Surveying Applications
Surveying applications tests how fundamentals are used in boundary, topographic, construction, control, and ALTA/NSPS work. Questions often turn on evidence priority and on selecting the right deliverable for the client's purpose.
Boundary evidence
Retracement follows an evidence hierarchy: natural monuments, artificial monuments, courses and distances, then area, with intent and senior rights controlling. Original monuments generally prevail over record distances; a discrepancy is disclosed, not silently 'corrected.' Junior-senior rights matter when a subdivision or deed was created from a parent tract.
Other applications
Topographic surveys map planimetry and contours; contour interval is the vertical distance between adjacent contours, and breaklines control interpolation. Construction stakeout converts design grades and offsets to field marks; tolerances are set by specification. Control surveys establish horizontal and vertical reference with redundancy. An ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey follows the current minimum standard and negotiated Table A items; it is not automatically a full boundary survey unless the scope requires it.
Worked example
A deed calls N 45°00'00" E, 300.00 ft to a found 1/2-inch rebar. You measure 300.18 ft to that same rebar and find no conflicting evidence. The original monument controls the deed distance, so the corner is held at the rebar; record the measured distance and note the 0.18 ft discrepancy. If the rebar were not original, you would investigate other evidence before holding it.
Traps
Using area to 'fix' a boundary; ignoring magnetic declination when retracing old bearings; treating a topographic map as a boundary survey; assuming every ALTA survey includes every Table A item.