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PS Surveying practice questions

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Question 1Legal principles and professional practice

Which element of adverse possession requires that the claimant's use be without the true owner's permission?

  1. Open and notorious
  2. Exclusive
  3. Continuous
  4. Hostile Correct answer.

Explanation

Hostility means the claimant possessed without the owner's permission and under a claim of right. The other elements address duration, exclusion of others, and visibility of the use.

Question 2Legal principles and professional practice

In a boundary retracement, when a deed distance conflicts with an original monument called for in the deed, the surveyor generally should give controlling weight to the:

  1. Adjoiner's fence line
  2. Area computed from the deed
  3. Original monument Correct answer.
  4. Record distance

Explanation

Original monuments are generally the best evidence of a boundary and control over courses, distances, and area. Distances and area are used when the monument evidence is missing or unreliable.

Question 3Legal principles and professional practice

Under typical state surveying practice laws, a person must hold a professional land surveyor license to:

  1. Appraise residential real estate
  2. Survey boundaries for others Correct answer.
  3. Inspect septic systems
  4. Prepare a mortgage loan estimate

Explanation

State practice acts reserve boundary surveying for the public to licensed land surveyors. Appraisal, septic inspection, and loan estimates are regulated under other authorities.

Question 4Legal principles and professional practice

For a non-navigable stream, the boundary between abutting landowners is generally presumed to be the:

  1. Low water mark on the owner's side
  2. Meander line shown on the government plat
  3. Thread (centerline) of the stream Correct answer.
  4. Ordinary high water mark on each bank

Explanation

At common law, a non-navigable stream boundary runs to the thread or centerline, subject to state law. Meander lines are not boundaries, and the ordinary high water mark is used for navigable waters.

Question 5Legal principles and professional practice

An easement that benefits the owner of a particular parcel in the use of that parcel is known as:

  1. A revocable license
  2. A profit a prendre
  3. An easement appurtenant Correct answer.
  4. An easement in gross for one person

Explanation

An easement appurtenant attaches to and benefits a dominant parcel. An easement in gross benefits a person, a license is revocable permission, and a profit allows removal of resources.

Question 6Legal principles and professional practice

In a metes-and-bounds description, the survey begins at the:

  1. Section corner
  2. Point of beginning Correct answer.
  3. Center of the section
  4. Closing corner

Explanation

A metes-and-bounds description starts at a point of beginning, follows calls for course and distance, and closes on that point. Section corners, closing corners, and section centers are features of the public land survey system.

Question 7Legal principles and professional practice

Recording a deed in the public land records generally gives subsequent purchasers:

  1. Inquiry notice only
  2. No notice unless they read the deed
  3. Actual notice only after inspection
  4. Constructive notice of the record Correct answer.

Explanation

Recording an instrument gives constructive notice to later purchasers, whether or not they actually read the record. Actual notice is what a person actually knows, and inquiry notice comes from circumstances prompting investigation.

Question 8Legal principles and professional practice

A land surveyor's professional seal on a plat ordinarily signifies that the work was:

  1. Guaranteed to be free of all boundary disputes
  2. Approved by the adjoining landowners
  3. Prepared under a licensed surveyor's charge Correct answer.
  4. Reviewed by the county recorder for legal sufficiency

Explanation

The seal identifies the licensed surveyor responsible for the work and shows it was prepared by or under that licensee's charge. It is not a guarantee against disputes, and recorders do not approve legal sufficiency.

Question 9Legal principles and professional practice

A court is most likely to recognize a boundary by agreement when the adjoining owners:

  1. Agreed on an uncertain line and honored it for years Correct answer.
  2. Have never discussed the line but rely on a recorded deed
  3. Dispute a line, hire surveyors, and then do nothing
  4. Recorded a quitclaim deed to a different parcel

Explanation

Boundary by agreement requires uncertainty about the true line, an agreement to fix it, and performance or possession consistent with the agreed line. A deed or an unperformed agreement alone does not establish the doctrine.

Question 10Legal principles and professional practice

Which element distinguishes a prescriptive easement from adverse possession?

