Oklahoma Land Surveyor (OLS) Exam common mistakes
Oklahoma Land Surveyor (OLS) Exam · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating the recorded plat bearing and distance as absolute truth and setting monuments to the computed position, instead of accepting the found original monument as controlling and holding the record call only as a check.
Candidates study retracement as arithmetic and memorize 'monuments control over distances,' but under time pressure they default to the plat because it feels objective; they forget that the monument is the best available evidence of the original surveyor's intent and that the written record yields to it.
What to do instead
Before computing anything, inventory every found monument and classify it as original, reset, or later. State in writing that original monuments control, use record bearings and distances only to identify and test monuments, and reserve proportioning or proration for cases where the original corner is genuinely lost.
Applying single-proportion proration across an entire section line when only one corner is lost, or misapplying double-proportion to a section interior instead of first establishing the section corners and then proportioning within the section.
Proration is taught as a formula, so candidates plug numbers into the nearest available line without first asking which corners are actually lost and what the controlling framework is; the sequence of establishing corners before subdividing is easy to skip.
What to do instead
Work the hierarchy explicitly: reestablish the section corners (by single proportion along the appropriate line or by the applicable federal rules), then proportion the aliquot parts inside the reestablished section. Write out which corners are lost, which are found, and which rule you are invoking before doing arithmetic.
Confusing grid bearings and distances from the State Plane Coordinate system with ground values, then recording or staking a boundary that is off by the combined scale factor and elevation factor.
Candidates learn the projection formulas but rarely practice the full workflow of going from field measurement to grid and back, so they forget that a grid distance must be divided by the combined factor to recover ground distance, and that convergence affects the bearing.
What to do instead
For every SPC problem, write the combined factor as scale factor times elevation factor, show the division or multiplication direction explicitly, and carry the convergence correction for the bearing. Sanity-check that ground distance exceeds grid distance at elevations above the ellipsoid and that the correction is small (parts per hundred thousand) before recording.
Reporting an unadjusted or minimally adjusted traverse as a closed survey, or accepting a closure that passes an arbitrary ratio without evaluating the misclosure vector direction and distributing the error by a defensible method.
Candidates chase a single acceptable ratio number and stop there; they do not connect the angular misclosure to the linear misclosure or consider whether the error pattern points to a specific blunder or systematic effect.
What to do instead
Compute angular misclosure first against the allowable based on the instrument and number of angles, distribute it, then compute linear misclosure and precision. Examine the misclosure vector: a consistent direction suggests a systematic error such as a prism constant or scale problem. Apply a compass or transit rule and document the choice.
Reading the Oklahoma statute requirements for a plat or land description from memory and omitting a required element such as the surveyor's seal, the basis of bearings, the area, or the required certificate language.
Candidates assume the legal content is common sense and study only the technical math, so they cannot distinguish state-specific statutory requirements from general practice conventions.
What to do instead
Build a one-page checklist of required plat and description elements drawn from the Oklahoma Statutes and Board rules, and run every practice plat and description through it. Verify current statutory citations at the time of the exam rather than relying on a study guide.
Writing a metes-and-bounds description that fails to close, or that closes only by adjusting the last call, without a stated basis of bearings, a point of commencement tied to a recoverable monument, and an area computed from the closed figure.
Candidates write descriptions as prose narrative and treat the mathematics as secondary, so they do not verify closure or check that the description is sufficient to retrace the parcel without reference to the surveyor's opinion.
What to do instead
Draft the description after the boundary is resolved, always include a basis of bearings, a point of commencement and point of beginning tied to physical monuments, and the area. Independently recompute the closure of the described figure to confirm it returns to the point of beginning within a stated tolerance.
Treating a section corner as a simple point without recognizing the distinction between the corner location and the controlling monument, and failing to search for and evaluate evidence such as bearing trees, accessories, and collateral evidence before accepting a position.
Candidates picture corners as dots on a map and underestimate the evidentiary process; they also skip the field search when a computed position is available from a record or a coordinate database.
What to do instead
For each corner, document the search: what was found, what accessories were recovered, whether the monument matches the record, and what collateral evidence corroborates it. Do not accept a coordinate database position as a found monument; treat it as a lead to be field-verified.
Ignoring the difference between a subdivision plat approval process and the recording requirements, and assuming that a plat signed by the surveyor is effective without the required approvals and recording.
Candidates conflate the surveyor's technical certification with the legal act of platting, and they do not study the municipal and county approval sequence, dedications, and recording statutes.
What to do instead
Map the approval chain for a plat in Oklahoma: surveyor's certificate, owner's dedication and acknowledgment, governing body approval, and recording. Know which signatures and which recording step give the plat legal effect, and note that requirements can vary with the local jurisdiction.
Answering ethics and professional-practice items by choosing the option that protects the client's interest or the surveyor's business relationship rather than the option that follows the statute, the standards of practice, and the duty to the public.
Candidates read ethics questions as customer-service scenarios and pick the accommodating answer; they also do not know the specific Oklahoma Board rules on seals, responsible charge, and reporting obligations.
What to do instead
For every ethics item, identify the duty owed and to whom, then choose the answer that complies with the statute and Board rule even when it costs the client or the surveyor. Study the Board's rules on responsible charge, sealing of work, and the obligation to report unlicensed practice.
Using the wrong coordinate order or the wrong units when computing with Oklahoma-specific references, such as mixing Oklahoma State Plane zones or entering northing and easting in reversed order, and then propagating the error into the final answer.
Candidates practice formulas in the abstract but rarely handle real coordinate data, so they do not build the habit of checking units, zone, and axis order before computing.
What to do instead
Before any coordinate computation, state the zone, the datum, the units, and the axis order explicitly. Do a rough magnitude check on the coordinates to confirm they fall within the expected zone, and verify the final result against an independent approximate computation.