Free State-Specific Land Surveyor Examination Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the State-Specific Land Surveyor Examination practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1Which public-interest objective is the South Carolina surveying board expressly created to serve?

   1. A. Protect public health, safety, and welfare through qualification and discipline
   2. B. Maintain statewide coordinate control and publish monument data
   3. C. Administer county plat recording and decide competing title claims
   4. D. Represent licensed practitioners in administrative and civil disputes

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Section 40-22-10(A) says, "The purpose of the board is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public" through qualification, competency, ethics, and discipline. That stated public-protection purpose controls.

   Reference: Code of Laws - Title 40 - Chapter 22- - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS — Section 40-22-10(A)

2. 2What minimum progressive practical experience does the statute prescribe for a TIER A Professional Surveyor applicant?

   1. A. Four or more years
   2. B. Two or more years
   3. C. Six or more years
   4. D. Eight or more years

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Section 40-22-225(C) requires "a specific record of four or more years of progressive practical experience" satisfactory to the Board and performed under a practicing registered professional surveyor.

   Reference: Code of Laws - Title 40 - Chapter 22- - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS — Section 40-22-225(C)

3. 3How long must premises have been held adversely before South Carolina's statutory presumption of possession under legal title may be overcome?

   1. A. Five years
   2. B. Seven years
   3. C. Ten years
   4. D. Twenty years

   Answer: C

   Explanation: Section 15-67-210 keeps occupation subordinate to legal title unless the premises "have been held and possessed adversely to such legal title for ten years" before the action.

   Reference: Code of Laws - Title 15 - Chapter 67- - CIVIL REMEDIES AND PROCEDURES — Section 15-67-210

4. 4For a static GNSS survey under South Carolina's standards, where must at least one receiver be placed?

   1. A. On a known geodetic control station
   2. B. On the parcel centroid
   3. C. On an assumed-elevation benchmark
   4. D. On the most distant property corner

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Regulation 49-430(C)(37) provides, "At least one satellite receiver must be on a known geodetic control station."

   Reference: Sc Regulations Ch 49 — Section 49-430(C)(37)

5. 5What is the maximum allowable leveling closure, in feet, for an urban control loop of m miles?

   1. A. 0.01√m
   2. B. 0.10√m
   3. C. 0.04√m
   4. D. 0.20√m

   Answer: C

   Explanation: Regulation 49-440(B)(5)(a) limits urban control closure to "0.04 times the square root of the number of miles of the level circuit."

   Reference: Sc Regulations Ch 49 — Section 49-440(B)(5)(a)

6. 6How many zones does South Carolina designate for use of its statutory plane-coordinate system?

   1. A. One
   2. B. Two
   3. C. Three
   4. D. Four

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Section 27-2-10 states, "For the purpose of the use of this system the State is designated as one zone."

   Reference: Code of Laws - Title 27 - Chapter 2- - PROPERTY AND CONVEYANCES — Section 27-2-10

7. 7Which reference is permitted for tying a wetland boundary under Regulation 49-430?

   1. A. An unmonumented vegetation line
   2. B. A client-selected assumed point
   3. C. Properly monumented property corners
   4. D. An undocumented handheld-GNSS waypoint

   Answer: C

   Explanation: Regulation 49-430(C)(23) defines a wetlands survey as showing wetland boundaries tied by course and distance to "property corners that are properly monumented," properly monumented project boundaries, or State Plane coordinates.

   Reference: Sc Regulations Ch 49 — Section 49-430(C)(23)

8. 8How many members comprise the South Carolina State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors?

   1. A. Seven
   2. B. Eight
   3. C. Nine
   4. D. Ten

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The board-organization statute states, "The board shall consist of eight members appointed by the Governor." Therefore eight is the prescribed total.

   Reference: Code of Laws - Title 40 - Chapter 22- - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS — Section 40-22-10(B)

9. 9How many different maps and plats of land surveys must a South Carolina land-surveyor applicant submit under Regulation 49-201?

   1. A. Two
   2. B. Three
   3. C. Four
   4. D. Five

   Answer: B

   Explanation: Regulation 49-201(A)(4) states, "An applicant must submit copies of three different maps and plats of land surveys on which he has worked."

   Reference: Sc Regulations Ch 49 — Section 49-201(A)(4)

10. 10A claimant occupies land adversely without a written instrument, judgment, or decree. What land is deemed adversely held?

    1. A. The entire tax parcel
    2. B. All land within the claimant's asserted description
    3. C. Every lot in the same recorded tract
    4. D. Only the premises actually occupied

    Answer: D

    Explanation: Section 15-67-240 provides that in this circumstance "the premises so actually occupied, and no other, shall be deemed to have been held adversely."

    Reference: Code of Laws - Title 15 - Chapter 67- - CIVIL REMEDIES AND PROCEDURES — Section 15-67-240