  1. The use need not be exclusive Correct answer.
  2. The use must be open and notorious
  3. The use must be continuous
  4. The use must last the statutory period

Explanation

A prescriptive easement requires open, notorious, continuous, and adverse use, but generally not exclusivity. Adverse possession adds the requirement of exclusive possession.

Question 11Legal principles and professional practice

A purchaser sees a well-worn path crossing the parcel and a gate used by a neighbor, but the deed contains no easement. The purchaser is most likely charged with:

  1. No notice because easements must be recorded
  2. Actual notice only if the neighbor tells the purchaser
  3. Inquiry notice of a possible easement Correct answer.
  4. Constructive notice from the neighbor's deed

Explanation

Visible use that would prompt a reasonable purchaser to investigate creates inquiry notice of possible unrecorded rights. Constructive notice arises from the recorded chain of title, and actual notice requires actual knowledge.

Question 12Legal principles and professional practice

At common law, dedication of land to public use requires:

  1. A deed to the local government and a survey
  2. A condemnation judgment and compensation
  3. A recorded subdivision plat and payment of a fee
  4. Owner intent to dedicate and public acceptance Correct answer.

Explanation

Common-law dedication requires the owner's intent to dedicate and acceptance by the public. A plat or deed may evidence intent, but condemnation is a separate sovereign process.

Question 13Legal principles and professional practice

In the public land survey system, when a section is found to contain more or less than 640 acres, the excess or deficiency is generally distributed:

  1. Proportionately among the section's lots Correct answer.
  2. By redrawing the section from the center
  3. Only to the original grantee
  4. Entirely to the northeast quarter

Explanation

Proportionate measurement distributes the excess or deficiency among the lots in the section according to the applicable subdivision rules. It does not assign all of the error to one lot or redraw the section.

Question 14Legal principles and professional practice

A retracing surveyor finds an original stone at a section corner and a later fence 12 feet away. The surveyor should generally:

  1. Hold the fence because it is more recent
  2. Average the stone and fence positions
  3. Hold the original stone and investigate the fence Correct answer.
  4. Reject both and set a new corner at the record distance

Explanation

An original monument is the best evidence of the corner and controls over later occupation lines such as a fence. The surveyor should still investigate the fence because it may show an agreed or practical boundary, but it does not automatically displace the original corner.

Question 15Legal principles and professional practice

When a stream suddenly changes course during a flood and cuts a new channel, the boundary of land abutting the old channel generally:

  1. Remains at the old channel Correct answer.
  2. Is extinguished
  3. Follows the ordinary high water mark of the new channel
  4. Moves to the center of the new channel

Explanation

Avulsion is a sudden and perceptible change in a watercourse, and the boundary stays at the old channel. Gradual accretion or erosion can move a boundary, but a flood cutting a new channel does not.

Question 16Legal principles and professional practice

A lake gradually recedes over many years, exposing additional land. Under the common-law doctrine of reliction, the exposed land generally belongs to:

  1. The first person to fence it
  2. The owner of the nearest upland only if a deed says so
  3. The state, because all lake beds are public
  4. The riparian owner Correct answer.

Explanation

Reliction is the gradual recession of water that exposes land, and the riparian owner generally acquires the exposed land. Avulsion is sudden and does not change the boundary, and fencing does not create title.

Question 17Legal principles and professional practice

The Just Compensation Clause of the Fifth Amendment generally requires the government to pay:

  1. The owner's original purchase price
  2. The value of the property to the government
  3. Fair market value of the property taken Correct answer.
  4. Whatever the owner demands

Explanation

Just compensation is measured by the fair market value of the property at the time of the taking. The owner's cost, the government's special value, and the owner's demand are not the legal measure.

Question 18Legal principles and professional practice

In a negligence action against a land surveyor, the standard of care is generally the skill and care used by:

  1. A perfect surveyor under ideal conditions
  2. An engineer licensed in any discipline
  3. The surveyor's own customary practice, even if below average
  4. A reasonably competent surveyor in the same practice area Correct answer.

Explanation

A professional must exercise the skill and care of an ordinarily competent surveyor under similar circumstances. Personal custom does not lower the standard, and perfection is not required.

