ID Land Surveyor study guide
ID Land Surveyor · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam is a computer-based multiple-choice test used in the licensure process for professional surveyors. According to NCEES, it is designed for surveyors who have gained at least four years of professional experience, and it tests the ability to practice within the surveying profession competently. The PS exam is administered year-round at approved Pearson test centers, and a $375 exam fee is payable directly to NCEES. Registration requirements and eligibility are set by each state or territory licensing board, so candidates should confirm their jurisdiction's rules before scheduling. The exam content spans the full range of professional surveying practice, including boundary determination, control surveys, measurement and analysis, legal principles, and business practices. Preparation typically involves working through problems that reflect real-world scenarios, reviewing fundamental concepts, and becoming familiar with the exam's format and reference materials. Topics on this exam: Principles and Practice of Surveying. The ID Land Surveyor study guide has 1 section and about 419 words.
01Principles and Practice of Surveying - Boundary Retracement and PLSS Work for the Idaho Exam
This domain tests boundary retracement and Public Land Survey System work: recovering corners, deciding which evidence controls, and defending the location you report. Idaho lies almost entirely within the PLSS, so GLO/BLM plats and field notes are the primary record evidence you will be asked to interpret. Expect questions that blend record research with field measurement, where the reasoning path matters more than a formula. Evidence hierarchy: an undisturbed original monument outranks every bearing and distance in the record, and a called-for monument controls a line that is not called for.
419 words, about 2 minMore study resources for ID Land Surveyor
- Practice questionsPublic Land Survey System, what does the term 'tract' refer to when describing a parcel in the rectangular survey system?
- FlashcardsLinear misclosure. The straight-line distance between the computed endpoint and the starting point of a closed traverse, found as the square root of the sum of squared latitude and departure misclosures.
- Cheat sheetClosure in latitude and departure: for a closed traverse, ΣN−ΣS and ΣE−ΣW should each equal zero; linear misclosure = √(Δlat² + Δdep²), and relative precision = misclosure ÷ total perimeter (express as 1:N).
- Key termsBearing. The direction of a line stated as an angle measured from either north or south toward east or west, always between 0 and 90 degrees, with the quadrant named (for example N45E).
- Study planInventory the full NCEES PS exam topic list and map each topic to a personal confidence score from 1 to 5.
- Common mistakesCandidates study boundary principles as definitions to memorize but practice on computational problems, so under exam pressure the habit of recomputing from record data takes over.
- Exam-day guideBring the original, unexpired ID whose name matches your registration exactly.