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Virginia Land Surveyor — Requirements & Free Practice

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Land Surveyor

Professional license to practice land surveying in Virginia.

Licensing authority: Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects · Application information

Retired license holder use of emeritus designation
No examination is required for this applicant pathway.
License History
The underlying license must not have been revoked or suspended.
Practice Restriction
Do not practice or offer professional land-surveying services. This is retained-title status, not a current authorization to practice.
Retirement
Retired from professional practice.
Title
Use the licensed designation followed by emeritus.

Official no-examination sources

Effective from 2026-10-19.

Licensure by endorsement
Equivalency Documentation
Submit verifiable education, experience, and examination documentation meeting current Virginia requirements; the application requests qualifying transcripts, apprenticeship documentation when applicable, and four years of supervised experience.
Existing License
Currently hold a license to practice land surveying in another jurisdiction and be in good standing wherever licensed.
General Fitness
Satisfy 18VAC10-20-20 and 18VAC10-20-40, including applicable criminal and disciplinary disclosures and other current chapter requirements.
Military Expedition
Qualifying military spouses may request expedited processing under section 54.1-119 using the DPOR expedited application; substantial equivalency and any Board-authorized experience waiver remain applicant conditions.
Previous Examinations
The current application requires verification of passing FS and PS. FS verification need not be resubmitted when it was passed in Virginia; this is a documentation exception, not omission of the currently offered FS dependency.
Initial licensure by examination
Additional Experience
Document at least four years of approved land surveying experience in addition to the SIT entry requirements, under the required licensed supervision; qualifying excess experience already approved for the Virginia SIT may count.
Exam Eligibility
Board approval is required; eligibility lasts three years. After expiry, reapply under current entry requirements and demonstrate 16 hours of qualifying educational activities.
General Fitness
Meet the application, conviction and disciplinary disclosure, fitness, and good-standing requirements of 18VAC10-20-20 and 18VAC10-20-40; Board review under the Administrative Process Act is available where those rules provide it.
Implementation Information
The Board FAQ still describes an eight-year high-school experience path, while current 18VAC10-20-300 and 310 control the applicable SIT and additional-experience requirements.
Qualification Evidence
Provide the applicable degree or transcript, apprenticeship, experience, and examination verifications; foreign education for which credit is sought requires authentication and evaluation acceptable to the Board.
Sit Designation
Hold an SIT designation and satisfy 18VAC10-20-300. Previously passing the currently offered FS examination is retained as an examination dependency.
Military spouse temporary authorization pending endorsement review or Virginia requirements
Completion
Complete the underlying Virginia endorsement requirements and all applicable Board application and good-standing obligations.
Duration
Temporary authorization lasts no more than 12 months and is nonrenewable as described by the Board.
Exam Timing
Section 54.1-119 B authorizes practice while the Board completes review or the applicant completes Virginia-specific requirements. Examination leaves identify the currently offered examinations involved in the underlying endorsement route; they do not assert that all must be newly sat or completed before temporary issuance.
Military Relationship
Meet section 54.1-119 A: hold the same or a similar authorization elsewhere, accompany a qualifying active-duty or recently separated veteran spouse to Virginia or an adjoining jurisdiction, and satisfy the statutory application and disciplinary conditions.
Prior Scores And Waivers
Prior FS and PS passing evidence remains relevant; Board equivalency determinations and authorized experience waivers are applicant conditions.
Review Trigger
Temporary issuance is available when the Board cannot complete document review or determine equivalency within 20 days of receiving a completed application.
Reinstatement after more than five years
Board-Supplied Examination on Regulations
Application
Use the initial license application, pay the reinstatement fee, and document experience from expiry to the present.
Board Discretion
18VAC10-20-680 C permits the Board to require an exam, education, or experience. It identifies no additional examination; that open slot is a condition, not an invented examination leaf.
Continued Qualification
The Board determines continued qualification and may deny reinstatement for the reasons allowed by the chapter.
Continuing Education
Meet applicable reinstatement CE requirements, subject to authorized relief.
Expiry
Prior Virginia license expired more than five years.
Reinstatement after more than six months and no more than five years
No examination is required for this applicant pathway.
Application
Submit a reinstatement application and the required fees; the Board determines whether the applicant remains qualified.
Board Instructions
The July 1, 2026 Land Surveyor initial application instead labels its method as 'Reinstatement of a Virginia license that expired 5 or more years ago'. At exactly five years this lower-ranked form instruction remains an applicant processing condition; the current regulation's more-than-five-years threshold controls this route.
Compliance
Remain subject to applicable laws, disciplinary jurisdiction, and Board review of eligibility.
Continuing Education
Complete required CE during the two years immediately before the reinstatement application, subject to applicable relief.
Expiry
The controlling 18VAC10-20-680 B-C uses more than five years for initial reapplication and examination discretion.

