New Zealand regulates who surveys commercial vessels. Maritime NZ says that to survey ships and ship equipment you must hold a Certificate of Surveyor Recognition, issued by its Director. The surveys it covers are the regulatory ones under the Maritime Operator Safety System (MOSS). For pre-purchase and insurance surveys of private boats, the general route applies: see how to become a marine surveyor.
The recognition categories
You're recognised per category, so you apply for the ones your experience supports. The MSF147 application form groups them in four:
- Design approval (DA). Eight categories for approving designs and plans.
- In-construction and initial (IC1 to IC3). Surveys while a vessel is built, for each hull material you name: wood, aluminium, steel, fibre reinforced plastic, plastic or ferro cement.
- Periodic (P1, P1r and P2 to P5). Surveys during a vessel's working life, again by hull material.
- Specialist. Among them electrical systems, radio equipment, high speed craft, novel craft, MARPOL and ballast water management.
Maritime NZ's Surveyor Recognition Framework sets out the qualifications and experience it may consider for each category. Read it, along with its guideline on surveying under MOSS, before you apply. Both are linked from the Becoming a Recognised Surveyor page.
What you send
The quick guide and the form list the same pack:
- the MSF147 application form, with the categories you want and the hull materials
- a fit and proper person form, signed no more than three months before Maritime NZ receives it, with two identity documents verified by a trusted referee
- your CV and contact details for three referees
- a list of the vessels you've surveyed in the last 12 months that support the application, with type, survey, length and date
- an example of a survey plan or SSM maintenance plan you've approved, for IC or P categories
- a Ministry of Justice criminal record check less than 90 days old
- passport-sized photos
The form also asks for qualifications by examination and memberships of professional institutions. Maritime NZ prefers applications by email.
How Maritime NZ assesses you
Qualified Maritime NZ staff assess applications, sometimes with outside experts. Depending on what your paperwork shows, you may be asked for:
- A written exam. Open book, on maritime rules, marine protection rules and practical surveying. The quick guide's sample questions range from sketching the centre of gravity, buoyancy and metacentre to what to check on an ammonia refrigeration plant at a renewal survey, and what to look for when inspecting caulking.
- An oral exam. In person or by video, on your approach to surveying.
- A field assessment. A partial mock survey of a ship, focused on the categories you want. You help find the ship, the place and the time.
If you're successful, Maritime NZ issues the certificate of recognition. Renewals ask for five recent examples of vessels you've surveyed, with their Maritime NZ names and numbers.
Practical steps
- Build experience on the vessel types and hull materials you want to survey: in a yard, a design office, at sea, or alongside a recognised surveyor.
- Keep a log of every vessel you survey, with type, survey, length and date. The application asks for it.
- Read the Surveyor Recognition Framework and the MOSS surveying guideline, and pick the categories your log supports.
- Get the criminal record check and the fit and proper person form done close to applying, since both have time limits.
- Prepare for the exam with the rules open in front of you: it's open book, and the questions are practical.
Other routes are in courses and certification, and the Australian system is in becoming a marine surveyor in Australia.