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Surveying in Austria: There Is No „Surveyor“ Trade Licence
ZTG 2019 + GewO §2
Checked against RIS: August 2026
There is no „surveyor“ trade licence in Austria
Land surveying does not appear anywhere in the list of regulated trades in §94 of the Trade
Act. The profession sits outside the Trade Act altogether, because
§2 Abs 1 Z 10 GewO
exempts Ziviltechniker from it. Legally binding surveying — subdivision plans for the
land register, cadastral boundary determination, boundary marking — is reserved to the
Ingenieurkonsulent für Vermessungswesen under §3 Abs 2 Z 2 Ziviltechnikergesetz
2019, and §1 Liegenschaftsteilungsgesetz lists exhaustively who may draw a subdivision plan:
that list contains no trade licence at all. Technical measurement work without
land-register effect — construction surveying, as-built surveys, deformation monitoring,
volume calculations, laser scanning — can be carried out under a trade licence as an
Ingenieurbüro (Beratende Ingenieure), §94 Z.69 GewO, whose scope expressly
includes „Untersuchungen, Überprüfungen und Messungen“ (§134 Abs 1 GewO).
Key Facts
- Type: not a trade at all — Ziviltechniker law (ZTG 2019); measurement work without land-register effect runs under Ingenieurbüro, §94 Z.69
- Registration cost: Free (€0)
- Key limitation: Cannot submit official cadastral plans (Grundbuch) — that requires a Ziviltechniker
- Common clients: Construction companies, property developers, industrial plants
- Note: GPS/GNSS and drone surveying are growing specializations
What Does This Trade Cover?
The surveyor trade license covers measurement and mapping services for construction, industry, and property:
- Construction surveying (Bauvermessung) — setting out buildings, roads, infrastructure
- Topographic surveys and terrain modelling
- Volume calculations for earthworks, excavation, and mining
- Industrial surveying — machine alignment, deformation monitoring
- As-built surveys and documentation for construction projects
- Drone-based (UAV) aerial surveying and photogrammetry
- 3D laser scanning and point cloud generation
Surveyor (Gewerbe) vs. Ziviltechniker (Ingenieurkonsulent)
The trade license for Vermessungswesen covers practical surveying work. However, only a
Ziviltechniker für Vermessungswesen (a chartered surveying engineer) can submit official
boundary plans to the Grundbuch (land register), perform legally binding cadastral surveys,
or issue officially certified survey documents. The Ziviltechniker holds a state concession
under the Ziviltechnikergesetz, not a GewO trade license.
Construction and Industrial Surveying
Most trade-licensed surveyors work in these areas:
- Building construction: Foundation layout, floor-level checks, vertical alignment
- Civil engineering: Road alignments, tunnel profiles, bridge geometry
- Industrial plants: Machine positioning, crane rail alignment, tank deformation
- Monitoring: Settlement measurements, structural deformation tracking over time
Which Route Do You Need?
- Land-register work (subdivision plans, cadastral boundaries): the Ingenieurkonsulent für Vermessungswesen under the Ziviltechnikergesetz 2019 — a state-conferred authorisation, not a trade registration. §19 and §39 GewO do not apply here at all.
- Technical measurement without land-register effect: an Ingenieurbüro licence (§94 Z.69 GewO) within your own technical field — that is a regulated trade with the usual routes to qualification.
Vollstaendige deutsche Version →
Related Guides
Legally binding: German text of GewO 1994.