What Is the Timing of the Change?

NCEES is updating the reference standards and specifications supplied during the Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam effective July 1, 2027.

This means if you have your exam scheduled prior to July 1, 2027, you will take your exam using the current reference standards (found on the NCEES site). If you take your exam on or after July 1, 2027, your exam will test you on the new July 2027 standards.

What Has Stayed the Same?

Format: The exam continues as a closed-book, 100-question computer-based test (CBT) offered year-round at Pearson VUE testing centers.

Testing Duration: Total appointment time remains 7 hours (6 hours dedicated to answering exam items, plus a 50-minute optional break and minor administrative screens).

Reference Access: All reference documentation—including the NCEES PS Reference Handbook and applicable standards—is provided as searchable electronic PDFs directly within the testing computer interface.

What Are the Expected Changes?

While fundamental land surveying principles remain central to the exam, NCEES has restructured several key topic domain weightings:

• Expanded Legal Principles
• Question counts increase to 23–35 items, focusing heavily on unwritten rights, evidence evaluation, riparian boundaries, and easements/rights-of-way.
• New Dedicated Boundary Division
• Boundary practice is separated into its own primary section (15–23 questions) emphasizing parcel retracement, controlling evidence, and boundary location.

• Streamlined Business Procedures
• Business practices weighting decreases to 6–9 questions to shift greater focus toward core legal and technical competencies.
• Geodetic & Standards Revisions
• Standards & Specifications shifts to 11–17 questions, incorporating updated NGS positioning frameworks, FGDC standards, and FEMA elevation/LOMR documentation.