PS Legal & Ethical Considerations in Surveying 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A surveyor uses a client's confidential property information to purchase adjacent land before the survey is completed. This action violates which ethical principle?
- Competence
- Conflict of interest and confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Record-keeping standards
- Continuing education requirements
Correct answer: Conflict of interest and confidentiality
Using confidential client information for personal gain constitutes a conflict of interest and breach of confidentiality, core violations of professional ethics codes.
Question 2: Under the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), the term 'senior corner' refers to:
- A corner set by the most experienced surveyor on the crew
- A corner established during an earlier, controlling government survey (Correct answer)
- The northeast corner of any section
- A corner that has been verified by GPS
Correct answer: A corner established during an earlier, controlling government survey
Senior corners are those established in earlier government surveys and are controlling — they cannot be moved by later resurveys.
Question 3: Which doctrine holds that a grantor cannot convey greater title than they possess?
- Nemo dat quod non habet (Correct answer)
- Res ipsa loquitur
- Stare decisis
- Lis pendens
Correct answer: Nemo dat quod non habet
Nemo dat quod non habet ('one cannot give what one does not have') is the foundational property law rule limiting conveyances to title actually held.
Question 4: A prescriptive easement differs from adverse possession primarily because:
- Prescriptive easements require payment of property taxes
- Prescriptive easements grant a use right, not fee title to the land (Correct answer)
- Prescriptive easements require written notice to the owner
- Prescriptive easements must be recorded to be valid
Correct answer: Prescriptive easements grant a use right, not fee title to the land
A prescriptive easement gives the claimant only the right to use the land in the manner exercised during the prescriptive period, not ownership of the fee.
Question 5: In most states, a professional surveyor's liability for survey errors is subject to a statute of repose that begins running:
- When the injured party discovers the error
- Upon substantial completion or delivery of the survey (Correct answer)
- When a lawsuit is formally filed
- From the date the surveyor's license was issued
Correct answer: Upon substantial completion or delivery of the survey
Statutes of repose for professional services typically run from the date of substantial completion or delivery, unlike statutes of limitations that run from discovery.
Question 6: The term 'color of title' in property law refers to:
- A deed that is color-coded for legal filing purposes
- A written instrument that appears to convey title but is defective (Correct answer)
- A title confirmed by a court of equity
- The chain of title shown on a recorded plat
Correct answer: A written instrument that appears to convey title but is defective
Color of title is a written document — such as a defective deed or judgment — that appears to transfer title but fails to do so due to a legal defect.
Question 7: A surveyor who seals a plat without performing or directly supervising the survey work is guilty of:
- Minor procedural noncompliance only
- Practicing fraud and gross professional misconduct (Correct answer)
- Acceptable delegation under NSPS standards
- A civil but not disciplinary offense
Correct answer: Practicing fraud and gross professional misconduct
Affixing a professional seal to work not performed or directly supervised is fraudulent misrepresentation and a serious disciplinary offense that can result in license revocation.
PS Legal & Ethical Considerations in Surveying 3
A surveyor uses a client's confidential property information to purchase adjacent land before the survey is completed.
This action violates which ethical principle?