Its difficult to stay calm when you’ve been scammed somehow, anger and guilt. Indignation.
If you go to a doctor you know he has had to meet a standard and has been tested by his peers and subsequently approved. Yes there are poor doctors out there but they are soon weeded out and defrocked. The surveyor/inspector industry has no exams or standards nor peer review. Usually the best ones are passed around by word of mouth because there are competent, meticulous concerned surveyors out there. Many that really care for their clients yet all of these persons, good or bad have a huge influence on the insurance industry, a kind of back-door boating regulatory industry that preys on boaters as we’re all filthy rich because “boats.”
Mmmm turkey....
Not quite true but you have some of the elements correct. There is very little statutory oversight of the Marine Surveyor trade in North America other than that which applies to conducting a trade in general. It’s always been a beef of mine that anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a Marine Surveyor. How long they last in business is the only barrier to doing so. Many work from their homes and have no employees thus keeping the overhead to zero. Many also do not carry either Liability or Errors and Omissions insurance. Of this subset of marine surveyors, some are very competent, some are moderately competent and some are blithering idiots. Even worse, some are out and out crooks. Our OP may have run into somebody in the latter category and, if so, I don’t blame him for wanting to shout it from the rooftops.
Now having said that, a majority of surveyors are in it for the long haul not the quick buck. Those who are serious about it are members of either NAMS Global or SAMS. There are more yacht surveyors in SAMS because of the history of the organizations.
NAMS (National Association of Marine Surveyors) is the older of the two organizations and has recently added Global to its name as they are expanding internationally. It has long had standards that must be adhered to prior to becoming a CMS (Certified Marine Surveyor). These standards included having served an apprenticeship with an existing CMS and passing a written examination on their chosen speciality, minimum five years as a surveyor and submitting a number a surveys authored by them to an examination board for review. They also take a written test on Ethics. Upon completion they are nominated for election into the organization and must be voted by the existing membership. The process typically takes about a year to complete. After they are in, there is a Continuing Education requirement so they must attend seminars and further education courses.
This certification process appealed to Marine Underwriters and eventually they required that independent surveyors employed by them were NAMS-CMS certified in order to get on the approved vendor list.
NAMS certifies surveyors in (I believe) eight sub categories, the one of interest here being ‘Yachts and Small Craft”. Others include Hull and Machinery, Cargo, Heavy Lift, Marine Salvage, Containers, Docks and Marina facilities and Commercial Fishing Vessels. Hull and Machinery in this category refers to commercial ships, tugs, barges and associated craft as well as their mechanical and sub-systems.
So obviously, if you choose a surveyor with a NAMS-CMS certification be sure to check his or her speciality as you don’t want to hire a Coal Cargo surveyor to examine your 45’ cruiser. About 65% of NAMS surveyors work exclusively in the commercial vessel side of marine surveying. There are less than 500 certified members in the organization and I am guessing less than 200 exclusive Yachts and Small Craft guys. It’s a pretty small pool to pick from. All carry liability insurance and soon the majority will carry E&O. I will say the E&O may be prohibitively expensive for the sole practitioner with some quotes up in the $10,000 a year price range. Last I heard NAMS was working directly with underwriters to reduce that cost.
The Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (SAMS) was formed in the 1970s by independent marine surveyors who at the time could not meet the apprenticeship requirements of NAMS or could not pass the written test. ( To be fair, the original test was a hybrid knowledge of every category test rather than the speciality test it is now). Most of the original members were yachts and small craft surveyors and they remain the majority to this day. This is where you are likely to find the largest choice of surveyors in any region to be SAMS certified.
As time went by, SAMS members realized that they could not get insurance work due to the NAMS-only exclusion. They worked to adopt most of the NAMS criteria which they adapted to fit more closely with the members budgets and working styles. Thus you may find reports more heavily weighted to check off lists with photos and with only brief explanations. They are now fully accepted by most insurance companies. I am not sure if liability insurance is a requirement of membership as I have not checked on that. I am pretty certain that very few if any carry E&O insurance.
Some of the older members were grandfathered in but nowadays most of the membership has been screened and found satisfactory.
So, do your homework, pick a certified guy then ask around for his reputation. Also ask your insurance company. They know most of the bad apples. Remember, no one can be an expert in everything and they don’t have x-ray vision. An expert in wooden sailboats may not know much about Carvers or Sea Rays so pick carefully. All should know the basics of wood and fiberglass construction and be cognizant of ABYC installation recommendations.
Hope this helps some of you with your decisions.
