Survey Abbreviations

RPLS - Registered Professional Land Surveyor

LSLS - Licensed State Land Surveyor

You might find the following descriptions on our plats or drawings:

·  A.E. - Aerial Easement
·  B.L. - Building Restriction Line
·  C.D. - Covered Deck
·  CL - Centerline
·  F.C. - Fence Corner
·  Fnd. - Found
·  High Bank - Higher Ground adjacent to water
·  High Raised Frame House- House on tall piers or pilings.
·  PK nail - A surveyor's nail that marks a survey point. See also hub and tack.
·  Pipe - Steel Pipe
·  P.O.B. - Point of Beginning (starting point of a tract described by metes and bounds)
·  P.O.C. - Point of Commencing (a reference point before the starting point of a tract described by metes and bounds)
·  Reserve - A 'set aside' area within a platted subdivision.
·  Rod - Steel Rod
·  R.O.W. - Road Right-of-Way
·  Set - Place a monument for corner of property.
·  1-Sty - Number of Storys on a house.
·  TBM - Temporary Nail, R.R. Spike or PK Nail in a power pole or on a road.
·  Tract - A parcel of land, usually described by metes and bounds.
·  U.E.- Utility Easement
·  W.E. - Water's Edge

Surveyors' Slang

Surveying, like any profession, has its special terms and slang. Some are just humorous, some help distinguish similar sounds (e.g. eleven and seven), and some are just plain strange!

• Blue topping - In road or grading work the surveyor sets stakes and paints their tops blue to represent the required elevation. Graders then work to just cover the blue tops of the stakes.
• Burn one - Measure from the one foot mark on the tape rather than from the end of the tape in order to increase the accuracy of the measurement.
• Cut line - To clear vegetation for a line of sight between two survey control points.
• Dummy or dummy-end - The base or zero end of a tape or chain, as in "hold dummy at the face of the curb."
• EDM - Electromagnetic Distance Measurement device, the instrument used by modern surveyors that replaces the use of measurement chains. It determines distance by measuring the time it takes for laser light to reflect off a prism on top of a rod at the target location.
• Set in the ground to mark survey points.
• Glass - The EDM prism.
• Gun - Originally, a transit, but potentially any measurement instrument in use, e.g. theodolite, EDM, or Total Station.
• Hub and Tack - A 2" by 2" stake that is set in the ground and that contains a nail ("tack") that precisely marks the point being set.
• Legs - Tripod
• Rodman - The person holding the rod with the EDM prism. This person is the modern version of a chain carrier or chain man.
• Shoot - Measure distance with an EDM
• Spike - Usually a 60 penny nail used to mark survey points in hard ground.
• Tie - To locate something with the transit or other measuring device.
• Turn - The rodman is told to stay in place while the gun or level is moved to a new location.
• Zero - Zero degrees, minutes, and seconds. A perfect zero.

Water Terms

• Bank - Edge of a stream.
• Bed and banks - For property lines that cross a body of water, this term is used to explicitly refer to the bottom of the water.
• Bottom - Land along a river.
• Branch - Small stream.
• Brook - Small stream.
• Creek - Small stream.
• Ford - Shallow part of a stream or river where one could cross.
• Fork - Meeting point of two streams. "In the fork of" means between two branches.
• Head - The source of a stream.
• Headwaters - The smallest streams that combine to make a larger stream.
• Lower - Toward the mouth of a stream. Further down along its course. Opposite of upper.
• Meander - "with the meanders of the stream" means the survey line follows the twists and turns of the stream.
• Mouth - The place where a stream enters another, larger stream.
• River - Large stream.
• Shoal - Shallows.
• Slough or Slew - An area of collected water, usually for drainage purposes.
• Spring - A pool or other source of water that feeds a stream.
• Swamp - A marsh.
• Thalweg – 1. The line connecting the lowest points of a stream's channel. 2. The surface midline of a channel.
• Upper - Toward the head of a stream. Further up along its course. Opposite of lower.
• Waters ("watters") of - In the drainage of. On the branches of.