Free NC Land Surveyor Exam Flashcards

21 NCAC 56 .1603(1): angular error of closure must not exceed 10 seconds times the square root of the number of angles turned, and the ratio of precision must not exceed 1:20,000. Under the positional-accuracy alternative, neither axis of the 95 percent confidence error ellipse may exceed 0.05 feet (0.015 meters) plus 30 ppm. Distinction: Class AA is for traverse networks using permanent points to establish local horizontal control for future use, not for routine boundary work.

21 NCAC 56 .1603(2): angular closure not to exceed 20 seconds times the square root of the number of angles turned; ratio of precision not to exceed 1:10,000. Positional accuracy alternative: neither axis of the 95 percent confidence error ellipse may exceed 0.10 feet (0.030 meters) plus 50 ppm. Class A covers lands that normally lie within a town or city.

21 NCAC 56 .1603(3): angular closure not to exceed 25 seconds times the square root of the number of angles turned; ratio of precision not to exceed 1:7,500. Positional accuracy alternative: neither error-ellipse axis may exceed 0.12 feet (0.037 meters) plus 90 ppm. Class B covers lands in or surrounding the urban properties of a town or city.

21 NCAC 56 .1603(4): angular closure not to exceed 30 seconds times the square root of the number of angles turned; ratio of precision not to exceed 1:5,000. Positional accuracy alternative: neither error-ellipse axis may exceed 0.15 feet (0.046 meters) plus 150 ppm. Distinction: the four classes are assigned from the land's real value, tax value or location - not from the instrument you happen to be using.

21 NCAC 56 .1603 requires each map to contain either a statement of the calculated ratio of precision BEFORE adjustments or a statement of positional accuracy. G.S. 47-30(d) repeats the same either/or for recordable plats. Distinction: it is one or the other, never an adjusted or 'balanced' closure figure - the ratio you publish is the raw, pre-adjustment closure.

21 NCAC 56 .1605(a): the vertical error in feet must not exceed 0.10 (Class A), 0.20 (Class B) or 0.30 (Class C) times the square root of the number of miles run from the reference datum. Distinction: GPS may only be used to obtain Class C vertical surveys, and GPS vertical error must not exceed 5 centimeters relative to the referenced benchmarks at the 95 percent confidence (2 sigma) level under FGDC standards.

21 NCAC 56 .1607(b): class of GPS survey, positional accuracy, type of GPS field procedure (static, kinematic, pseudo-kinematic, RTK, RTK network, OPUS), dates of survey, datum and epoch, designation of fixed-control stations and their positional data, geoid model used, combined grid factor(s), and units. Distinction: on a multi-sheet map only one sheet must carry the certificate, but all other sheets must still be certified.

21 NCAC 56 .1607(c): GPS surveys performed to provide control networks must meet a 95 percent confidence level of positional accuracy for each point relative to the published positions of the control points used, AND must meet the Class AA accuracy standards of Rule .1603. Distinction: GPS used only to set local control on a single parcel is instead held to the class of survey actually being performed under Rule .1603 or .1606.

21 NCAC 56 .1602(g): one or more corners must be tied by azimuths or courses and distances to a horizontal control monument of a United States or State agency survey system (such as the NC Geodetic Survey) where such a monument lies within 2,000 feet of the surveyed entity, with X (easting) and Y (northing) coordinates shown and identified as NAD 83 or NAD 27. Distinction: beyond 2,000 feet you may substitute other natural or artificial monuments, but in every case the tie lines must be sufficient to reproduce the subject lands from the reference points used.

21 NCAC 56 .1602(h) and G.S. 47-30(e): area by estimation, by planimeter, by scale, or copied from another source is not acceptable, and the method actually used must be stated on the plat, description or document. Distinction: the sole exception is a tract containing inaccessible sections, where aerial photographs or other aids may be used for the inaccessible area bounded by natural and visible monuments, with the method stated on the plat.

