction does not apply to professional survey engineers and surveyors who are recognized by the central authority concerned to be able to work part-time in teaching, doing researches, conducting disaster inspections, appraisals and doing other businesses or holding other job positions.
Should the owner of the survey industry become aware that the professional survey engineers and surveyors violate the previous regulation (regarding the full-time employment), the owner should notify the full-time professional survey engineers and surveyors to resign from his/her part-time job or business before a certain deadline. Those who do not resign when the deadline is met will be fired from his/her full-time employment.

Owners of the survey industry should fill out an application form and submit the form with the following documents to apply for the business operation permit from the central authority concerned:
1. The identification document of the applicant, or the company business operation (or business) registration certificate and the identification document of the person in charge, or the registration certificate of the professional engineering consulting firms that applies to be a professional engineering consulting firm and the identification document of the person in charge.
2. Supporting documents for professional survey engineers and surveyors; those who are employed by a survey industry should also submit the employment agreement documents.
3. Other supporting documents that are pronounced by the central authority concerned as the required supporting documents.
The previous rule does not apply to architects who follow the Architects Act to conduct surveying of the building and its physical environment, the professional engineering consulting companies/firms, professional engineer offices or the construction companies that employ survey or relevant professional engineers or the companies of which the surveying and mapping business falls under the scope of engineering work, technical services or other labor according to the Act Governing the Administration of Professional Engineering Consulting Firms, the Professional Engineers Act or the Construction Industry Act.

The survey industry run by an entity of the type of company organization should complete the company registration within six months after obtaining the permit. Should the deadline be missed, the permit would be made invalid by the central authority concerned. However, one extension of a period of three months can be granted for exceptional cases with proper reasons.

The survey industry should join the professional survey engineers association or the industry association one month after the company registration is completed. Business cannot be commenced until the business registration has been filed to and issued by the central authority concerned. Should the survey industry miss the deadlines, the permit will be made invalid by the central authority concerned.
If there is no local professional survey engineers association or industry association in the place that the survey industry is registered, the firm is permitted to join a national professional survey engineers association or the industry association.
Once the operation begins, any modifications made with respect to the permitted or registered items of business shall be reported to the central authority concerned by submitting an application of modifications registration with relevant supporting documents within 30 days of the modifications.

The survey industry should place the business registration, relevant certificates and the certificates of professional survey engineers on a place in the office that clients can easily see these documents.

When the survey industry closes the business or is bound over to close the business, the survey industry should return the business registration certificate to the central authority concerned to be marked before returning it to the survey industry. The same procedure applies when the business is allowed to continue.
When the survey industry suspenses the business, the business registration certificate should be sent back to the central authority concerned within 30 days after the suspension of the survey industry should also complete the registration cancellation. Should the survey industry fail to send back the certificate for marking on or before the deadline, the central authority concerned would cancel/invalidate its registration certificate and make the relevant announcement.

The registration certificate is valid for 4 years. Renewals shall be completed 60 days prior to the expiration. The survey industry that do not renew the registration certificate will be deemed as the survey industry of which the businesses are terminated.

The results of the consigned surveying and mapping tasks should be audited by professional survey engineers according to the audit regulations.
The type of applicable certification, the implementation scope, certification items and rules concerning other required documents should be decided upon by the central authority concerned with the competent authority of the Professional Engineers Act.

The survey industry, professional survey engineers and surveyors are obligated NOT to disclose any secret and confidential information they learn during the course of by conducting the business.
Should any of the secret and confidential information learned by the survey industry, professional engineers and surveyors involve issues regarding national security or military secrets, survey industry, professional survey engineers and surveyors are obligated to abide by the rules of the National Security Information Protection Act and other relevant legal regulations.

The central authority concerned shall inspect the business of the survey industry or the items prescribed in this Act for the survey industry and the practicing professional survey engineers to follow. When carrying out the inspection, the central authority concerned may request the survey industry or the practicing professional engineers to provide supporting/proof documents, charts, booklets and relevant information. The survey industry and the practicing professional survey engineers are not allowed to avoid, deter or reject such requests.

The central authority concerned may select and award the well-performing survey industry. The reason for the award, the selection process and the method of the award shall be set forth by the central authority concerned.

The survey industry owners who do not apply for the permit following Item 1 of Article 35 or whose permits are withdrawn or invalidated but continue to run the business will be fined from NTD100,000 up to NTD500,000 by the central authority concerned and shall correct such behaviors within the given time period. The penalties will continue to be put into force with the number of times of failures to correct the behaviors within the given time period. Should there be no owner or the identity of the owner is unknown or unclear, the person(s) who essentially run the business will be penalized.
Penalties for the violation of Paragraph 1 of Article 55, Paragraph 1 of Article 56 or Article 57 are the same as the penalties prescribed in the previous Paragraph.