Official no-examination sources

Effective from 2026-10-19.

Renewal, including late renewal within six months
No examination is required for this applicant pathway.
Compliance
Renewal certifies continued compliance; outstanding sanctions, monetary penalties, or fees may affect processing.
Continuing Education
Complete 16 qualifying hours for the biennium, subject to authorized illness or hardship waivers, retain the required records, and comply with any audit.
Existing License
Renew an existing license eligible for renewal; do not practice while expired.
Fees
Submit the renewal fee and any applicable late fee under 18VAC10-20-670.
Military Extension
Eligible diplomatic or military service circumstances may extend renewal deadlines under section 54.1-117.

Official no-examination sources

Effective from 2026-10-19.

Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) Exam

Provider
National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES); administered year-round in testing windows at NCEES-approved Pearson test centers
Format
Computer-based test, closed book with an electronic reference (NCEES FS Reference Handbook and the specified standards); includes alternative item types (AITs) in addition to traditional multiple-choice questions; uses both SI and U.S. Customary units
Exam questions
110 questions
Time limit
6-hour appointment: nondisclosure agreement (2 minutes), tutorial (8 minutes), exam (5 hours and 20 minutes), scheduled break (25 minutes)
Passing score
Results reported as pass or fail; failing examinees receive a diagnostic report by major topic
Exam fee
$225 exam fee payable directly to NCEES
Examination outline
  • 1. Surveying Processes and Methods (16–24 of 110 questions)
    • A. Instrumentation (e.g., GNSS/GPS, levels, total stations, robotic total stations, scanners, UAS)
    • B. GNSS/GPS surveys (e.g., static, kinematic, OPUS, real-time networks)
    • C. Control surveys (e.g., horizontal, vertical, network design, accuracy standards)
    • D. Cadastral (e.g., Public Land Survey System [PLSS], boundary, metes and bounds, land title)
    • E. Topographic surveys
    • F. Construction surveys (e.g., layout, as-built, quantity)
    • G. Land development (e.g., subdivision design/platting, land use, environmental, flood plains, wetlands)
    • H. Field record keeping and documentation (e.g., procedures, field books, raw data files)
  • 2. Mapping Processes and Methods (14–21 of 110 questions)
    • A. Basic mapping concepts (e.g., scaling, symbols, features, legend, contours, cartography)
    • B. Types of maps (e.g., plan and profile, cross section, plat, record of survey, ALTA, topographic, planimetric)
    • C. CAD (e.g., 2-D, 3-D, building information modeling [BIM])
    • D. GIS (e.g., feature collection, map projections, coordinate systems, metadata, database design and management, spatial data analysis, GIS applications)
    • E. Digital terrain model (e.g., machine control, triangulated irregular network [TIN], digital surface model, digital elevation model)
    • F. Photogrammetry and remote sensing (e.g., close range, conventional, softcopy, ground control, quality control, flight planning, project planning, UAS, drone, LiDAR, satellite, digital image analysis and processing)
  • 3. Boundary Law and Real Property Principles (19–29 of 110 questions)
    • A. Public records and descriptions (e.g., land descriptions, mineral rights, ownership rights, weighting evidence)
    • B. Common law principles (e.g., controlling elements, unwritten rights, adverse possession)
    • C. Easements (e.g., granted, implied/prescriptive)
    • D. Simultaneous and sequential conveyances
    • E. Metes and bounds
    • F. PLSS
    • G. Water law (e.g., riparian, littoral rights, water marks/levels)
    • H. Sources of law (e.g., federal/state/local, administrative, common, citations, legal research)
    • I. Encumbrances (e.g., restrictive covenants, mortgages, liens)
    • J. Real property law (e.g., deeds, chains of title)
  • 4. Surveying Principles (13–20 of 110 questions)
    • A. Basic surveying (e.g., horizontal surveys, vertical surveys, understanding of historical methods and instruments, route surveying, magnetic declination)
    • B. Geodesy (e.g., spherical trigonometry, geometric, physical, geodetic coordinates, orthometric corrections, convergence, geodetic reductions, gravity modeling, geoid modeling)
    • C. Applied geodesy (e.g., datums and datum conversions, latitude/longitude, coordinate transformations, state plane coordinate system [SPCS], map projections, control networks, reduction of observations, deflection of vertical, satellite coordinate systems)
  • 5. Survey Computations and Computer Applications (17–26 of 110 questions)
    • A. Coordinate geometry
    • B. Traverse closure and adjustments
    • C. Leveling (e.g., differential, trigonometric, reciprocal, precise)
    • D. Least squares adjustments
    • E. Area
    • F. Horizontal curves
    • G. Vertical curves
    • H. Volume (e.g., mass diagrams, earthwork)
    • I. Spreadsheets
    • J. Slopes and grades
  • 6. Business Concepts (11–17 of 110 questions)
    • A. Project planning (e.g., resource management, scheduling, cost estimation, tracking)
    • B. Safety (e.g., signage, basic first aid, safety equipment)
    • C. Liabilities (e.g., negligence, employee behavior, errors and omissions)
    • D. Contracts (e.g., basic elements, scope of work, specifications)
    • E. Supervision (e.g., survey team leadership, personnel management)
    • F. Project documentation and record management
    • G. Ethics
    • H. Communication (e.g., written communication, oral communication, alternate forms of communication, conflict resolution)
  • 7. Applied Mathematics and Statistics (10–15 of 110 questions)
    • A. College mathematics (e.g., trigonometry, analytical geometry and calculus, linear algebra and matrix theory)
    • B. Probability and statistics (e.g., mean, median, mode, hypothesis testing, normal distribution, linear regression)
    • C. Measurement science (e.g., error analysis, error propagation, positional tolerance, positional accuracy, random/systematic/blunder errors, unit conversions)
    • D. Quantitative reasoning (e.g., critical thinking, data analysis and validation, blunder detection, data quality, redundancy)
Examination sources

Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) Exam

Provider
National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES); administered year-round via computer-based testing at approved Pearson test centers
Format
Computer-based, closed book with an electronic reference (NCEES PS Reference Handbook and the specified standards); U.S. Customary units; questions require a variety of approaches and methodologies, including design, analysis, and application
Exam questions
100 questions
Time limit
7 hours, including a tutorial and an optional scheduled break
Passing score
Results reported as pass or fail; failing examinees receive a diagnostic report by major topic
Exam fee
$375 exam fee payable directly to NCEES
Examination outline
  • 1. Legal Principles (18–27 of 100 questions)
    • A. Principles of Evidence — 1. How to search for data and for physical evidence to evaluate data; 2. How to evaluate data; 3. Parol evidence; 4. Prescriptive rights; 5. Adverse possession; 6. Acquiescence; 7. Controlling elements; 8. Easement rights
    • B. Common Law Boundary Principles — 1. Historical and current common law principles; 2. Riparian and littoral rights; 3. Sovereign rights, including both navigable waters and eminent domain; 4. Sovereign land grants
    • C. Sequential and Simultaneous Conveyance Concepts — 1. Types of conveyances; 2. Junior/senior rights; 3. Record and physical evidence
    • D. Legal Descriptions for Real Property Transactions — 1. Preparation and interpretation of legal descriptions; 2. Controlling elements and how they impact the description; 3. Unwritten rights and how they impact the description; 4. Encumbrances and how they impact the description; 5. Easements and how they impact the description
    • E. Evidence for the Perpetuation of the U.S. PLSS
  • 2. Professional Survey Practices (22–33 of 100 questions)
    • A. Public/Private Record Sources — 1. Resources for private and public records; 2. Local public records indexing and filing system; 3. Local survey office records
    • B. Documentation, Supervision, and Clear Communication of Field Procedures — 1. Field surveying techniques; 2. Field surveying practices; 3. Data collection protocols
    • C. GPS/GNSS including satellite constellations, static GPS, RTK, PPP, and virtual networks
    • D. Surveying Principles and Computations — 1. Technical computations; 2. Applicable software
    • E. Monumentation Standards — 1. Applicable monumentation criteria; 2. Monument types
    • F. Land Development Solutions — 1. Regulatory land development criteria; 2. Construction criteria; 3. Land development implementation procedures
    • G. Survey Maps/Plats/Reports — 1. Technical communications by schematic, platting, and mapping processes and procedures; 2. Communication options
    • H. GIS — 1. GIS spatial databases and metadata; 2. Datums and projections related to GIS
  • 3. Standards and Specifications (8–12 of 100 questions)
    • A. BLM Manual of Surveying Instructions
    • B. ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards — 1. Current ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards; 2. State statutes regarding boundary surveys in conjunction with ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys
    • C. FEMA Requirements — 1. FEMA specifications and instructions; 2. Horizontal and vertical datums related to FEMA flood zones; 3. Current FEMA elevation certificate; 4. FEMA Flood Insurance Study
  • 4. Business Practices (13–19 of 100 questions)
    • A. General Business Practices and Procedures — 1. Project planning and project management; 2. Deliverables; 3. Costs, budgets, and contracts; 4. Types of surveys; 5. Site features and conditions; 6. Scope of services; 7. Appropriate equipment and instruments
    • B. Risk Management Procedures — 1. Safety procedures; 2. QA/QC methods; 3. Risk management in contracts; 4. Insurance needs and requirements; 5. Potential liabilities
    • C. Professional Conduct
    • D. Communication with Clients, Staff, Related Professions, and the Public — 1. Different forms of communications; 2. Appropriate type of communication to convey concepts; 3. Related professions and their impact on client needs and deliverables
  • 5. Areas of Practice (24–36 of 100 questions)
    • A. ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys — 1. Legal documents, such as deeds, easements, and agreements; 2. Zoning information as applied to ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys; 3. Title insurance commitment letters and policies; 4. Underground features as applied to ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys
    • B. Control Networks and Geodetic Network Surveys — 1. Datums and reference frames relative to control networks; 2. Differences between local datums and geodetic datums; 3. Equipment appropriate for control surveys; 4. The Federal Geographic Data Committee Geospatial Positioning Accuracy Standards; 5. The National Geospatial Programs (NGP) Standards and Specifications—Digital Data Standards
    • C. Construction Surveys — 1. Construction plan reading; 2. Construction calculations including slopes, grades, and plan details; 3. Construction techniques and activities; 4. Horizontal and vertical positioning relative to a plan or datum
    • D. Boundary Surveys — 1. Physical boundary evidence; 2. Boundary reconciliations; 3. Historical measurement accuracy, equipment, and techniques; 4. Legal principles related to boundary surveys
    • E. Route Surveys for Alignments and Utilities — 1. Route alignment stationing practices; 2. Reading and interpreting roadway and utility plans
    • F. Topographic — 1. Topographic/planimetric mapping and control standards; 2. Interpretation, reconciliation, and adjustment of topographic survey data; 3. QA/QC procedures as applied to topographic surveys; 4. Ground, hydrographic, and remote sensing equipment; 5. The U.S. National Map Accuracy Standards as applied to topographic surveys; 6. Tools and techniques required to perform hydrographic, bathymetric, and remote sensing surveys; 7. Nomenclature related to utilities
    • G. Surveys to Establish New Parcels, Lots, or Units — 1. Types of subdivisions; 2. Platting; 3. Condominiums and associations; 4. Deed restrictions and restrictive covenants; 5. Zoning and subdivision ordinances
    • H. As-Built/Record Drawing Surveys — 1. As-built/record drawing calculations including slopes, grades, and plan details; 2. As-built/record drawing techniques and activities; 3. Horizontal and vertical as-built/record drawing positions relative to a plan or datum
    • I. Consultation Services — 1. Site topography and slope for development purposes; 2. Site access for development purposes; 3. Zoning standards related to new projects; 4. Floodplains as related to land development
Examination sources