Question 19Legal principles and professional practice

An easement by necessity typically arises when a parcel:

  1. Is used by the public for recreation
  2. Becomes landlocked and lacks access Correct answer.
  3. Is subject to a mortgage foreclosure
  4. Has a recorded express easement

Explanation

An easement by necessity requires a severance of common ownership and strict necessity, typically landlocking. Express easements arise by grant, and public recreation or foreclosure does not create necessity.

Question 20Legal principles and professional practice

Two deeds from a common grantor overlap. The first deed was recorded, and the second grantee had actual notice of it. Under a race-notice recording statute, the boundary generally favors:

  1. Neither grantee; the overlap becomes public land
  2. The first grantee, because the second grantee had notice Correct answer.
  3. The second grantee, because the second deed is later
  4. The second grantee, because recording statutes always protect the later buyer

Explanation

Under a race-notice statute, a later purchaser wins only by recording first and taking without notice. Because the second grantee had actual notice, the first grantee's senior deed prevails.

Question 21Legal principles and professional practice

An original section corner is lost and cannot be recovered. The surveyor should generally reestablish it by:

  1. Using the center of the section as the corner
  2. Adopting the nearest fence intersection
  3. Setting it at the record distance from the nearest section corner
  4. Proportionate measurement between existing corners Correct answer.

Explanation

A lost corner is reestablished by proportionate measurement between the nearest existing original corners that can be identified. A single record distance, the section center, or a fence does not preserve the original survey's geometry.

Question 22Legal principles and professional practice

In a government survey, a meander line along a navigable river is generally:

  1. The legal boundary of the upland owner
  2. A line run to compute lot area, not the boundary Correct answer.
  3. A line that replaces the ordinary high water mark
  4. A line that fixes the boundary at the water's edge forever

Explanation

Meander lines are run to compute the area of fractional lots and are not boundary lines. For navigable waters the boundary is typically the ordinary high water mark, not the meander line.

Question 23Legal principles and professional practice

A wild deed is recorded outside the chain of title. Under most recording statutes, that recording generally:

  1. Makes the deed valid against the original owner
  2. Does not give constructive notice Correct answer.
  3. Gives constructive notice to everyone
  4. Cures the defect in the grantor's title

Explanation

A recording outside the chain of title, often called a wild deed, generally does not give constructive notice because a reasonable title search would not find it. Recording does not cure a grantor's defective title, though actual notice may bind a purchaser.

Question 24Legal principles and professional practice

Boundary by estoppel may be established when one owner:

  1. Relies to their detriment on the other owner's acquiescence Correct answer.
  2. Hires a surveyor who unilaterally sets a new line without notice
  3. Pays taxes on the disputed strip for one year
  4. Records a deed that includes the disputed strip

Explanation

Boundary by estoppel requires one owner's representation or acquiescence and the other owner's detrimental reliance on it. Recording a deed, paying taxes briefly, or a surveyor's unilateral line does not by itself create estoppel.

Question 25Legal principles and professional practice

The guiding principle of a retracement survey is to:

  1. Correct errors made by the original survey
  2. Create new lines that best fit modern occupation
  3. Establish lines by averaging all available evidence
  4. Follow in the footsteps of the original surveyor Correct answer.

Explanation

A retracement seeks to locate the boundaries as originally established, following the original surveyor's footsteps and evidence. It does not correct the original survey or create lines based on modern occupation, and averaging evidence is not a substitute for the hierarchy of evidence.

Question 26Legal principles and professional practice

To acquire title by adverse possession under the traditional common-law rule, the claimant's possession must generally be:

  1. Marked by a licensed surveyor and filed with the county
  2. Approved in writing by each adjoining landowner of record
  3. Recorded in the county land records before the statutory period expires
  4. Open, hostile, exclusive, and continuous for the statutory period Correct answer.

Explanation

Adverse possession requires possession that is open and notorious, hostile to the owner, exclusive, and continuous for the statutory period. Recording, neighbor approval, and a survey are not elements of the doctrine. Permission from the owner generally defeats the hostility element.