21 NCAC 56 .1606(c)(1): Class AA 0.033 meter (0.10 foot), Class A 0.5 meter (1.64 feet), Class B 1.0 meter (3.28 feet), Class C 2 meters (6.56 feet), Class D 5 meters (16.40 feet) relative accuracy. Distinction: when no standard is contractually specified, the surveyor must conform the survey to the requirements for a Class B survey.

G.S. 47-30(f)(9): where the plat is the result of a survey, one or more corners must be labeled with X (easting) and Y (northing) coordinates traceable to a published geodetic datum or the NC State Plane Coordinate System, showing the referenced horizontal datum and realization, for example 'NAD 83 (2011)'. Distinction: if the plat bearings are not referenced to the same datum as the coordinates, you must either label a second point and tie the two by a single azimuth or course and distance, or show the bearing conversion in both written and graphical form.

21 NCAC 56 .1602(a): the PLS must spend the time and effort necessary to determine whether there are encroachments, gaps, lappages or other irregularities along each line surveyed. Distinction: if that investigation is not made, the surveyor shall NOT certify to an actual survey of that line, and the plat must carry the appropriate qualification. Under .1602(b) any visible or determined encroachment or easement must be accurately located and shown.

21 NCAC 56 .1602(c): the surveyor must examine the most recent deeds and recorded plats adjacent to the subject property, plus all deeds and plats recorded AFTER the date of the deed or plat on which the survey is based (the survey reference deed or plat). Distinction: it is not enough to pull the adjoiners' current deeds - anything recorded after the reference instrument must also be checked, because that is where later gaps and overlaps appear.

21 NCAC 56 .1602(d): metal stakes or materials of comparable permanence must be placed at all corners of the property. Exception in .1602(e): where a corner falls in a right-of-way, tree, stream, or on a fence post, boulder, stone or similar object, one or more monuments or metal stakes must instead be placed in the boundary so the inaccessible point can be located accurately on the ground and on the map. Under .1602(f), when no monument is found or set for such a point, that fact must be noted.

21 NCAC 56 .1604(d): all plats must be sealed, signed and dated by the professional land surveyor UNLESS the plat is marked 'Preliminary Plat - Not for recordation, conveyances, or sales.' Distinction: the preliminary label is the only route to an unsealed plat, and it simultaneously bars the document from being recorded or used to convey or sell.

Any map NOT certified for recording under G.S. 47-30, and ALL reports of survey, must carry a certificate stating that the map was drawn under the surveyor's supervision from an actual survey, identifying the reference source, indicating boundaries not surveyed, giving the ratio of precision or positional accuracy, and certifying that the map meets the Standards of Practice for Land Surveying in North Carolina (21 NCAC 56 .1600). Distinction: this is the Board-rule certificate, separate from the G.S. 47-30(d) certificate used on recordable plats.

Property designation; name of owner or prospective owner; location including township, county and State; date or dates the survey was conducted; a scale in words or figures; a bargraph; the title source; and a legend depicting nomenclature or symbols not otherwise labeled. Distinction: title source and legend are Board-rule items - the G.S. 47-30(c) recordable-plat title block instead demands the surveyor's name and address with firm name and firm license number, plus dates and descriptions of post-signing revisions.

The seal may be a rubber stamp, embossed seal, computer-generated seal or other facsimile that becomes a permanent addition to the sheet, but the licensee's WRITTEN signature must be placed over or adjacent to the seal - a facsimile signature is not acceptable - and the date of signing must be annotated. Distinction: every sheet of engineering drawings must be certified, while for surveys the firm name, address and license number go on the first sheet or title sheet. Any revision after certification must be described and dated, and separately certified if made by a different licensee. Note: every sheet of both engineering and surveying drawings must carry the licensee certification (.1103(a)(5)); only the FIRM name, address, and license number placement differs - each sheet for engineering versus the first/title sheet for surveying (.1103(a)(6)).

