PS Exam Preparation

Comprehensive preparation for the NCEES Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam. 5 modules covering all 5 exam domains with 50 in-depth topics.

Progress0/50

Lesson 1

Searching for & Evaluating Evidence

Learning Objectives

After completing this topic, you should be able to:

Identify and classify the four types of evidence used in boundary determination
Distinguish between prima facie evidence and conclusive evidence
Conduct a systematic records search for boundary retracement
Evaluate the reliability and weight of different evidence categories
Understand the chain of title and its significance to boundary location
Apply evidence evaluation principles to real-world survey scenarios

Overview

Evidence evaluation is the core intellectual skill of boundary surveying. Before a surveyor sets foot in the field, a thorough records search and evidence evaluation must be completed. The surveyor must understand what types of evidence exist, how to find them, how to weigh them against one another, and how they combine to establish the location of boundaries on the ground.

A recurring theme in Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location (Robillard & Wilson, 6th Ed.) is the duty to perform a thorough records search before fieldwork. Failure to do so can constitute negligence -- a survey based solely on measurement, without regard to the record evidence, may be technically precise but legally unsupportable.

Key Concepts

The Four Types of Evidence

Figure PS.1.16 — Four types of evidence (documentary, judicial notice, physical, parol)

Evidence in boundary surveying falls into four fundamental categories. Each type carries different weight and serves different purposes in the boundary determination process.

1. Written Documents (Documentary Evidence)

Written documents form the primary foundation of most boundary determinations. These include:

Document Type	Examples	Typical Source
Deeds	Grant deeds, warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds	County recorder
Plats and maps	Subdivision plats, records of survey, parcel maps	County recorder/surveyor
Court records	Judgments, quiet title actions, partition decrees	County clerk
Government records	GLO plats, BLM field notes, patents	BLM, National Archives
Title documents	Title reports, title insurance policies	Title companies
Historical maps	Assessor maps, USGS quads, aerial photographs	Various agencies
Prior surveys	Field notes, calculation sheets, records of survey	County surveyor, private files

Documentary evidence is generally considered the most reliable form of evidence because it was created contemporaneously with the events it describes and is not subject to the frailties of human memory.

2. Judicial Notice

Judicial notice refers to facts so well established that courts accept them without formal proof. In surveying contexts, this includes:

Geographic facts: The general location of rivers, mountains, and other natural features
Government surveys: The existence and general accuracy of the PLSS
Legal presumptions: That official surveys were properly conducted
Common knowledge: Established facts about local geography and conditions
Scientific principles: Accepted methods of measurement and calculation

Judicial notice serves as background knowledge that supports the interpretation of other evidence. A court will take judicial notice that magnetic declination changes over time, for example, without requiring expert testimony on the subject.

3. Physical Objects (Real Evidence)

Physical objects found on the ground provide direct evidence of boundary location. These include:

Natural monuments:

Rivers, streams, lakes, and shorelines
Ridgelines, bluffs, and escarpments
Trees (bearing trees, witness trees, line trees)
Rock outcrops and boulders

Artificial monuments:

Iron pipes, rebar, and survey markers
Fence lines and walls
Stone mounds and pits
Street improvements and curb lines
Building corners and foundations
Railroad rights-of-way

Evidence of occupation:

Fence lines (even when not on the true line)
Cultivation patterns
Improvements and structures
Roads and trails

The surveyor must carefully distinguish between monuments set to mark boundaries and objects that happen to be near boundaries. A fence built by an adjoining owner is evidence of where someone believed the boundary to be, but it is not necessarily evidence of the boundary itself.

4. Parol Evidence (Testimony)

Parol evidence consists of oral testimony and other evidence outside the written documents. This includes:

Witnesses who observed original monuments being set
Testimony about the location of now-destroyed monuments
Statements by original parties about their intent
Evidence explaining latent ambiguities in documents
Testimony about local customs and practices
Expert surveyor testimony about measurement methods

Parol evidence is generally considered the least reliable type of evidence because it depends on human memory, which fades and distorts over time. However, it may be the only evidence available when physical monuments have been destroyed or documents are ambiguous.