Question 27Legal principles and professional practice

A deed is generally considered effective to transfer title only when it is:

  1. Signed by the grantee and acknowledged before a notary public
  2. Recorded in the county where the land lies
  3. Delivered by the grantor with present intent to convey Correct answer.
  4. Approved by the local planning commission

Explanation

A deed becomes operative when the grantor delivers it with the present intent that it take effect as a conveyance. Recording protects the grantee against later claimants but is not required for validity. A grantee's signature and planning approval are ordinarily unnecessary for a simple transfer.

Question 28Legal principles and professional practice

An easement that benefits a particular parcel of land and passes automatically with the transfer of that parcel is called an:

  1. Prescriptive easement
  2. License
  3. Easement appurtenant Correct answer.
  4. Easement in gross

Explanation

An easement appurtenant is tied to a dominant parcel and benefits whoever owns that parcel, so it passes with the land. An easement in gross benefits a person or entity rather than a parcel. A license is merely permission and is generally revocable.

Question 29Legal principles and professional practice

A title search in a grantor-grantee index generally traces:

  1. Survey monuments set along the property boundaries
  2. The assessed value of the parcel over time
  3. Each transfer of the parcel backward through successive owners Correct answer.
  4. Only the current owner's name for the past ten years of records

Explanation

A grantor-grantee index is searched by following each grantor's name backward to link successive transfers into a chain of title. The search is not limited to ten years or to the current owner. Assessed values and monument records do not establish the chain of title.

Question 30Legal principles and professional practice

Under a race-notice recording statute, a subsequent purchaser prevails over an earlier unrecorded interest only if the purchaser:

  1. Records first and lacks notice of the earlier interest Correct answer.
  2. Takes without notice, regardless of whether the deed is recorded
  3. Paid fair market value and took physical possession of the parcel
  4. Records the deed first, regardless of whether notice was received

Explanation

A race-notice statute protects a later purchaser who both records before the earlier interest and takes without notice of it. Recording alone is not enough if the purchaser had notice. Notice alone is not enough if the purchaser failed to record first.

Question 31Legal principles and professional practice

A neighbor who is given oral permission to cross a parcel for a season holds:

  1. An easement by prescription
  2. An easement by necessity
  3. A fee simple determinable
  4. A revocable license Correct answer.

Explanation

Permission to enter land for a limited purpose creates a license, which is generally revocable and does not create an interest in land. A prescriptive easement requires use that is adverse and continued for the statutory period. An easement by necessity arises from landlocked conditions rather than informal permission.

Question 32Legal principles and professional practice

Where a river boundary shifts gradually and imperceptibly through erosion, the boundary line generally:

  1. Remains at the original surveyed meander line
  2. Moves with the thread of the stream as the bank recedes Correct answer.
  3. Is fixed by the ordinary high-water mark at the date of the deed
  4. Moves only if the change is confirmed by a new government survey

Explanation

Gradual and imperceptible changes caused by erosion and accretion move the water boundary with the stream. A meander line is generally a line of reference rather than the actual boundary. Avulsion, by contrast, does not move the boundary.

Question 33Legal principles and professional practice

When an express easement is silent on maintenance, the cost of maintaining the easement is generally borne by:

  1. The local municipality if the easement serves more than one parcel
  2. The parties in proportion to their use of the easement Correct answer.
  3. The dominant owner alone, because the easement is appurtenant
  4. The servient owner alone, because the burden runs with the land

Explanation

Absent an agreement, the owners who use an express easement generally share the reasonable cost of maintaining it in proportion to their use. The servient owner has no general duty to maintain the easement for the dominant owner's benefit. Municipal responsibility does not arise merely because several parcels use the way.

Question 34Legal principles and professional practice

An agreement to transfer an interest in land is generally enforceable only if it is:

  1. Witnessed by two disinterested landowners
  2. Recorded within thirty days of execution
  3. In writing and signed by the party to be charged Correct answer.
  4. Accompanied by a boundary survey

Explanation

The statute of frauds requires land transfer agreements to be evidenced by a writing signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought. Witnesses, prompt recording, and a survey are not general validity requirements. Recording affects priority, not whether the agreement satisfies the statute of frauds.

