CO Land Surveyor study guide
CO Land Surveyor · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Colorado Professional Land Surveyor credential is a state-issued license administered through the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO), part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). It is intended for surveyors who take legal responsibility for boundary determinations, cadastral work, control networks, and land development measurements performed for the public in Colorado. The CO Land Surveyor study guide has 6 sections and about 2,471 words.
01Boundary Surveying and Retracement
This domain tests whether you can rank boundary evidence, retrace an original survey instead of inventing a new one, and document a defensible determination. Colorado items combine common-law boundary doctrine with the state minimum standards for boundary surveys.
432 words, about 2 min02Cadastral Surveying and the Public Land Survey System
This domain tests the PLSS as it actually exists in Colorado: the 6th Principal Meridian framework, section subdivision, government lots, and the restoration rules of the BLM Manual of Surveying Instructions (2009). Colorado lies entirely within the 6th Principal Meridian system.
454 words, about 2 min03Geodetic and Control Surveying
This domain tests datum literacy, state plane coordinate operations, and control-network practice - the material that separates a survey which closes on paper from one that closes on the ground. Horizontal datum NAD83(2011); vertical datum NAVD88; ellipsoid GRS80; geoid model GEOID18.
397 words, about 2 min04Survey Measurement and Computation
This domain tests the error theory and computation mechanics behind every other domain: closure, adjustment, precision statements, and coordinate geometry. Random errors are reduced by redundancy; systematic errors (prism constant, scale error, temperature, collimation) bias every observation and must be eliminated, not averaged; blunders must be found and rejected.
380 words, about 2 min05Land Development and Construction Surveying
This domain tests the platting process and the field control that turns an approved plat into stakes, grades, and as-builts. County subdivision regulation: CRS 30-28-101 et seq.; municipal subdivision: CRS 31-23-101 et seq.
386 words, about 2 min06Professional Practice, Ethics, and Colorado Law
This domain tests licensure, signing and sealing, record duties, and the judgment expected of a professional land surveyor in Colorado. CRS Title 12, Article 120 governs surveyors; the State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Professional Land Surveyors administers it.
422 words, about 2 min