Things to Know
The Washington State Land Surveyor's Examination has changed. It is now a 4-hour, 40 question exam.
- The Board’s application deadlines for exams are:
- February 25th for the March exam administration
- August 26th for the September exam administration
Please see the NCEES website for information regarding the NCEES PLS exam.
Please see the Land Surveyor License Exam page for information regarding the Washington State specific land surveyor’s exam.
Licensing requirements
To get your license, you must meet all of the following requirements:
- Pass the LSIT (Land Surveyor-in-Training exam).
- Pass the PLS (Principles and Practices of Land Surveying exam).
- Pass the Washington State specific land surveyor's exam.
- Have 8 years of professional-level experience under the direct supervision of a licensed land surveyor.
- Education in an ABET-accredited program may count for up to 4 years of this experience.
- Completion of the Certified Federal Surveyor (CFedS) program, including the final exam, may count for 3 months of this experience.
How to apply
What you’ll need
- Completed Land Surveyors Law Review exam.
- Professional land surveying experience verification
- NCEES record
OR
- Professional Land Surveying Experience and Verification
- Official transcripts, if you want education to be applied toward experience.
- License or exam verification. Go to NCEES to request a license or exam verification.
Experience verification options
Complete the Applicant portion of the Professional Land Surveying Experience and Verification form for each experience you’re having verified and send it to the experience verifier.
- The verifier must complete their portion and return it to you in a sealed enveloped across the flap. Don’t open the sealed envelope. Or the verifier can email the form to engineers@brpels.wa.gov but it must come directly from the verifier’s email address.
Official transcripts must be in an envelope sealed by the college or university, or emailed direct from the school. Photocopies are not acceptable. Have them sent to:
Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
PO Box 9025
Olympia WA 98507-9025
Online
- Prepare your documents for upload:
- Electronic copy of your completed Land Surveyor Law Review
- Login or sign up to apply and pay your application fee.
- Have any official transcripts or experience verification sent to:
Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
PO Box 9025
Olympia WA 98507-9025
Email: engineers@brpels.wa.gov (email must be sent directly from the school).
By mail
- Complete the Professional Land Surveyor Registration Application.
- Send pages 1–2 with a check or money order for the exam fees (payable to the Department of Licensing) to:
Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
Department of Licensing
PO Box 3777
Seattle, WA 98124-3777 - Send the Professional Land Surveying Experience Description and Verification to the people who are verifying your work experience. They will send the finished form directly to us when they're done.
- Send pages 1–2 with a check or money order for the exam fees (payable to the Department of Licensing) to:
- If you took the Fundamentals of Land Surveying exam (FLS) in another state, go to https://account.ncees.org/login and follow the instructions for requesting a license/exam verification.