Any of the following acts made by the survey industry owners will result in a fine between NTD100,000 and NTD500,000 and the invalidation of the permit:
1. To lease/provide the survey industry registration certificate to other people for the purpose of running the surveying and mapping business.
2. To continue with the business operation during the period of business termination.
The owner must not re-apply for the survey industry operation permit within five (5) years from the date the previously-issued permit is made invalid.

Persons who borrow, lease, spoof, fake or illegally modify the business registration certificate of the survey industry will be fined from NTD100,000 up to NTD500,000 by the central authority concerned.

The survey industry owners, professional survey engineers and surveyors who violate Paragraph 1 of Article 42 will be fined from NTD60,000 up to NTD300,000 by the central authority concerned. For those whose violations are deemed more serious and disastrous, the penalty will be to discontinue the business from one month up to one year.

Persons who move or damage the permanent survey marks without any proper reason or following the procedures set forth in Paragraph 1 of Article 12 and thus result in the ineffectiveness of the marks will be fined from NTD50,000 up to NTD250,000 by the respective municipalities or county (city) authorities concerned.

The survey industry owners who violate Article 38, Paragraph 2 of Article 39 and Article 43 will be fined from NTD30,000 up to NTD150,000 by the central authority concerned. For those whose violations are deemed more serious and disastrous, the penalty will be to discontinue the business from one month up to one year.
The survey industry owners who fail to supervise their professional survey engineers to audit according to the audit regulations and thus result in untruthful audited facts will be penalized according to the previous article.

Professional survey engineers and surveyors who violate Paragraph 1 of Article 34 will be fined from NTD10,000 up to NTD50,000 by the central authority concerned. For those whose violations are deemed more serious and disastrous, the penalty will be to discontinue his/her practices from one month up to one year.
Professional survey engineers who do not audit following the audit regulations and thus result in untruthful audited facts will be penalized according to the previous Paragraph.

The publisher who violates Paragraph 2 of Article 22 will be notified by the central authority to deliver a copy with a given timeframe for archiving purpose. Should the copy be undelivered when the given timeframe ends, the publisher will be fined by the central　authority with the amount that is 10 times of the price of the said map(s). For maps that do not have a price or are priced under NTD100, the publisher will be fined NTD10,000 and the money penalty continues by the number of times of violations until the maps are finally delivered to the central authority.

The actor who violates Article 13 and is ordered to restore the original status within a given timeframe will be fined NTD2,000 up to NTD10,000 by the respective municipalities, county (city) authorities concerned should the actor fail to restore the original status within the given timeframe.

Surveying and mapping results produced by government agencies based on this Act shall be provided to organizations, groups or individuals to apply for the utilization. However, this does not apply to the results of which the utilization by organizations, groups or individuals are prohibited by laws or regulations.
The application process for the uses of the surveying and mapping results, fee-charging standards and other rules to observe shall be determined by the central authority concerned with the industry competent authorities.

Institutions, groups or individuals who wish to conduct the aerial survey　photography and remote sensing work prescribed in this Act shall apply for the approval from the central authority concerned.
After accepting the application of the afore-mentioned aerial survey photography and remote sensing work, the central authority concerned should carry out the assessment process the application jointly with the Ministry of National Defense. Should the assessment process find that the work might jeopardize national security or military secrets, the application would be rejected.
With respect to Paragraph 1, should the images or other relevant information which are attained by the aerial survey photography and remote sensing work involve issues regarding national security or military secrets, the holders of these data must observe the National Security Information Protection Act and its relevant legal regulations.
Rules concerning the qualification requirements, required documents, assessment and approval process and the exposure, maintenance and supply of the graphic and image data and other rules to follow shall be established by the central authority concerned.

Permits should be obtained from the central authority concerned should foreigners or foreign organizations wish to conduct the surveying and mapping work on the land and ocean territories of the Republic of China. Business operations are not allowed unless the business registration of the survey industry is completed based on the regulations contained in this Act.
Rules concerning the qualification requirements, the permit application process, the required documents, methods of assessment and approval and other rules to follow for the afore-mentioned foreigners and foreign organizations shall be established by the central authority concerned.

The survey industry owners who start operating the business three years prior to the date of the promulgation of this Act shall following the regulations set forth in this Act to obtain the survey industry registration before continuing with the business operation.

The fee-charging standards by all levels of the authorized agencies based on this Act shall be determined by the central authority concerned.

Enforcement rules regarding this Act shall be outlined by the central authority concerned.

This Act shall be entered into force from the day of announcement.