Fundamentals of Surveying Exam (FS) Boundary Surveying and Property Law Syllabus

Boundary Surveying and Property Law syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Boundary Surveying and Property Law in Fundamentals of Surveying Exam (FS), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Principles of Boundary Law

   3 topics

   • Hierarchy of Boundary Evidence
     • Calls for monuments, courses, distances, and area
     • Senior versus junior rights
   • Monuments and Evidence
     • Natural and artificial monuments
     • Record versus physical evidence
   • Riparian and Littoral Boundaries
     • Accretion, reliction, erosion, and avulsion
     • Ordinary high water and mean high water lines
2. 2

   Property Descriptions and Conveyances

   3 topics

   • Types of Legal Descriptions
     • Metes and bounds descriptions
     • Lot and block (platted) descriptions
     • Aliquot part (sectional) descriptions
   • Deeds and Title
     • Elements of a valid deed
     • Easements, encroachments, and rights-of-way
   • Boundary Resolution Doctrines
     • Adverse possession and prescription
     • Acquiescence, estoppel, and agreement
3. 3

   Public Land Survey System (PLSS)

   3 topics

   • PLSS Framework
     • Principal meridians and base lines
     • Townships, ranges, and section numbering
   • Subdivision of Sections
     • Aliquot parts and quarter-quarter corners
     • Government lots and fractional sections
   • Corners and Restoration
     • Original, lost, and obliterated corners
     • Proportionate measurement methods

Boundary Surveying and Property Law flashcards for Fundamentals of Surveying Exam (FS)

19 of 50 cards from the Boundary Surveying and Property Law deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the order of importance in the hierarchy (priority) of boundary evidence used to resolve conflicting deed calls?

   From highest to lowest priority: (1) Senior rights, (2) Written intentions of the parties, (3) Calls for natural monuments, (4) Calls for artificial monuments, (5) Calls for adjoiners, (6) Distances, (7) Bearings (directions), and (8) Area (acreage). When calls conflict, the higher element controls.

2. In the dignity of calls, which controls when a distance call conflicts with a bearing call?

   Distance controls over bearing. In the standard hierarchy, distance ranks above direction (bearings) because a measured length is considered more reliable evidence of intent than an angular direction. Area ranks lowest of all.

3. What is the principle of 'senior rights' (senior/junior conveyances) in boundary law?

   When a grantor sells parcels at different times, the earlier-conveyed (senior) parcel gets its full described dimensions first. Any shortage or excess in the remaining land falls on the later-conveyed (junior) parcel, because the grantor could only convey what was left.

4. Why do natural monuments rank above artificial monuments in the evidence hierarchy?

   Natural monuments (rivers, trees, ridges, lakes) are considered the most stable, permanent, and least likely to be moved or mistaken, so they best reflect the parties' intent. Artificial monuments (set stones, iron pins, fences) rank just below because they are man-placed and more easily disturbed.

5. What is the single most important controlling principle in interpreting a deed or resolving a boundary?

   The intent of the parties (as expressed in the written conveyance). All rules of construction, including the hierarchy of calls, exist to discover and give effect to that intent; the hierarchy is applied only when intent cannot otherwise be determined.

6. Define a 'monument' in boundary surveying.

   A monument is a physical object (natural or artificial) that marks or fixes the location of a corner or point on a boundary line. It provides the on-the-ground evidence of where a line actually runs and generally controls over recorded measurements.

7. Distinguish a 'found' monument from a 'set' monument.

   A found monument is an existing physical marker discovered in the field (e.g., an old iron pipe or original stone) that may serve as original evidence of a corner. A set monument is a new marker placed by the current surveyor to perpetuate or establish a corner position.

8. What is the difference between a 'record monument' (call for adjoiner) and a physical monument?

   A record monument is a boundary referenced in the deed by a call for an adjoining feature or ownership (e.g., 'thence to the land now or formerly of Smith'), even if no physical marker exists. A physical monument is the actual tangible object on the ground.

9. What is the legal weight of an 'original monument' set by the original surveyor of a subdivision?

   The original monument, if undisturbed, holds the highest evidentiary value and controls the corner location, even if its position disagrees with the platted distances or bearings. The original survey 'cannot be in error' as to where corners were actually established.

10. Define riparian rights.

    Riparian rights are the rights of an owner of land bordering a watercourse (river or stream) to reasonable use of the water, and to ownership extending to the bank or the center (thread) of the stream depending on whether the water is navigable.

11. Define littoral rights and how they differ from riparian rights.

    Littoral rights are the rights of an owner of land bordering a static, large body of water such as a lake, sea, or ocean. Riparian rights pertain to flowing watercourses (rivers/streams). Both concern access and boundary location relative to the water.

12. For a non-navigable stream, where does the boundary of an abutting parcel typically lie?

    For a non-navigable stream, ownership typically extends to the thread (center line / thalweg) of the stream under the rule 'ad medium filum aquae,' so each riparian owner holds the bed to the middle of the channel.

13. For a navigable river, where does private ownership generally end and who owns the bed?

    For a navigable river, private ownership generally extends only to the ordinary high-water mark (or low-water mark in some jurisdictions); the bed below is held by the state in public trust for navigation, commerce, and fishing.

14. Define the terms 'accretion,' 'reliction,' 'erosion,' and 'avulsion' in riparian boundary law.

    Accretion: gradual addition of soil by deposition, increasing land. Reliction (dereliction): gradual withdrawal of water exposing new land. Erosion: gradual loss of land to water. Avulsion: sudden, perceptible change of a watercourse or loss/addition of land.

15. How do boundaries shift under accretion versus avulsion?

    Under accretion/reliction (gradual change), the boundary moves with the water line and the riparian owner gains or loses land. Under avulsion (sudden change), the boundary stays fixed at its former location; ownership does not change with the water.

16. Define 'ordinary high water mark' (OHWM).

    The ordinary high water mark is the line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics such as a clear, natural line impressed on the bank, changes in soil character, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, or presence of litter and debris. It often defines the limit of riparian title and public-trust ownership.

17. What are the three principal types of legal land descriptions?

    (1) Metes and bounds, (2) Rectangular system / PLSS (lot, section, township, and range), and (3) Lot and block (recorded plat/subdivision) descriptions. A fourth, descriptions by reference, incorporates another recorded document.

18. What does a metes and bounds description consist of?

    'Metes' are the directions (bearings) and distances of each course; 'bounds' are the boundaries or adjoiners (monuments, natural features, neighboring lands). A metes and bounds description traces the perimeter from a defined point of beginning back to that point (closure).

19. What is the 'Point of Beginning' (POB) in a metes and bounds description, and why must the traverse return to it?

    The POB is the well-defined starting point (ideally tied to a monument) from which the perimeter is described course by course. The description must close back on the POB so the parcel forms a complete, mathematically closed polygon.

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