Terms Used In Florida Regulations > Chapter 5J-17 - Professional Surveyors and Mappers

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Benchmark: a point, natural or artificial, bearing a marked position whose elevation above or below an adopted datum plane is known. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Boundary Survey: a survey, the primary purpose of which is to document the perimeters, or any portion thereof, of a parcel or tract of land by establishing or re-establishing corners, monuments, and boundary lines, such as for the purposes of describing the parcel, locating fixed improvements on the parcel, dividing the parcel, or platting. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Computation records: Calculations and/or numerical values that are derived from measurements. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Conflict of Interest: a conflict between one's duty to act for the benefit of the public or a specific individual or entity, and the interests of self or others; which conflict has the potential of influencing, or the appearance of influencing, the exercise of one's professional judgment in carrying out that duty. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Corner: a point on a land boundary that designates a change in direction, for example: points of curvature, points of tangency, points of compound curvature and so forth. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Faithful Agent: a licensee acting in professional surveying matters who safeguards as confidential any information obtained by the licensee as to the business affairs, technical methods or processes of a client or employer, and who avoids or discloses a conflict of interest that might influence the licensee's actions or judgment. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Measurement records: Sufficient data that can be used to reconstruct the measurements, including but not limited to angles and distances to determine locations of fixed improvements, property corners and other points on a survey. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Monument: an artificial or natural object that is permanent or semipermanent and used or presumed to occupy any real property corner, any point on a boundary line, or any reference point or other point to be used for horizontal or vertical control. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remote Sensing: The process of acquiring knowledge about physical features by analyzing data obtained from instrumentation located at a distance from the features being examined. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Survey: The result of any professional service or work resulting from the practice of Surveying and Mapping as defined in Florida Statutes Chapter 472, which includes, As-built/Record Surveys, Boundary Surveys, Construction Layout Surveys, Condominium Surveys, Construction Control Surveys, Control Surveys, Elevation Surveys, Hydrographic/Bathymetric Surveys, Tidal or non-tidal Water Boundary Surveys, Photogrammetric Surveys (including Orthorectified Imagery), Quantity Surveys, and Topographic Surveys, whether it is measured by direct or remote sensing methods. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Survey and Map Report: a written or digital document, that adequately communicates the survey results to the public through a map, (written or digital), or in a report form with an attached map and details methods used, measurements and computations made, accuracies obtained, and information obtained or developed by surveying and mapping techniques. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Work Product: the drawings, plans, specifications, plats, reports, and all related calculations and field notes, either hard copy or digital, of the professional surveyor and mapper in responsible charge or made under his/her supervision. See Florida Regulations 5J-17.050