No. 21 NCAC 56 .1105: use of a firm seal is not required for certification and a firm seal is not authorized for use in lieu of the required seal of a professional engineer or professional land surveyor. Using one does not relieve the individual licensee of any requirement or responsibility attaching to the individual's own seal.

A licensee may not seal any plan or document for which the licensee was not in responsible charge through direct control and personal supervision. To be in responsible charge the licensee must (1) have and exercise authority to review, change, reject or approve the work in progress and the final product, (2) be personally aware of the scope, needs, parameters, limitations and special requirements, (3) be able to answer questions about the surveying decisions in detail, and (4) accept full responsibility. Distinction: the burden of demonstrating responsible charge - records, calculations, drawings, field notes - lies on the licensee.

21 NCAC 56 .0901(b)-(c): every firm, partnership, corporation or LLC performing or offering land surveying in North Carolina must have a resident PLS in each separate NC office. 'Resident' means the licensee spends a majority of normal working time in that office, not less than a majority of the operating hours. Distinction: a licensee may be the resident professional at only one place of business unless the licensee owns at least one-third of each business and the Board specifically approves. The entity must notify the Board within 30 days of a change of resident professional and may not market services during any period without one.

21 NCAC 56 .1703: every licensee must obtain 15 PDH units during the renewal period. Effective with the 2024 renewal at least 1 PDH must be in Ethics or Rules of Professional Conduct, and for professional land surveyors an additional 1 PDH must be in the Standards of Practice for Land Surveying. Distinction: a maximum of 15 excess PDH units may be carried forward into the next renewal period, and licensees granted inactive status pay renewal fees but are not subject to the PDH requirement (G.S. 89C-17).

The completed application, including references, transcripts and verifications, must reach the Board office at least 60 days before the exam date. If a seating notice has issued and the applicant fails to appear, the record shows an 'unexcused absence' and the exam fee is forfeited unless the absence was for jury duty or documented physical inability. Results are supplied in writing as pass or fail only. Distinction: a candidate who fails may request in writing within 30 days to review the two-hour state-specific portion at the Board office under staff supervision, limited to one hour.

G.S. 89C-3(7)a lists seven activities: (1) locating, relocating, establishing, laying out or retracing any property line, easement or boundary; (2) locating or laying out the alignment or elevation of fixed works within engineering practice; (3) surveying for the subdivision of a tract, including topography, alignment and grades of streets and incidental drainage, and preparing record plats, field notes and descriptions; (4) determining the position of any survey monument or reference point, or setting, resetting or replacing one; (5) determining the configuration or contour of the earth's surface; (6) geodetic surveying; and (7) creating or modifying LIS/GIS data relative to land surveying practice.

G.S. 89C-3(7)b: the practice of land surveying does not permit design or preparation of specifications for (i) major highways, (ii) wastewater systems, (iii) wastewater or industrial waste treatment works, (iv) pumping or lift stations, (v) water supply, treatment or distribution systems, and (vi) streets or storm sewer systems EXCEPT as incidental to a subdivision. Distinction: the mirror-image limit in G.S. 89C-3(6)b bars an engineer from locating, describing, establishing or reestablishing property lines or land boundary descriptions for conveyance.

Each licensee must obtain a Board-authorized seal bearing the licensee's name, license number and the legend 'professional land surveyor.' Final drawings, specifications, plans and reports must be certified and stamped when issued unless exempt under G.S. 89C-25(7). It is unlawful to affix the seal after a certificate has expired, or to let the seal and signature be affixed to help another person evade the Chapter. Distinction: a licensed professional engineer who practices land surveying must use the LAND SURVEYOR seal, not the engineer seal.

G.S. 89C-24: a corporation or business firm may not practice or offer to practice land surveying in North Carolina unless licensed by the Board, with an application fee not exceeding $100, and it is subject to the same duties and responsibilities as an individual licensee. Distinction: firm licensure never relieves the individual licensees of responsible charge, and a corporation not exempt under G.S. 55B-15 must be incorporated under Chapter 55B, the Professional Corporation Act. Firm certificates are separate from individual licenses.

