Land Surveying Licensure
To achieve licensure as a professional land surveyor, states and U.S. territories require that individuals meet certain educational and work-related requirements and pass the necessary examinations. For surveying, the necessary examinations are the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) and the Principles and Practices of Surveying (PS) exams.
Each U.S. state and territory has its own requirements to meet licensure requirements. In general, individuals must complete necessary coursework to be eligible to take the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) Exam. In the State of Ohio, students who complete a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Ohio University and who complete at least 16 hours of Board-approved surveying courses satisfy the educational requirements for surveying licensure (https://peps.ohio.gov/education-and-verification/exams/fs-exam, https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4733.11 ).
Per the Ohio State Board of Engineers and Surveyors, “Applicants with an EAC/ABET accredited Civil Engineering degree that are applying to take the NCEES FS and PS examination must complete 16 semester hours of Board-approved surveying coursework, including one course in each of the following categories: Boundary Surveying, Control Surveying, Historical Development of Ohio Surveying, Route or Construction Surveying, and Ohio Minimum Standards and Laws and Ethics.”
Land Surveying (LS) Program
This program, which has been approved by the State of Ohio Engineers & Surveyors Board, constitutes the first step toward becoming a board-certified professional land surveyor. The program requires a minimum of 24 semester hours of course work, as listed below:
| Course Code | Course Name |
|---|---|
| CE 3110 | Route Engineering (3 hrs.) [3] |
| CE 3120 | Original Ohio Land Subdivisions (2 hrs.) [2] |
| CE 3190 | Construction Layout Staking & Mapping (3 hrs.) [3] |
| CE 4001 | Societal Concerns in Civil Engineering (4 hrs.) [2] |
| CE 4100 | Applied Boundary Surveying (3 hrs.) [3] |
| CE 4110 | Legal Principles in Boundary Location (3 hrs.) [3] |
| CE 4150 | Geodetic Surveying (3 hrs.) [3] |
| CE 4910 | Senior Capstone Design: Land Development (3 hrs.) [1] |
Note: Numbers in square brackets indicate the number of hours of the courses that apply for the Board application to take the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) Exam.