CSLB Cadastral Surveying flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Rule of monuments

A rule of deed construction holding that natural or artificial monuments called for in a description control over courses, distances, and stated area when those elements are inconsistent.

Race-notice recording

A recording statute under which a later purchaser prevails only if that purchaser takes without notice of a prior unrecorded interest and records before that prior interest is recorded.

Adverse possession

Acquisition of title by open, notorious, hostile, and continuous possession for the statutory period; in California that is five years plus payment of all taxes levied during the period.

Avulsion

A sudden and perceptible change in a watercourse or shoreline; it does not move the boundary, which remains at the location of the former water line.

Obliterated corner

A corner whose physical monument is gone or destroyed but whose original position can still be recovered from accessories, testimony, or other evidence found in the field or record.

Lost corner

A corner whose original position cannot be recovered from any evidence and which must be reestablished by proportionate measurement between existing controlling corners.

Double proportionate measurement

A method of restoring a lost interior corner by proportioning in both the north-south and east-west directions between the controlling corners on the four surrounding section lines.

Bearing tree

A tree marked and recorded by the original surveyor to witness a corner; it is an accessory whose record can control the restored position of that corner.

Section numbering

Within a township, sections are numbered from 1 at the northeast corner serpentinely to 36 at the southeast corner, with sections one through six running westward.

Standard parallel

A correction line run east-west every 24 miles, or four townships, north of the base line to offset meridian convergence and re-establish township corners on a common line.

Meander line

A survey line run along the bank of a navigable water body to compute the area of the fractional parcel; it is not a boundary and does not limit riparian title.

Quarter corner

A corner established at the midpoint of a section line, normally 2,640 feet from each section corner on a regular section, and the basis for quarter-section subdivision.

Chain of title

The successive series of recorded conveyances linking the present owner back to the sovereign or earliest grantor of the parcel, used to verify title and description continuity.

Lot line adjustment

A local agency approval that relocates a boundary between four or fewer existing parcels without creating a new parcel and without filing a new subdivision map.

Constructive notice

Notice imputed by law from recording a document in the public records, binding all persons whether or not they actually examined the record.

Parcel map

A map filed under the Subdivision Map Act for the division of land into four or fewer parcels, distinguished from a final or tract map for larger divisions.

Bowditch rule

A traverse adjustment that distributes the closure error in proportion to each course length, applied separately to the latitude and departure components of the traverse.

Angular closure

The difference between the measured sum of the angles in a closed figure and the theoretical sum, computed for a polygon as (n minus 2) times 180 degrees.

Combined factor

The product of the map projection scale factor and the elevation factor, used to convert measured ground distances to grid distances and grid distances back to ground.

Perpetuation of corners

Monumenting and recording a corner so that later surveyors can relocate it, typically with a durable monument and ties to two or more permanent nearby features.

Tentative map

A preliminary subdivision map submitted to the local agency for review and approval before a final or parcel map is prepared, approved, and recorded.

Certificate of compliance

A document recorded by a local agency confirming that a parcel was lawfully created under the Subdivision Map Act at the time of its creation.

Offer of dedication

A grant or offer of an interest in land for public use shown on a subdivision map, which becomes effective only when the public agency accepts it.

Quiet title action

A court proceeding that determines competing claims to real property and establishes the boundary or title as a matter of record binding on the parties.

Geoid separation

The distance between the ellipsoid and the geoid at a point, denoted N, such that orthometric height equals ellipsoid height minus the geoid separation.

Grid convergence

The angle at a point between true north and grid north of a map projection, which varies with position within the zone and must be applied to convert azimuths.

NAD83

The North American Datum of 1983, a geocentric datum based on the GRS80 ellipsoid and the current horizontal reference for surveying in the United States.

Scale factor

The ratio of grid distance to ellipsoid distance on a map projection; it equals exactly 1.0 only along the standard parallels or the central meridian.

Responsible charge

The independent control and direction of surveying work by a licensed land surveyor who signs and seals the resulting maps, plats, and reports.

Record of survey

A map filed with the county recorder under Business and Professions Code section 8762 when specified conditions occur, such as new evidence or a newly established corner.

Standard of care

The degree of skill and care that a reasonably prudent surveyor of ordinary competence would exercise under similar circumstances in the same community.

Conflict of interest

A situation in which a surveyor's personal or financial interest could impair professional judgment; it must be disclosed and avoided or properly managed.