Prima Facie Evidence

Prima facie evidence is evidence that is sufficient to establish a fact unless rebutted by contrary evidence. In surveying:

A recorded plat is prima facie evidence of the boundaries it depicts
A government survey is prima facie evidence of the lines it establishes
A deed description is prima facie evidence of the grantor's intent
A monument found in place is prima facie evidence of the boundary location

The key characteristic of prima facie evidence is that it shifts the burden of proof. Once prima facie evidence of a boundary location is established, the opposing party must produce evidence to rebut it. If no rebutting evidence is produced, the prima facie evidence stands.

This does not mean prima facie evidence is conclusive. A surveyor who finds a monument in a position that contradicts reliable documentary evidence must weigh both forms of evidence and may conclude that the monument was incorrectly placed or has been disturbed.

Types of Notice

Recording systems work because the law charges parties with notice of certain facts whether or not they actually know them. Title and boundary questions frequently turn on which kind of notice applies:

Actual (express) notice — knowledge or notice "given to a party directly, not arising from any inference, duty, or inquiry" (Black's Law Dictionary, 9th Ed.). A buyer who is handed a copy of an unrecorded easement agreement has actual notice of it. Direct notice is a form of actual notice — a fact "brought directly to a party's attention."
Implied notice — notice "inferred from facts that a person had a means of knowing and that is thus imputed to that person" (Black's); actual notice of circumstances that, if properly followed up, would have led to knowledge of the fact in question. Visible wheel ruts crossing a parcel imply notice of a possible road easement, whether or not the buyer investigates.
Constructive notice — "notice implied or imputed by law as the notice of a deed that has been recorded in a grantee–grantor index" (Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles, 7th Ed., Glossary). It arises "by presumption of law from the existence of facts and circumstances that a party had a duty to take notice of" (Black's). Recording a conveyance gives the entire world constructive notice of its contents — one cannot deny the matter contained in a constructive notice, even without ever having read the document.
Judicial notice — facts a court accepts as true without requiring proof (covered under The Four Types of Evidence above).

The practical consequence for surveyors: a properly recorded document binds subsequent purchasers through constructive notice, which is why the systematic records search described below is a legal duty and not merely good practice.

Conducting a Systematic Records Search

A thorough records search follows a systematic process. The surveyor should search these sources in roughly this order:

Step 1: Chain of Title

Obtain a complete chain of title from the title company or county records
Trace the property back to the original government patent or first conveyance
Identify all deeds, plats, and encumbrances in the chain

Step 2: Recorded Maps and Plats

Subdivision plats and final maps
Records of survey (filed per state surveying practice act requirements)
Corner records
Parcel maps and lot line adjustments
Assessor parcel maps

Step 3: Government Survey Records

Original GLO survey plats and field notes
Dependent resurvey plats and notes
BLM cadastral survey records
State land records (for state-patented lands)

Step 4: Adjoining Property Records

Deeds and plats for all adjoining parcels
Records of survey affecting adjacent boundaries
Easement documents crossing or bordering the property

Step 5: Supplementary Sources

Historical aerial photographs
USGS topographic maps (multiple editions)
County assessor records
Court case files involving the property or neighbors
Road records and right-of-way plans
Utility easement records

Step 6: Prior Survey Records

Contact the county surveyor for records of prior surveys
Contact previous surveyors of record for field notes
Review any calculation sheets or adjustment records

Common wrong path — skipping the records search "because the fieldwork is obvious." A seasoned crew can look at a parcel with clean occupation lines, existing monuments, and clear neighbors and conclude that the boundary is straightforward. The temptation is to bypass the records search and "just measure what's there." That is negligence. Evidence and Procedures explicitly treats failure to perform a thorough records search as a professional breach — a survey built on measurements alone, without regard to the documentary chain, may be mathematically precise but legally indefensible. The records search surfaces easements, prior surveys that placed corners differently, recorded but physically-absent monuments, chain-of-title defects, and senior/junior-rights context that no amount of fieldwork can reveal. Exam questions bait this trap by describing a "simple" survey and asking what step was inappropriate; if the surveyor went to the field without completing records research, the answer is the skipped research — not anything they did in the field.

