IA Land Surveyor study guide
IA Land Surveyor Ā· Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Iowa Land Surveyor credential is a state professional license administered through Iowa's Department of Inspections, Appeals, & Licensing (DIAL), the umbrella agency whose site hosts the boards and commissions that regulate licensed occupations. Candidates searching for the Iowa Land Surveyor Licensing Examination should understand that this page cannot confirm any exam specification. The IA Land Surveyor study guide has 7 sections and about 2,536 words.
01Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles
Domain 1 asks where the boundary legally is, not where a single measurement happens to land. Iowa items lean on the hierarchy of evidence, deed-construction rules, PLSS retracement doctrine, unwritten rights, and the river boundaries that frame the state.
389 words, about 2 min02Geodetic and Control Surveying
Domain 2 tests the reference frames and control procedures behind every coordinate you publish: NAD83(2011) and NAVD88, the Iowa Coordinate System, GNSS positioning, and the reduction of ground measurements to grid. Horizontal: NAD83(2011); vertical: NAVD88 (orthometric).
346 words, about 2 min03Measurement and Computations
Domain 3 covers the arithmetic and error analysis behind every survey: traverse closure, coordinate geometry, area, curve geometry, and the judgment to know when a closure is good enough for its purpose. Random errors scatter and can be averaged down with redundant observations; systematic errors (a mis-set prism constant, a stretched tape, an unmodeled scale factor) repeat and must be found.
351 words, about 2 min04Cadastral and Public Land Survey System
Domain 4 tests the PLSS as it exists in Iowa: original GLO surveys referenced to the Fifth Principal Meridian, the corner nomenclature, retracement rules for lost and obliterated corners, and the lots created by fractional sections and meander lines. Townships are six miles square, numbered north from the base line and ranged east or west of the Fifth Principal Meridian; Iowa's GLO work was largely done in the 1830sā1850s.
382 words, about 2 min05Mapping, Platting, and Subdivision Design
Domain 5 covers what a recordable plat must show, how Iowa regulates its approval and recording, and the geometric design checks - curve data, lot area, frontage, drainage - that make a subdivision buildable. 354 governs plats, including subdivision plats, minor plats, and auditor's plats, and sets the recording framework through the county recorder.
347 words, about 2 min06Construction and Engineering Surveying
Domain 6 tests the field procedures that transfer design to the ground: elevation control, cut-and-fill staking, slope staking, machine control, and as-built verification against project tolerances. Differential leveling: HI = BM elevation + backsight; ground elevation = HI ā foresight.
337 words, about 2 min07Business Practices, Ethics, and Iowa Statutes and Rules
Domain 7 tests the legal and professional frame around Iowa practice: licensure under Iowa Code ch. 542B, the Board of Examiners for Land Surveyors rules at 193C IAC, responsible charge and sealing, ethical limits on fees and testimony, and business essentials such as contracts and One Call.
384 words, about 2 min