Question 35Legal principles and professional practice

When a deed description is ambiguous, a court will generally admit extrinsic evidence to:

  1. Establish a new boundary that divides the difference
  2. Rewrite the description to match the most recent boundary survey
  3. Replace monuments with recorded distances
  4. Determine the parties' intent as of the date of the deed Correct answer.

Explanation

If a deed description is ambiguous, courts admit extrinsic evidence to ascertain what the parties intended when the deed was made. The court interprets the existing description rather than rewriting it. Monuments generally control over courses and distances when the two conflict.

Question 36Legal principles and professional practice

A deed grants a 'right-of-way for ingress and egress' without stating a width. The width is generally:

  1. Ten feet, as a matter of law
  2. The width of the nearest public road
  3. The full width of the servient parcel
  4. A reasonable width sufficient for the intended use Correct answer.

Explanation

When an easement's width is not specified, the law implies a width that is reasonably necessary for the purpose of the easement. There is no fixed statutory width in most jurisdictions. The servient owner retains use of the land outside the reasonable width of the way.

Question 37Legal principles and professional practice

A surveyor is asked to survey a boundary that would benefit a parcel the surveyor secretly owns. The surveyor should:

  1. Delegate the fieldwork to an employee and sign the plat
  2. Disclose the interest and decline if it creates a conflict Correct answer.
  3. Proceed if the survey meets the minimum technical standards
  4. Proceed and disclose the interest only if asked

Explanation

Surveyors owe a duty of candor and should avoid conflicts of interest that could impair independent professional judgment. A concealed ownership interest is material to the client and to the public. If disclosure does not resolve the conflict, the surveyor should decline the engagement.

Question 38Legal principles and professional practice

Under the shelter rule, a purchaser who takes from a protected bona fide purchaser:

  1. Must record before the prior interest to be protected
  2. Takes subject to all prior interests because of the notice received
  3. Takes free of prior unrecorded interests despite having notice Correct answer.
  4. Is protected only if the purchase price is above market value

Explanation

The shelter rule lets a transferee step into the protection enjoyed by a bona fide purchaser, even if the transferee has notice of the earlier interest. The rule supports the free transfer of property by preserving the value of the bona fide purchaser's title. The transferee need not independently qualify as a bona fide purchaser.

Question 39Legal principles and professional practice

A surveyor prepares a plat for a developer, knowing that a lender will rely on it to fund the project. The surveyor may be liable to the lender under:

  1. No theory, because privity of contract is always required
  2. Negligence, if the lender's reliance was reasonably foreseeable Correct answer.
  3. Breach of warranty, because plats carry an implied warranty of accuracy
  4. Strict liability, because surveying is an ultrahazardous activity

Explanation

Many jurisdictions permit a foreseeable third-party relying on a surveyor's work to recover in negligence when reliance was reasonable. Surveying is not generally treated as an ultrahazardous activity giving rise to strict liability. Privity is not universally required where the professional knows the work will be used by a specific third party.

Question 40Legal principles and professional practice

The doctrine of practical location may fix a boundary when the owners:

  1. Hire a surveyor who sets a new monument at the disputed line
  2. Agree in writing and file the agreement with the county recorder
  3. Record a plat showing the line they prefer
  4. Have long treated a line as the boundary without objection Correct answer.

Explanation

Practical location, often related to acquiescence, may establish a boundary that adjoining owners have long recognized and treated as controlling. The doctrine rests on the parties' conduct and the passage of time rather than a recorded plat. A surveyor's unilateral monument does not by itself establish the boundary.

Question 41Measurement and data acquisition

Which surveying instrument is designed primarily to measure horizontal and vertical angles?

  1. A clinometer
  2. A theodolite Correct answer.
  3. A planimeter
  4. A stereoscope

Explanation

A theodolite carries a horizontal and a vertical graduated circle with a telescope, so it reads both horizontal and vertical angles at a station. Instruments such as the planimeter and stereoscope serve entirely different purposes.

Question 42Measurement and data acquisition

A Gunter's chain, traditionally used for distance measurement, has what total length?