Quick retrieval check — try before reading on.

▶A surveyor is asked to survey a 5-acre rural parcel. The client provides the most recent deed (2018) and says "the fences are good, just verify them." What records does the surveyor need, at minimum, before going to the field?

At minimum, the surveyor needs:

Full chain of title back to the original patent or oldest deed in the chain — not just the most recent deed
Prior recorded surveys (Records of Survey, corner records) affecting the parcel and adjoiners
Adjoiner deeds for all parcels sharing a boundary (to identify senior/junior rights and check for gaps/overlaps)
Original plat or survey that created the parcel
Government records (GLO plat and field notes if PLSS; tax maps if pre-PLSS)
Title report/commitment identifying easements, encumbrances, and exceptions

The 2018 deed alone is not enough. It's the starting point for tracing back, not the complete record. A client's assurance that "the fences are good" is irrelevant to the research obligation — the surveyor may ultimately conclude that the fences are good, but must reach that conclusion after evaluating the record evidence, not before. Performing fieldwork without the full record risks missing a senior-rights issue, an unrecorded easement, or a prior survey that places corners 5 ft from the fence line.

Evaluating Evidence Quality

Figure PS.1.18 — Higher- vs lower-weight evidence comparison

Not all evidence is equal. The surveyor must assess each piece of evidence against several criteria:

Criterion	Higher Weight	Lower Weight
Age	Contemporaneous with the event	Created long after the event
Source	Disinterested party, official record	Interested party, informal record
Consistency	Agrees with other evidence	Contradicts other evidence
Specificity	Precise and detailed	Vague and general
Chain of custody	Continuously maintained	Gaps in custody, possible alteration
Type	Physical monument, official document	Oral testimony, informal notes

The Weight of Conflicting Evidence

Figure PS.1.19 — Six-tier conflicting-evidence resolution hierarchy

When evidence conflicts -- and it frequently does -- the surveyor must apply legal principles to resolve the conflict. The general hierarchy is:

Original, undisturbed monuments outweigh everything else
Written documents outweigh oral testimony (with exceptions for latent ambiguity)
Official records outweigh private records
Contemporaneous records outweigh later records
Specific evidence outweighs general evidence
Consistent evidence from multiple sources outweighs isolated contradictory evidence

The surveyor must document the reasoning behind each evidentiary decision. When a survey is challenged in court, the surveyor will need to explain why certain evidence was given more weight than other evidence.

Common Pitfalls in Evidence Evaluation

Figure PS.1.20 — Four bias types in evidence evaluation

Measurement bias: Giving excessive weight to precise modern measurements while ignoring less precise but more authoritative original evidence. The original surveyor's intent, as evidenced by monuments and field notes, controls over modern remeasurement.

Confirmation bias: Searching for evidence that supports a predetermined conclusion while ignoring contradictory evidence. The surveyor must objectively evaluate all evidence regardless of which party engaged the surveyor.

Recency bias: Giving excessive weight to the most recent survey while ignoring older but potentially more authoritative surveys closer in time to the original.

Single-source reliance: Relying on a single piece of evidence when multiple sources should be consulted. A thorough search reduces the risk of error from any single source.

Exam Tips

The four types of evidence (documentary, judicial notice, real, parol) are frequently tested -- know examples of each
Prima facie evidence can be rebutted; it is not conclusive
A monument found in place is prima facie evidence of the boundary, but it must be evaluated in context
The chain of title search should go back to the original patent or first conveyance
Physical evidence on the ground (monuments, fences, occupation lines) must be evaluated alongside documentary evidence
Remember that the surveyor's role is to evaluate evidence, not simply measure -- this distinction is central to the PS exam