Board-Supplied Examination on Regulations

Examination outline
  • 18VAC10-20 — APELSCIDLA Board Regulations
  • Code of Virginia Title 54.1, Chapter 1 — General Provisions
  • Code of Virginia Title 54.1, Chapter 2 — General Provisions
  • Code of Virginia Title 54.1, Chapter 3 — Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
  • Code of Virginia Title 54.1, Chapter 4 — Architects, Engineers, Surveyors, Landscape Architects and Interior Designers
  • Code of Virginia Title 13.1, Chapter 7 — Professional Corporations
  • Code of Virginia Title 13.1, Chapter 13 — Professional Limited Liability Companies
Examination sources

VA State Specific Land Surveyor Exam (LS)

Provider
PSI
Format
Open-book computer examination
Exam questions
50
Time limit
2 hours
Passing score
70% (35 correct)
Examination outline

The authority publishes question-count ranges for each content area. The practice percentages below use the midpoint of each range, normalized to 100%; they are not exact percentages published by the authority. Practice question counts may differ slightly because of rounding.

  • Regulations — Official range: 9–9 questions (Practice allocation: 18%)
  • Virginia Statutes — Official range: 8–8 questions (Practice allocation: 16%)
  • Geometrics — Official range: 6–6 questions (Practice allocation: 12%)
  • Land Planning, Design and Drainage — Official range: 5–5 questions (Practice allocation: 10%)
  • Construction/Route Location Survey — Official range: 4–4 questions (Practice allocation: 8%)
  • Erosion and Sediment Control — Official range: 5–5 questions (Practice allocation: 10%)
  • Boundary Survey Law — Official range: 8–8 questions (Practice allocation: 16%)
  • Quality — Official range: 3–3 questions (Practice allocation: 6%)
  • Hydrographic — Official range: 2–2 questions (Practice allocation: 4%)
Examination sources