ND Land Surveyor study guide
ND Land Surveyor · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The North Dakota Land Surveyor credential is a professional license issued by the North Dakota State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. It authorizes the holder to practice land surveying independently in North Dakota, sign and seal survey plats and reports, and certify boundary determinations. The ND Land Surveyor study guide has 9 sections and about 3,384 words.
01Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles
Boundary items ask whether you can rebuild a property line from the written record and the physical evidence, then defend that position. Expect PLSS retracement, metes-and-bounds construction, water boundaries, and unwritten rights.
381 words, about 2 min02Mathematics, Measurement, and Computations
Computational fluency: unit conversions, traverse closures, curve geometry, areas and volumes, and propagating observational error into a defensible result. 1 Gunter's chain = 66 ft = 100 links; 1 acre = 43,560 ft² = 10 square chains; 1 rod = 16.5 ft; a full section = 640 acres.
365 words, about 2 min03Geodetic and Control Surveying
Datum literacy and control design: moving between ellipsoid, geoid, grid, and ground, and knowing which control and accuracy standard a project requires. Horizontal: NAD83 (and its 2011 realization) on the GRS80 ellipsoid; the modernized NATRF2022 replacement is coming.
362 words, about 2 min04Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, and Mapping
Whether you can specify an aerial or lidar mapping product and check that it meets a stated accuracy, and whether you understand what an image or point cloud can and cannot deliver. Photo scale = f / H, where f is focal length and H is flying height above ground .
381 words, about 2 min05Cartography, GIS, and Data Management
Data stewardship: choosing a projection, documenting accuracy and lineage, converting between CAD and GIS, and refusing to let a map imply precision the data does not have. Conformal projections preserve angles and local shape at the cost of area; equal-area projections do the reverse.
368 words, about 2 min06Surveying Instruments, Field Procedures, and Safety
Instrument behavior and field discipline: knowing the error budget of each tool, checking it in the field, and running a crew that goes home unharmed. Accuracy is specified as ±(a mm + b ppm), where ppm converts directly to millimetres per kilometre.
381 words, about 2 min07Land Development, Construction, and Engineering Surveying
Translating a design into stakes, grades, and quantities: earthwork, alignments, drainage, and the tolerances a contractor will actually build to. Subdivision plats must satisfy local zoning (setbacks, lot width, frontage), dedicate right-of-way, and show easements and floodplain limits.
367 words, about 2 min08Business Practices, Ethics, and Professional Responsibility
Judgment under pressure: the standard of care, what a seal certifies, how contracts allocate risk, and when the right answer is to decline the work. The surveyor owes the care of a reasonably prudent practitioner under similar circumstances.
370 words, about 2 min09North Dakota Statutes, Rules, and State-Specific Practice
North Dakota-specific law and practice: who may practice, how documents are sealed and recorded, and how the state's PLSS and coordinate system shape every survey. Land surveying is regulated under North Dakota Century Code ch.
409 words, about 2 min