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OR Land Surveyor study materials
OR Land Surveyor study resources

OR Land Surveyor study guide

OR Land Surveyor · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

The Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam is one of the NCEES examinations used within the U.S. surveying licensure process. NCEES describes it as testing your ability to practice within the surveying profession competently, and it is designed for surveyors who have gained at least four years of professional experience. It is a computer-based test delivered year-round at approved Pearson test centers, and the exam fee is $375, payable directly to NCEES. Registration and scheduling happen through your MyNCEES account, where you choose a location and then pick from available exam dates; you can also browse dates at other approved test centers if your first choice is full. Most licensing boards require you to apply to the board and be approved before you register with NCEES, so confirm your state's sequence and fees early. Topics on this exam: Principles and Practice of Surveying. The OR Land Surveyor study guide has 1 section and about 364 words.

01

Principles and Practice of Surveying

This domain tests how Oregon land surveyors locate and defend property boundaries: federal PLSS retracement, evidence hierarchy, water-boundary rules, and Oregon minimum standards. Expect questions that ask what controls when record calls, monuments, and occupancy disagree. Oregon is a PLSS state, so federal township and section plats form the framework. The original federal survey monument is the best evidence of the original corner.

364 words, about 2 min

More study resources for OR Land Surveyor

  • Practice questionsUnder the Public Land Survey System, what does the term 'tract' most directly describe in the context of a subdivision of section?
  • FlashcardsLatitude and departure. Latitude equals distance times the cosine of the azimuth; departure equals distance times the sine of the azimuth.
  • Cheat sheetLatitude = distance × cos(bearing); departure = distance × sin(bearing).
  • Key termsPublic Land Survey System (PLSS). The federal system that divides most of the United States into a grid of six-mile-square townships referenced to principal meridians and base lines, further split into one-mile-square sections and fractional lots.
  • Study planInventory the full Principles and Practice of Surveying task list and rate personal confidence 1-5 on each task to build a study priority matrix.
  • Common mistakesCandidates treat the angle adjustment as the whole closure check because angle work comes first and the adjusted angles look clean; the linear closure test requires a separate computation (departures/latitudes or inverse between start and end) that gets skipped under time pressure.
  • Exam-day guideBring the original, unexpired ID matching the name on your application.