10 Questions To Ask Before Choosing Your Marine Surveyor Anyone with $50.00 for business cards can be a marine surveyor. Anyone with $100.00 - $600.00 can buy an fancy acronym to put on that business card from a "diploma mill" or just make one up. There are a number of accrediting or certifying organizations operating in North America such as USSA Navtech , ACMS , OAMS , ACMS , NAMS , CAMCS , CAMS , AMSBC and of course SAMS® by whom I am accredited. Not all of the others are what they appear to be. One will sell you a home study kit with an exam at the back of the manual, others have little or no requirements for joining and still others have not held a meeting in over ten years and a couple are one man operations collecting fees. I think the only way to find out is to contact each one and see how easy it is to buy a title. Some require little more than a credit card number while SAMS® has a five year program with stringent requirements to gain accreditation. I've seen "Learn to Be A Marine Surveyor" CD's on eBay for as little as $6.95. I saw one business card marked "SS" and was told it meant Super Surveyor ! Some advertise themselves as " Accredited & Certified" or "Master Marine Surveyor" without saying who bestowed these credentials, ask ! How about "Master Shipwright", this used to be a British Navy rank before most of us were born. I have seen all of the above on business cards and the signature pages of survey reports. Contact the authority in question and find out how easy it is to buy credentials or be creative and make up your own. Among the various acronyms you will find on business cards and survey reports are ACMS, OAMS, CAMS, NAMS, USSA Navtech, GAMMS, CIMarE, AMIMarE, IAAMI, MMS, MMSAI, ACMABC, CMMS, USSA, SNAME, SA, SS, FIMarE, A.M.S. and of course AMS® from the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (SAMS®) . Some of these are legitimate, some are irrelevant, some are just made up and some..... well I don't know what they are ! I guess its up to you to figure it out but here are ten questions to help you find the right marine surveyor ......
1.	Ask for recommendations from marine service shops or local service tech's, they tend to know the better surveyors as they have probably dealt with all the local ones at one time or another. This is probably the best tip of all.
2.	Are they members of the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors®, if not ask who certified or accredited them, then check out that organization on the web. SAMS® has strict requirements and a five year program to achieve accreditaion and there are some that sell "acronyms" to anyone who sends a cheque. Contact the authority in question and find out how easy it is to buy an acronym.
3.	Are they members of ABYC® and better yet are they ABYC® Standards Certified.
4.	Ask how long he/she has been surveying and how many surveys they have completed. Experience is just as important as education.
5.	Ask if they have surveyed your specific model. All the models I have surveyed or delivered are listed here.
6.	Ask how many surveys they do in a year. Do you want the surveyor that does 15 per year or the one who does 200 ?
7.	Ask to see a sample survey. Samples are on my website. Review samples from several surveyors and read carefully between the lines. I would lean towards a marine surveyor who posts sample reports on their website as this shows a pride of workmanship and that they are not afraid of scrutiny.
8.	Sure, ask for references but don't expect to be given any bad ones. Some of my testimonials are listed here.
9.	Ask your dock mates who they used and if they were satisfied. If they were still satisfied a year after the survey you might have found the right surveyor.
10.	Ask if they have ever had a survey rejected by an insurance or finance company. Don't expect a truthful answer but file it for future reference anyway. This happens more often than you'd think as a few (very few) of the insurance companies are actually starting to read the survey reports.