The Board may reprimand, suspend, refuse to renew or reinstate, revoke, require additional education, or require reexamination for: fraud or deceit in obtaining or renewing a certificate; gross negligence, incompetence or misconduct; conviction of a felony, of a crime with dishonesty as an essential element, of a crime directly related to practice, or of a crime of moral turpitude; violation of the Chapter, the Rules of Professional Conduct or Board rules; being declared insane or incompetent; and professional incompetence. Distinction on penalties: the civil penalty cap is $5,000 for an engineer but only $2,000 for a land surveyor.

G.S. 89C-23 makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor to practice or offer to practice land surveying without licensure, to use the words 'land surveyor' or 'land surveying' or derivatives in a business name outside an exemption, to present or use another's certificate or seal, to give false evidence to the Board, to impersonate a licensee, or to use an expired, revoked or nonexistent certificate. Distinction: the criminal penalty is in addition to, not instead of, the Board's injunctive and civil-penalty remedies.

Individual certificates expire the last day of December; corporation and business firm certificates expire the last day of June. Renewal may be effected during the month immediately following expiration, with a renewal fee set by the Board but capped at $75. Distinction: within the first 12 months after a license becomes invalid it may be reinstated by paying a $100 reinstatement fee plus the renewal fee, but after 12 months the individual must submit a new application and meet all Chapter 89C licensure requirements before resuming practice.

G.S. 89C-14(e): a candidate who fails may apply and be considered for reexamination at the end of six months, paying a reexamination charge sufficient to defray the cost. A candidate with a COMBINED record of three failures or unexcused absences is eligible only after submitting a new application with the application fee and documented evidence of actions taken to improve their prospects, may be considered only at the end of 12 months following the third failure or unexcused absence, and thereafter may take the exam no more than once per calendar year. 21 NCAC 56 .0603(b)(3) repeats the six-month and 12-month rules.

A land plat presented to a register of deeds meets the size requirement if its outside marginal size is 18 x 24 inches, 21 x 30 inches, or 24 x 36 inches, with a minimum 1.5-inch border on the left side (landscape) or the top side (portrait) and a minimum 0.5-inch border on the other sides. Distinction: a county may restrict itself to 18 x 24 only, or to 18 x 24 combined with one or both larger sizes, and must file those specifications with the NC Association of Registers of Deeds. Large tracts may be split onto multiple sheets with match lines.

Property designation; name of the owner (shown for indexing only, not as title certification); location including county and State plus township or city if applicable; the date or dates the survey was made; the scale or scale ratio in words or figures AND a bar graph; the name and address of the surveyor preparing the plat, including firm name and firm license number if applicable; and the dates and descriptions of revisions made after original signing. Distinction: this information must be listed prominently, and putting it in the plat notes does NOT satisfy the requirement.

(i) the source of information for the survey, including recorded deed and plat references; (ii) data indicating the ratio of precision or positional accuracy of the survey BEFORE adjustments; and (iii) the seal and signature under Chapter 89C. Lines not actually surveyed must be clearly indicated with a statement of their source. Distinction: on a multi-sheet plat only one sheet must contain the certification, all other sheets must still be signed and sealed, and the set must be identified as a map set. The signature and seal themselves certify that the map conforms to the Board's Standards of Practice.

The surveyor must certify on the face of the plat to one of: (a) the survey creates a subdivision within a regulated jurisdiction; (b) the survey is in an unregulated portion of a county or municipality; (c) the survey is of an existing parcel or easement creating no new or changed street, of an existing or natural feature, is a control survey, or is a proposed public-utility easement; (d) another category such as a recombination, court-ordered survey or other exception; or (e) the surveyor cannot determine which applies. Distinction: plats certified under (b) or (c) can be recorded without further approval, while (a), (d) and (e) also require a local approval certification and the county review officer under G.S. 47-30.2.

