PS Surveying common mistakes
PS Surveying · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When a deed bearing/distance conflicts with a found monument, the candidate computes from the deed calls and treats the monument as erroneous.
Deed courses look mathematically precise, and candidates default to math instead of the common-law hierarchy of evidence.
What to do instead
Memorize and apply the hierarchy: natural monuments, artificial monuments, courses (bearings/distances), then area; explicitly state in practice problems that a found monument of the original survey controls over record calls.
Applies the combined curvature and refraction correction with a positive sign, or omits it entirely on sights of several hundred feet.
The formula is memorized as a magnitude without the sign convention, and short sights make it seem negligible.
What to do instead
Use C&R = 0.0206 D^2 (D in hundreds of feet); the combined correction is always subtracted from the rod reading (negative). Show the sign in every leveling computation and check whether D exceeds about 300 ft before ignoring it.
Converts between feet and meters using the wrong foot definition, or mixes U.S. survey feet and international feet within one coordinate set.
Both are called 'feet,' and the difference is small enough to pass unnoticed until area or state-plane coordinates are checked.
What to do instead
Commit to memory: 1 U.S. survey foot = 1200/3937 m; 1 international foot = 0.3048 m. Identify the project datum/unit statement first, then convert once and carry the unit label through all computations.
Confuses azimuth and bearing, or assigns the wrong quadrant when converting between them.
The two systems are visually similar, and quadrant signs are easy to reverse under time pressure.
What to do instead
Draw the quadrant diagram for every conversion: azimuth is clockwise from north 0°–360°; bearing is acute from north or south toward east or west. Check the result against the sketch before proceeding.
Omits tape corrections for temperature, tension, or sag, or applies one with the wrong sign.
Candidates memorize correction formulas separately and never assemble a full corrected-distance calculation.
What to do instead
Use a standard checklist: correction for temperature Ct = 0.0000065 L (T−T0); tension Cp = (P−P0)L/(AE); sag Cs = −w²L³/(24P²). Apply signs as defined, sum all corrections, and verify the corrected length is plausible.
Treats a meander line as the legal boundary of a riparian parcel.
The meander line appears on the plat as a surveyed line along the water, so it is mistaken for the boundary.
What to do instead
State that a meander line is only a reference for approximating the water boundary; the legal boundary is the water's edge/ordinary high water, subject to accretion, reliction, and avulsion rules. Practice distinguishing meander line from boundary in plat-reading problems.
Fails to distinguish a latent ambiguity from a patent ambiguity when construing a deed.
Both terms describe conflicting deed language, and the rules for resolving them differ.
What to do instead
Define them explicitly: a patent ambiguity appears on the face of the deed (resolved by rules of construction, e.g., monuments over courses); a latent ambiguity emerges only when applied to the ground (resolved by extrinsic evidence). Match the fact pattern to the correct category before answering.
Signs and seals a survey or plat prepared by unlicensed staff without direct supervision, review, and control.
Candidates focus on technical content and overlook the professional-responsibility rules tested in the legal/professional domain.
What to do instead
Memorize the licensure rule: a licensee may seal only work performed by the licensee or by subordinates under the licensee's direct supervision and review. In ethics items, identify who had responsible charge before deciding whether sealing is proper.
Submits a plat that lacks a basis of bearings, a closure statement, or ties to monuments and record corners.
Candidates concentrate on the geometry and forget the statutory/platting checklist items.
What to do instead
Use a pre-submittal checklist: basis of bearings, closure ratio/statement, monument ties, area, adjoining record information, north arrow, scale, and signature block. Verify each item against the plat before considering it complete.
Distributes traverse misclosure by an arbitrary or unstated method, or applies the compass rule where the transit rule is appropriate without justification.
The adjustment step is treated as a formality, and the candidate does not connect the method to the relative precision of angles versus distances.
What to do instead
State the adjustment method explicitly. Use compass (Bowditch) rule when angles and distances are of comparable relative precision; use transit rule when angles are significantly more precise than distances. Show the misclosure, the adjustment table, and the adjusted coordinates.