How To Become A Surveyor – Detailed Guide


Surveyors are highly skilled specialists who play a critical part in developing, constructing, and defining properties, construction sites, and environmental sites. These professionals have specialized training to work in their industry and often rely on various hard skills to do so.

If you want to work as a surveyor, there are various procedures you must take. In this post, we’ll look at what a surveyor does, what their work environment is like, and how to become a surveyor so you can decide if this is the job for you.

Who Is A Surveyor?

Surveyors are essential in the land development sector since they are in charge of measuring and marking property boundaries and gathering and distributing geographical data to engineers, cartographers, and construction companies for development and mapping purposes.

Surveyors work with advanced technical equipment; therefore, this profession necessitates a solid set of both hard and soft abilities.

What Exactly Does A Surveyor Do?

Surveyors utilize highly specialized technical equipment and techniques to precisely measure the geographical layout of potential development sites, residential and commercial properties, preserved land regions, and other areas where land may be used. Surveyors conduct a variety of important tasks for the companies for which they work, which can include:

Distances and angles between locations above, below, and on the land’s surface are measured.

Traveling to several places and locations to pinpoint the precise location of critical geographical features using known points of reference

Investigating land and survey documents and land titles, as well as determining property and land boundary lines

Creating reports, maps, and plots, as well as presenting their findings to government agencies, construction firms, and other clients

Defining formal land and water borders for legal documents such as leases and deeds

Surveyors may undertake extra duties in addition to these basic job requirements, depending on the type of survey work they do. Among the several types of survey work are:

1. Land Surveying

Land surveyors determine the legal boundaries of land and pinpoint the precise locations of construction sites and real properties.

Surveyors in engineering and construction determine the locations of structures, roadways, and the depths of building foundations for construction projects.

2. Forensic Surveying

Forensic surveyors record accident scenes and the effects of incidents on land areas and geographical features.

3. Mine Surveying

Mine surveyors map tunnels and characteristics of underground mines and assist in determining the volume of mining materials in surface mines.

4. Marine & Hydrographic Surveying

Marine surveyors survey water such as rivers, bays, and harbors to detect topographical features such as water depth and water body floor.

5. Geodetic Surveying

Geodetic surveyors employ high-accuracy technical equipment, such as satellite and aerial observation tools, to measure larger portions of the earth’s surface.

What Are The Qualifications Needed?

A Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering is the minimum requirement for candidates seeking to become surveyors. There are, however, many international universities and schools that offer degrees in land surveying and survey technology. They will not, however, provide you with the necessary land surveying license.

Step 1: After passing the 10th grade, the interested candidate must take an entrance exam administered by the Technical Education Boards of various State Governments to be admitted to Diploma colleges based on the individual’s performance in the entrance exam.

This test is usually held in May-June and consists of objective-style questions on English, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Aptitude.

Step 2: After completing this three-year Diploma programme, one can either work as a Junior Engineer or compete for admission to the second year of a degree in engineering programme offered by certain of the state’s regional engineering colleges.

OR, as an alternative to acquiring an engineering degree, one can complete their engineering studies through AMIE (Associate Membership of Institution of Engineers).

AMIE introduces a non-formal engineering education programme, the successful completion of which is recognized by the government of India, the union public service commission, state governments, and public/private sector enterprises as comparable to a degree in engineering.

The second alternative is for the engineering student to complete 10+2 before enrolling in a degree college.

To be eligible for a degree study in engineering, one must have a 10+2 Class pass or have appeared in a Non-Medical stream with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as primary subjects, with a minimum of 60% marks in PCM for most renowned colleges.

Step 1: Eligible candidates must appear in entrance tests conducted by various state universities (such as Delhi CEE by Delhi University, etc.), Central Government Organizations such as Joint Entrance Exam (Mains), and independent institutions (such as IIT-JEE by IIT’s, BITS Pilani, etc.) located throughout India.

Candidates are admitted to these colleges for a four-year degree programme based on their stream.

Step 2: Following the completion of a degree course or similar right qualifications, you will be required to obtain a license to work in MNCs.

You must have passed the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) test and worked as an assistant surveyor for some time to qualify for this position.

Each country has its license exam, and the requirements differ from one another. Different countries may additionally demand a particular number of hours of training per year.

The third alternative is for the student to join the ITI course.

ITI Surveyor is a two-year technical course that teaches several types of surveys. The admission process for ITI Surveyor courses is also extremely simple.

In most colleges, you obtain admission based on your 10th grade, whereas at some government and other colleges in specific states, you have to take an entrance exam.

Colleges for completing the ITI Surveyor Course are quite a few, so students interested in this course should pay close attention to the admission notification.

If you complete an ITI Surveyor course from an NCVT-accredited institute, the duration of this course will be two years.

If you take a survey course from an SCVT-recognised institute, the course will last one year. If you study at an NCVT-recognized institute, you will have four semesters for two years.

Students who perform well in the ITI surveyor course are allowed to apprentice and can do so for three years. This comprises a two-year basic training period.

Many students who complete the ITI surveyor degree work for the government, and some of the most prominent government departments hire them.

How To Become A Land Surveyor Abroad?

Many courses are also appropriate for bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Land Survey courses offered in other countries. For your convenience, before enrolling in one of the courses, please review the qualifying conditions listed below.

Students should take language proficiency exams like the IELTS or TOEFL and acquire a minimum score of 6.0 to 6.5 to demonstrate no language barrier in their studies.

Although many people will encourage students to extend the curriculum to obtain real industry experience. You must have good marks or equivalent achievement in at least three levels, as well as a strong interest in this subject.

The master’s programme can span from one to four years, and students must have completed at least two levels. 1 Honours Most courses require students to attend lectures and complete their independent projects, which will be graded to demonstrate their progress in the course.

Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree must also do at least two internships before completing their studies to obtain practical experience in design and construction.

Who Should Sign Up For This Course?

Students interested in the field of construction or required to do such a course in which a good job and a decent wage are expected should take this course. This course ensures a successful career in less time and with fewer resources.

Important Qualities Of A Surveyor

1. Communication Abilities:

Surveyors must communicate clearly with team members, clients, and government officials.

They must follow architects’ and construction managers’ directions and justify the job’s progress to developers, lawyers, financiers, and government officials.

2. Detail-oriented personality:

Because they create legally enforceable papers, surveyors must operate with precision and accuracy.

3. Visualization Abilities:

Surveyors must be able to visualize new structures and changing terrain.

4. Physical Endurance:

Surveyors have commonly worked outside, frequently in difficult terrain. They must be able to walk vast distances and for extended periods.

5. Problem-solving Abilities:

Surveyors must resolve conflicts between documentation depicting property borders and present land conditions. If there have been modifications in prior years, they must determine why and reinstate property lines.

6. Time management Abilities:

Surveyors must be able to efficiently plan their time on the work and the time of their team members. This is especially important when tight deadlines or when working outside during the winter when daylight hours are limited.

Also Read

How To Become A Successful Civil Engineer
How To Become A Plumber (Detailed Guide)
How To Become A General Contractor
Types Of Surveying & Their Uses In Construction

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