Questions About Land Surveying

What is land surveying and what do Land Surveyors do?

The national surveying organization, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, defines surveying as follows:

               Land surveying is the art and science of: 1) reestablishing cadastral surveys and land

               boundaries based on documents of record and historical evidence; 2) planning,

               designing and establishing property boundaries; and 3) certifying surveys as required by

               statute or local ordinance such as subdivision plats, registered land surveys, judicial

               surveys, and space delineation.  Land surveying also includes services such as mapping

               and related data accumulation; construction layout surveys; precision measurements of

               length, angle elevation, area and volume; horizontal and vertical control systems; and the

               analysis and utilization of survey data.

Not only does land surveying include the highly visible land surveying work performed by personnel in the field it also includes intensive research, calculations, negotiations and mapping by office personnel. It generally takes a minimum of 2 hours of office work for each hour of fieldwork.  Land surveying is a science when it comes to measurements and an art when determining the position of real property boundaries.

Land Surveying in the State of California requires a Professional Land Surveying License.  This license is issued by the State of California after meeting rigorous experience requirements and passing a difficult exam administered by the State.  After passing the exam each Land Surveyor is issued a license number unique to the individual.  Once licensed the Land Surveyor is governed by the rules of the California Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and the rules and laws of the Business and Professions Code of the State of California.