The Principles of Surveying Exam

The Principles of Surveying Exam, aka the PS exam, is the 2nd exam on the road to becoming a Professional Land Surveyor.

To pass this exam the successful candidate will need to have learned and comprehended a very broad range of information. This exam builds on the things one should have learned in the first exam.

So anyone who can pass this exam will know everything they need to know to be a PLS, right? Wrong. Each state has it's own state specific exam. The national exam does not cover jurisdictional specifics. Instead the questions will be more broad based in nature.

Here is the NCEES list of exam topics with a % the subject area.

Knowledge		Approximate Percentage of the Examination
I. Standards and Specifications		15%
A. Federal statutes, laws, rules and regulations
B. U.S. Public Land Survey System
C. U.S. National Map Accuracy Standards
D. ALTA/ACSM Surveys
E. Geodetic control network and mapping accuracy standards
F. FEMA
II. Legal Principles		25%
A. Common/case law boundary principles
B. Sequential and simultaneous conveyances
C. U.S. Public Land Survey System
D. Controlling elements in legal descriptions
E. Riparian and littoral rights
F. Property title issues (e.g., encumbrances, interpretation, deficiencies)
G. Sovereign land rights (e.g., navigable waters, eminent domain)
H. Prescriptive rights/adverse possession
I. Easement rights
J. Parol evidence
Knowledge	Approximate Percentage of the Examination
III. Professional Survey Practices	30%
A. Research	8%
1. Public/private record sources
2. Project planning (e.g., photogrammetric, geodetic, boundary)
3. Control datums and easement rights
4. Control network accuracy standards
B. Field Procedures	8%
1. Instrument operations and usage
2. Monumentation (e.g., identification, classification, perpetuation)
3. Survey control (e.g., boundary, topographic, photogrammetric)
4. GPS operations
5. Construction staking
C. Calculations and Compilations	7%
1. Mapping methods and/or projections
2. Graphical terrain representations
3. Geoid, ellipsoid, and orthometric heights
4. State Plane Coordinate Systems
5. GPS data reduction and analysis
6. Control network calculations, analysis and adjustments
7. Determination of bearings/azimuths
8. Area/volume calculations
Knowledge	Approximate Percentage of the Examination
9. Horizontal and vertical alignment calculations
10. Construction staking calculations (e.g., plan interpretation)
D. Documentation	7%
1. Survey maps/plats
2. Survey reports
3. Descriptions
IV. Business/Professional Practices	15%
A. Project planning (e.g., parameters, costs)
B. Contracts
C. Risk management (e.g., liability, safety procedures, insurance)
D. Ethics
E. Communications (oral, written, graphical)
F. Quality assurance procedures
V. Types of Surveys	15%
A. ALTA/ACSM surveys
B. Control and geodetic surveys
C. Construction surveys (e.g., construction calculations and staking)
D. Boundary surveys
E. Route and right-of-way surveys
F. Topographic surveys by field methods
G. Topographic surveys by photogrammetry

It may take some time, but I will be taking a closer look at these various areas in future posts.

Larry P