County commissioners designate one or more Review Officers by resolution, chosen for experience in mapping or land records management. The Review Officer promptly reviews each submitted plat for compliance with the statutory recording requirements and affixes a certification, and a register of deeds may not accept a plat for recording without it. Distinction: G.S. 47-30(g) expressly relieves the Review Officer of responsibility for archival quality under (b), the computation-method rule in (e), and subdivisions (1) through (10) of (f) - so review-officer approval is not a substitute for the surveyor's own compliance.

The declarant records plats and plans with the register of deeds in each county; they are part of the declaration. The plat must show the condominium name and a survey or general schematic map, the real estate and existing improvements with dimensions, development-rights areas so labeled, encroachments, easements, limited common elements, leasehold parcels, and the distance between noncontiguous parcels. Distinction: the professional land surveyor certifies the plat (azimuths or courses and distances, distances in feet or meters and decimals, tie lines, elevations above a referenced datum, conformity with 21 NCAC 56), while an architect or engineer certifies the PLANS showing unit boundaries and vertical limits. Contemplated improvements must be labeled 'MUST BE BUILT' or 'NEED NOT BE BUILT.'

NC's rules of construction, in descending dignity: (1) a called-for natural boundary controls, however far off the stated course or distance; (2) a line actually run and marked by the surveyor with a corner made controls, despite a mistaken description; (3) calls for the lines or courses of an adjoining tract are extended to them without regard to distance, if those lines are sufficiently established; and (4) only when none of the above exist are we 'of necessity confined to the courses and distances.' Distinction: NC expressly ranks adjoiner calls ABOVE courses and distances, and quantity (acreage) is generally the weakest call of all.

When a common grantor conveys parcels one after another, the first-conveyed (senior) parcel takes the full dimensions of its description, and the later-conveyed (junior) remainder absorbs any excess or deficiency, because the grantor could convey only what was left. Distinction: the doctrine applies only to sequential conveyances out of a common source of title - it does not apply to simultaneous conveyances such as lots created together on one recorded subdivision plat, and it never overrides a superior call such as a natural monument or a marked and run line.

G.S. 1-40: 20 years of possession under known and visible lines and boundaries gives title in fee. G.S. 1-38: 7 years under known and visible lines and boundaries AND color of title. Against the State, G.S. 1-35 requires 30 years, or 21 years under color of title. Distinction for surveyors: G.S. 1-38(b) makes boundary markings at least 18 inches high, together with a recorded surveyor's map and certificate, prima facie evidence of possession under known and visible lines and boundaries. Prima facie evidence under G.S. 1-38(b) needs all three elements: boundary markings visible to 18 inches, a recorded certified survey map, AND listing and paying taxes on the property.

Under the public trust doctrine the State holds title to the beds of navigable waters and to lands subject to the ebb and flow of the tide. North Carolina determines public ownership by navigability in fact rather than by tidal ebb and flow alone, so the surveyor must research navigability, not assume it. Upland title runs to the mean high water mark on tidal or navigable water; on a non-navigable stream the boundary between opposite owners is the thread of the stream. Distinction: G.S. 146-6(a) vests title to land newly raised above the high watermark in the adjoining riparian owner, but only across the front of the formerly riparian tract and confined within extensions of the property lines drawn perpendicular to the channel or main watercourse.

The Board's Guidelines for Interpretation of Incidental Streets and Storm Sewer Systems Design exclude: structural sub-base, base, paving surface, superelevation and traffic control; trench safety, pipe bedding, structure backfill and structural load conditions; any system the surveyor is not totally competent to design; streets or storm sewers separate from a subdivision design; dams or retaining walls; major drainage ditches, culverts, deep structures or catch basins needing special or structural design; major drainageways draining a large basin through the subdivision; conduits for highway loads; drainage for sewage disposal; storm sewers carrying more than a small reasonable amount of water from adjacent lands; streets designated thoroughfares or collectors in an adopted thoroughfare plan; and surcharged storm sewers or pumping stations. Distinction: the level of hydrology and hydraulics necessary to perform incidental drainage inside the subdivision IS permitted.