Think twice about the 30 page survey that that goes into great detail about the "tastefully appointed" upholstery but mentions nothing about the substandard engine compartment ventilation system, the seized seacocks or non-ignition protected equipment in a gasoline engine compartment. Watch out for the "check list" surveys, you know ... the ones that say " Hull - yes, Engines - two ". Recommendations are the most important part of any survey and should cite the standards on which they are based. To remain current a surveyor must be a member of American Boat And Yacht Council® (ABYC®) and subscribe to their primary publication.... "Standards and Technical Information Reports For Small Craft" which includes standards for construction, electrical, fuel and fire safety systems among many others. The USCG and Transport Canada's Small Craft Construction Standards are largely derived from this publication. Transport Canada, USCG, CCG and CE standards are currently being harmonized with ABYC standards and Transport Canada has actually made some of these standards law in Canada with more being added every year. Canadian Regulations now make so many referals and deferrals to ABYC that one simply cannot survey a vessel to Transport Canada Small vessel Construction Standards without being a member of ABYC® and purchasing their standards and annual updates. Do NOT hire a surveyor who is not a member of ABYC® or go a step further and hire an ABYC® "Standards Certified" surveyor. If the surveyor does not cite specific standards or authorities for his recommendations, what are they based on ? Membership in BoatUS® Technical Exchange is also important as this provides access to a forum for marine professionals which includes a database of technical, structural and safety issues for specific vessels. Check the BoatUS Approved Surveyor list, they are quite selective about who they approve.. A survey should be a systematic examination of the vessel and it's systems. Many surveyors prefer that you not be present during the survey as they may be distracted and miss something. This I believe is a valid concern however, you are the customer and I encourage your attendance. In a perfect world I'd prefer the client arrive towards the end of the survey when I have a good handle on the boat and what to do about it. Some things that can appear serious on paper may assume a lesser status when they can be pointed out and discussed in person. You must also remember that the survey is not complete until the report is written as I often have to mull things over before committing. Surveys are limited by the physical and visual accessibility to the structural elements and systems. No surveyor can find everything thats wrong with a boat in the few hours allotted to a survey and a lot of the issues he does find are subject to his subjective interpretations. For instance several local surveyors make a big issue of wet balsa core on sailboat decks and consider this a serious issue while I have never seen wet deck core hurt anyone or sink a boat.....so if the price is right.... buy it and go sailing (bluewater excepted). A 100% accurate survey would require complete disassembly of the vessel, a large number of holes drilled and the services of several specialists. I have owned my boat for fifteen years and in that time have installed new shaft, stuffing box, stern tube, shaft log, transmission, fuel injection system, undergone a total engine rebuild and replaced or rebuilt virtually every system on the boat from plumbing and electronics to hydraulics….. I still learn something new every time I crawl through the bilge. The acronym "AMS®" (Accredited Marine Surveyor) is a registered trademark of the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors® however, it is not unusual to find non-accredited surveyors claiming this accreditation. Check the Society's roster on their web site to ensure the accreditation of your surveyor. Surveying is an unregulated profession and surveyors are no different than the practitioners of any other trade; some are better than others. Find the one you feel most comfortable with and do not be shy of asking questions. SAMS® requires minimum degrees of education, experience and exams before conferring the AMS® designation on a surveyor and mandatory continuing education requirements ever after. SAMS® surveyors follow a Society "Survey Report Content" format that includes a "Scope of Survey" statement that informs clients of precisely what will be covered in the survey report and which standards are applied. If you go to the SAMS® web site you will see two designators after the names on the roster, AMS® and SA. An SA (Surveyor Associate) is a practising surveyor who has not yet taken the AMS® exam. After joining SAMS® an SA must also meet continuing education requirements and has five years to apply to take the upgrade exam. Most SA's have been in various aspects of the marine business for years and joining SAMS® shows their commitment to excellence in their chosen profession. Out of the 175 marine surveyors in Ontario there are only 13 AMS® and 7 SA's......why take the chance of hiring someone who could not bother to further his education and commit to the profession. There are some very good surveyors who are not members of SAMS® but unless you are familiar with them and the business of surveying you may be better off starting out with a SAMS® surveyor. Would you hire a doctor, mechanic or electrician with questionable credentials ? I know of one local "Master Marine Surveyor" who says its a waste of time to hire an AMS® because you might be hiring one that graduated at the bottom of the class. Would you rather hire a doctor from the bottom of the class or one that didn't bother to go to medical school ? Choosing a SAMS® surveyor is not a guarantee but it does raise the baseline. Now that you know what you know, check out this list of Every Marine Surveyor In Ontario or this one of Every SAMS® Surveyor In Canada
Captain Wallace Gouk AMS® Marine Surveyor Port Credit Marine Surveys
Captain Wallace Gouk AMS®, Survey reports accepted world wide by all financial and insurance institutions for sail and power boats servicing Ontario east, west, south and beyond including Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, Grimsby, 50 Point, Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, Bronte, Port Credit, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, Pickering, Port Hope, Coburg, Newcastle, Kingston, Brockville, Penetanguishene, Midland, Barrie and Keswick. I have also worked in New York State, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Virginia, Florida and the Bahamas.