CA Land Surveyor

The Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG), a unit of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. The Board's office is at 2535 Capitol Oaks Drive, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95833-2944; the phone number is (916) 999-3600 and the toll-free number is 1-866-780-5370. Always confirm exam logistics directly with the Board.

Five areas: boundary determination and evidence evaluation; the California Coordinate System and geodetic surveying; public lands and the Subdivision Map Act; water boundaries and riparian rights; and field survey procedures, measurement analysis, and monumentation. Expect boundary evidence problems - conflicting monuments, deeds, plats, and occupation - to dominate, since they demand legal reasoning rather than routine calculation.

Fee amounts are set by the Board and published on its Applicants Fee Schedule and Licensees Fee Schedule pages. Note that the Board's fees regulation amending Title 16, California Code of Regulations sections 407 and 3005 took effect July 1, 2026, increasing fees for an initial license, examinations, renewal, delinquency, and retired licenses. Check the current schedule before you pay.

Those specifics are published by the Board rather than fixed here, and they can change between exam cycles. Consult the Board's Exams pages and the most recent Bulletin for the current item count, session length, and appointment logistics. Do not rely on secondhand summaries or older study guides for these details.

Passing standards are set and reported by the Board, and this page does not restate a number. Review the Board's exam information and the current Bulletin for the scoring and reporting policy that applies to your cycle, and plan your study target around comfortably exceeding the published standard rather than just reaching it.

Retake eligibility, waiting periods, and any reapplication requirements are governed by the Board and are subject to change. Check the Board's exam pages and your own authorization or eligibility notice for the rules that apply to you. Build a diagnostic review of weak domains into any retake plan rather than repeating the same preparation.

Start with boundary determination and evidence evaluation, because its reasoning habits - weighing monuments against measurements and intent - carry into the public lands, subdivision, and water boundary topics. Then take the California Coordinate System, which is mechanical and benefits from repetition. Finish with field procedures and measurement analysis, where error propagation and adjustment practice reward steady drilling.

Candidates typically lose points by treating record measurements as controlling over monuments, misapplying coordinate system scale and convergence, confusing riparian and littoral doctrines, and misreading Subdivision Map Act requirements. Others simply run short on time because they recalculate instead of reasoning. Practice justifying answers in writing and work under a clock.

All are posted on the Board's website. The 2026 Summer Bulletin is available there, along with rulemaking notices and meeting materials. Because fee, bulletin, and exam-logistics information is revised periodically, treat the Board's site as authoritative and re-check it shortly before your application or exam appointment.

The Board's website includes an information page for military personnel and their spouses or domestic partners, which is the correct starting point for questions about application timing, renewals, and related accommodations. Review that page before submitting anything, since provisions and contact procedures are Board-specific and may be updated.