  1. 66 ft Correct answer.
  2. 80 ft
  3. 50 ft
  4. 100 ft

Explanation

The Gunter's chain is 66 ft long and is divided into 100 links, each 0.66 ft. This length was chosen because 66 ft relates conveniently to both statute miles and acres.

Question 43Measurement and data acquisition

A line has a bearing of N 45° E. What is its azimuth measured clockwise from north?

  1. 45° Correct answer.
  2. 135°
  3. 315°
  4. 225°

Explanation

Azimuths are measured clockwise from north, and a bearing of N 45° E lies in the northeast quadrant, so the clockwise angle from north is simply 45°. The quadrant lettering and the azimuth agree directly in the NE quadrant.

Question 44Measurement and data acquisition

In leveling, a benchmark is best described as:

  1. a graduated rod used to transfer elevations
  2. a movable staff plate placed on soft ground
  3. a temporary turning point used for a single instrument setup
  4. a permanent point of known elevation Correct answer.

Explanation

A benchmark is a stable, permanently marked point whose elevation has been determined by a reliable survey and from which other elevations are referenced. Turning points and staff plates are temporary aids used only during the level run.

Question 45Measurement and data acquisition

Why is a turning point (change point) used in a leveling run?

  1. To provide a stable base for the tripod legs
  2. To measure the horizontal angle between two stations
  3. To let the instrument be moved while the elevation run continues Correct answer.
  4. To mark the location of a permanent benchmark

Explanation

A turning point is a firm, identifiable point on which a foresight is taken before the instrument is moved and from which a backsight is taken afterwards, allowing the level run to continue. It is not a permanent reference and involves no angle measurement.

Question 46Measurement and data acquisition

A total station combines which two core measurement functions?

  1. Barometric heighting and magnetic compassing
  2. Satellite ranging and inertial navigation
  3. Electronic distance measurement and electronic angle measurement Correct answer.
  4. Photogrammetric plotting and orthorectification

Explanation

A total station integrates an electronic theodolite with an electronic distance meter, so it records horizontal and vertical angles together with slope distance in a single observation. The onboard computer then reduces these to coordinates.

Question 47Measurement and data acquisition

A GNSS receiver determines its position primarily by:

  1. interpolating between published benchmark coordinates
  2. measuring the phase of ground-based radio navigation towers
  3. timing signals from satellites whose positions are known Correct answer.
  4. measuring magnetic field strength from three or more beacons

Explanation

GNSS satellites broadcast coded signals with known transmission times, and the receiver measures signal travel time to compute ranges to several satellites. Intersecting those ranges from known satellite positions yields the receiver coordinates.

Question 48Measurement and data acquisition

On a topographic map, contour lines that are closely spaced indicate:

  1. a closed depression with no drainage
  2. a uniform gentle slope
  3. a steep slope Correct answer.
  4. a nearly level area

Explanation

Contour interval is fixed, so the horizontal distance between successive contours shrinks as the ground rises more steeply. Closely spaced contours therefore represent a steep slope.

Question 49Measurement and data acquisition

A level is set midway between two points. The backsight on point A reads 1.525 m and the foresight on point B reads 1.235 m. Which statement about the elevation difference is correct?

  1. B is 2.760 m higher than A
  2. B is 0.290 m lower than A
  3. B is 1.235 m higher than A
  4. B is 0.290 m higher than A Correct answer.

Explanation

The elevation difference equals backsight minus foresight, that is 1.525 − 1.235 = 0.290 m. A smaller foresight means the forward point lies higher, so B is 0.290 m above A.

Question 50Measurement and data acquisition

How is the combined correction for curvature and refraction applied to a leveling rod reading?

  1. It is added to the rod reading
  2. It is applied only when the sight exceeds 1 km
  3. It is subtracted from the rod reading Correct answer.
  4. It is converted into a correction to the horizontal angle

Explanation

Curvature makes a horizontal line of sight strike the rod above the level surface, so the reading is too large; refraction bends the line of sight downward and only partly offsets this. The net correction, about 0.0675D² with D in kilometres, is subtracted from the reading.