PA Land Surveyor common mistakes
PA Land Surveyor · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating the PS exam as a math test and working every problem to a final numeric answer before checking units, rather than tracking units and significant figures through each step.
Candidates come from field and office practice where software handles units, and they assume the exam rewards raw computation. The PS exam is built around judgment and defensible answers, and many distractors are correct arithmetic with wrong units or precision.
What to do instead
Before computing, write the target unit and the expected magnitude. Carry units through every conversion, and after computing compare the result against a rough order-of-magnitude estimate. Practice converting between degrees-minutes-seconds and decimal degrees, and between US survey feet and meters, until it is automatic.
Applying a single closure or adjustment method from memory (for example, compass rule) without checking whether the traverse geometry or stated conditions call for transit rule, least squares, or a simple angular-only adjustment.
Candidates memorize one procedure from a textbook or office template and never compare methods. Exam items often give a traverse where the chosen method changes the answer, or where the angular misclosure should be distributed before linear adjustment.
What to do instead
For each traverse problem, first compute angular misclosure and compare it to the allowable based on the stated standard. Then decide whether linear misclosure needs adjustment and which method the item implies. Work through at least one full example of each method and compare results on the same traverse.
Confusing geodetic, state plane, and ground coordinates, and reporting distances or areas in the wrong frame without stating the projection, datum, or scale factor used.
Modern practice mixes GNSS-derived coordinates with total station ground measurements, and candidates rarely compute combined scale factors by hand. The exam tests whether the candidate knows which surface a distance refers to and how to reduce it.
What to do instead
Drill the reduction chain: grid to ellipsoid (grid scale factor), ellipsoid to ground (elevation factor), and combined factor. Always state the datum (NAD83, NAVD88) and projection when reporting coordinates. Practice converting a measured ground distance to grid distance and back, and computing state plane scale factors from given northing and easting.
Skipping boundary law hierarchy and jumping straight to the written deed calls, ignoring senior rights, natural monuments, and the order of evidence.
Candidates treat boundary retracement as reading a deed and staking the numbers. The exam tests the priority of evidence: natural monuments, artificial monuments, courses and distances, then area, along with seniority and acquiescence where applicable.
What to do instead
Memorize and apply the hierarchy of evidence in order, and practice explaining why a call yields to a monument. For each scenario, identify the original survey, the senior conveyance, and any conflicting junior call before computing anything.
Assuming a recorded plat or deed is conclusive and failing to check for gaps, overlaps, and unrecorded interests before issuing an opinion on a boundary or area.
Candidates rely on the record document as the whole truth because that is how parcel data is often consumed in practice. Exam items deliberately include a gap or overlap created by independent surveys or a discrepancy between the plat and the field evidence.
What to do instead
Build a checklist: compile all adjoiners, check each common line for agreement, and compute any gap or overlap explicitly. State who holds record title to a gap or overlap under the applicable rule, and note that the surveyor locates evidence rather than deciding title.
Treating the PLSS as a simple grid and applying standard aliquot-part rules without checking for fractional lots, government corners, and special instructions in the field notes.
Candidates learn the ideal township diagram and never work irregular sections. The exam uses sections with meander lines, fractional lots, or lost corners to test whether the candidate knows the rules for subdivision of sections and restoration of lost corners.
What to do instead
Practice subdividing a section into aliquot parts and computing areas when the section is irregular. Review the rules for restoring lost corners by proportion and single-proportion methods, and know when a corner is existent, lost, or obliterated. Work through a meander line example.
Ignoring vertical datum and geoid issues: mixing orthometric and ellipsoid heights, or failing to apply a geoid model when converting GNSS-derived heights.
GNSS gives ellipsoid heights and leveling gives orthometric heights, and candidates who work in one system rarely convert. Exam items test whether the candidate knows the relationship among ellipsoid height, orthometric height, and geoid separation.
What to do instead
Memorize the relationship H equals h minus N, and practice converting between ellipsoid and orthometric heights using a given geoid separation. Know that NAVD88 is orthometric and that a geoid model is required for GNSS-derived elevations. Check the sign convention on every conversion.
Answering questions about professional responsibility, standards of care, and records by intuition rather than by the specific duty owed to the client, the public, or the board.
Candidates focus on technical content and treat ethics as common sense. The exam tests concrete obligations: sealing only work you supervised, reporting unprofessional conduct, handling conflicts of interest, and retaining records.
What to do instead
Review the obligations that attach to the seal, the duty to report violations, and the limits of competence. For each scenario, identify the affected party and the specific duty. Practice writing a one-sentence justification for each answer citing the duty, not the outcome.
Underestimating time management: spending too long on one hard computation and leaving later conceptual items unanswered, or failing to use the reference material efficiently.
The exam is long and mixed, and candidates who are strong in computation over-invest in a single item. Many items are quick conceptual questions that reward a fast, confident answer.
What to do instead
Take timed practice sets that mix computation and concept items. Set a per-item budget, flag and move on from any item exceeding it, and return at the end. Practice locating formulas and tables in the provided reference material so lookups take seconds, not minutes.
Misreading the question stem: answering what should be done in practice rather than what the item asks, or missing qualifiers such as 'most nearly', 'least', or 'not'.
Candidates read quickly under time pressure and pattern-match to familiar problems. Distractors are built around plausible practice answers that do not match the specific wording.
What to do instead
Underline the operative verb and any qualifier before solving. Restate the question in your own words in one sentence. After selecting an answer, re-read the stem to confirm the answer matches what was asked, and check that 'most nearly' answers reflect rounding to the stated precision.