The NCBELS incidental guideline expressly does not prohibit using the standard sub-base, base and paving surface designs published in NCDOT's 'Subdivision Roads Minimum Construction Standards' where special structural design is not required. Distinction: the traffic-control exclusion does not prohibit designing geometric features common to subdivision streets, nor the use of stop or yield signs at intersections - the ban is on engineered traffic-control design, not on ordinary subdivision street geometry.

G.S. 89C-3(7)b permits street and storm sewer design only 'as incidental to a subdivision,' and NCBELS states the law restricts those plans to subdivisions only. Under G.S. 160D-802 a subdivision is a division of a tract into two or more lots for sale or building development, or involving a street dedication or change. Distinction: the statutory exceptions - recombination of previously platted lots without increasing lot count, division into parcels greater than 10 acres with no street right-of-way dedication, public acquisition of street-widening strips, division of a tract of 2 acres or less into no more than three lots with no street dedication, and division under a probated will or intestate succession - are not subdivisions, so no 'incidental' street or drainage design authority attaches to them.

G.S. 113A-57(4): no person may initiate a land-disturbing activity that will disturb more than one acre on a tract unless, 30 or more days prior, an erosion and sedimentation control plan is filed with the agency having jurisdiction AND approved. Distinction: a plan may be filed fewer than 30 days ahead only under an approved express permit program. G.S. 113A-57(3) separately requires that a disturbance over one acre install controls sufficient to retain generated sediment WITHIN the tract boundaries during construction.

No land-disturbing activity may occur near a lake or natural watercourse unless a buffer zone is provided along the margin wide enough to confine visible siltation within the 25 percent of the buffer nearest the disturbance. Distinction: waters classified as trout waters by the Environmental Management Commission require an UNDISTURBED buffer 25 feet wide, or the width needed to confine visible siltation to the nearest 25 percent, whichever is greater. The subdivision does not apply to construction of facilities located on, over or under the watercourse itself.

G.S. 113A-57(2): graded slopes and fills may be no steeper than the angle that vegetative cover or other adequate erosion-control devices can retain, and slopes left exposed must be planted or otherwise provided with temporary or permanent ground cover, devices or structures sufficient to restrain erosion within 21 calendar days of completion of ANY PHASE of grading. Distinction: the 21-day clock runs from each phase, not from project completion; permanent ground cover after construction is due within the period set by Commission rule under G.S. 113A-57(3).

Q = CiA, where Q is peak discharge in cubic feet per second, C is the dimensionless runoff coefficient, i is the average rainfall intensity in inches per hour, and A is the drainage area in acres. Distinction: i must be taken from an intensity-duration-frequency curve for a storm duration equal to the time of concentration of the watershed, and the method assumes uniform rainfall over a small, homogeneous drainage area - it gives a peak flow only, not a hydrograph or a runoff volume. In English units 1 inch per hour over 1 acre is about 1.008 cfs, which is why no conversion factor appears in the formula.

Erosion and sediment control measures are designed for the 10-year storm. In High Quality Water (HQW) zones the design storm rises to the 25-year event, sediment basins must use surface withdrawal (unless the drainage area is under 1.0 acre), provide 1,800 cubic feet of storage per disturbed acre and at least 325 square feet of surface area per cfs of Q25 peak inflow, dewater over at least 48 hours, and have 3 baffles (15A NCAC 04B .0124(c); the old 70-percent/40-micron settling standard survives only in the Falls Lake watershed rule .0132), and the maximum disturbed area is 20 acres. Distinction on basins: a sediment basin needs a minimum sediment storage volume of 1,800 cubic feet per acre of disturbed area and a minimum surface area of 435 square feet per cfs of the Q10 peak inflow, with a minimum 48-hour dewatering time, while a temporary sediment trap serves 5 acres or less and stores 3,600 cubic feet per disturbed acre.