Recommended Books

You should review the work elements for which you will be testing. If there are areas in which you feel you need additional study, you should be able to find one or two possible books from this list to assist you. Many of these books or others like them are quite often available at public libraries or may be borrowed from acquaintances in the field.

This is an open book test. These and other materials can be brought into the testing facility

At a minimum examinee should bring: 

  1. A Fundamental Surveying Text (with unit conversion charts)
  2. A First Aid & Safety Manual
  3. A Surveying and Mapping Dictionary


FUNDAMENTAL SURVEYING TEXTS

Elementary Surveying, Wolf and Ghilani
Surveying, Moffit/Bossler
Surveying Solved Problems, Van Sickle

OTHER SURVEYING TEXTS

Surveying: Theory and Practice, Anderson and Mikhail
Land Survey Review Manual, Buckner
Surveyor Reference Manual, Harbin
GPS for Land Surveyors, Van Sickle
Land Surveying Computation, Buckner
Introduction to Geodesy: The History and Concepts of Modern Geodesy, Smith
Land Surveyor’s Formulas with Applications, Keen
Getting started with Geographic Information Systems, Clarke

CONSTRUCTION

Measuring Practice on the Building Site, Vanderberg Manual on Construction Layout, NSPS/ACSM
Surveying with Construction Applications, Kavanaugh
Construction Surveying and Layout, Crawford

BOUNDARY

Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles, Robillard and Wilson
Evidence and Procedure for Boundary Location, Robillard and Wilson
The Real Elements of Boundaries and Adjacent Properties, Skelton
Land Survey Descriptions, Wattles
A Guide to Understanding Land Surveys, Estopinal

DRAFTING AND COMPUTERS

Surveying Drafting, Wattles
Latest AutoCad or CADD Text

FIRST AID AND SAFETY

First Aid & Safety Handbook, American Red Cross
OSHA Title 29, Chapter XVII, Part 1926, Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry with Amendments (latest version)

PUBLIC LAND

Manual of Instruction (BLM)
Restoration of Lost and Obliterated Corners and Subdivision Corners 1883-1974
Land Survey Systems, McEntyre

NATIONAL SURVEY STANDARDS

Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for and Classifications of ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys
Standards & Specifications for Geodetic Control Networks, Federal Geodetic Control Committee http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/FGCS/tech_pub/1984-stds-specs-geodetic-control-networks.pdf
Geometric Geodetic Accuracy Standards and Specifications for Using GPS Relative Positioning Techniques, Federal Geodetic Control Committee http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/noaa_documents/NOS/NGS/Geom_Geod_Accu_Standards.pdf
Minimum Standards for Surveys (Individual States)

ROUTE SURVEYING

Route Location and Design, Meyer and Gibson

DICTIONARIES

American College Dictionary, Random House (or any other college dictionary)
Glossary of the Mapping Sciences, 1994, ASCE, ACSM and ASPRS
Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms, ACSM/NSPS