PS & PE On Demand

Offering CE for Surveyors, Engineers, and Title Agents

Surveyor and Engineer On Demand Courses

Instructions

Simply click on the link below to register.

You’ll then create a username and password along with entering your additional information. Then click on the catalog button, select your category, click on the name of the course for details about the course, select your course and add to cart. After you’ve purchased the course you can immediately begin. You can stop and start whenever you’d like and there is no time limit to complete the course. You can rewind the video but you cannot fast forward. Once you've complete the video there is a multiple choice question exam. Passing grade is 70% and you can take the test as many times as you need to pass.

Once I receive the notification of your successful completion of the course and I receive your affidavit, I will email you your certificate.

Click Here to Register

On Demand Courses

Railroads and Railroad Rights of Way - Surveyors Only

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Professional Surveyors frequently encounter railroad rights of way in their work as they retrace boundaries, deal with questions of seniority between public roads and railroads, address abandonments or reversionary rights, or guide clients on their needs for easements or licenses over railroad rights of way. In the process they often face confusion over the status of a railroad right of way: Is it a fee ownership or just an easement? Is it abandoned or just inactive? Is it active? How does one know? How does one find Railroad Valuation Maps and vesting deeds? What about "Rails to Trails?" In this session, we will review several judicial decisions regarding railroad rights of way including Preseault v. Interstate Commerce Commission (U.S. Supreme Court, 1990), Howard v. U.S. (2012), contemporary state cases, Clark v. CSX (2000), and Brandt v. U.S (2014).

2021 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys for Field Techs and Managers - Surveyors Only

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

This course emphasizes the field aspects of performing a 2021 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey. All elements of the standards that relate to tasks in the field are reviewed in order to achieve the goal of helping field technicians (and their managers) better understand the overriding purposes of an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey, and hence the purpose for each requirement. This understanding is critical if field technicians are to put the various requirements in context and best meet the needs of the title company, lender and client.

Boundary Law for Field Techs - Surveyors Only

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

The objective of this program is to outline the historical and legal roots of boundary law in order to put into context the all-important role of evidence-gathering that field technicians perform as an essential part of the process of determining boundary locations. The program will cover an introduction to the United States Public Land Survey System, the land tenure system in the United States, the two types of property conveyances, the two types of boundary surveys, and the primary legal principles that underlie the retracement of boundaries.

The Art of Retracement: Part 1 -Surveyors Only

4 hour course - $119

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Every professional surveyor across the United States knows the phrase “Follow in the Footsteps” as it relates to conducting a boundary retracement survey. But what does it really mean and what is the basis for following the footsteps? And exactly whose footsteps are we talking about? Surveyors also know the effect of the statute of frauds is that what is written in the conveyancing document is considered by the courts to be the highest and best expression of the parties’ intentions. But what happens when the evidence of the footsteps on the ground conflicts with the written title? What if there are seemingly no footsteps to follow? In this program we will explore the concept of retracement, how it relates to and is dependent on the document of conveyance, and what controls when conflicts and ambiguities are inevitably encountered. When armed with a full understanding of the concept of retracement, surveyors will be much better equipped to help steer their clients (and their affected neighbors) away from the pain and cost of litigation, and towards an amicable solution based on well-placed confidence and understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities. Part One covers the first half of the content and Part Two (online course coming soon) covers the second half.

Risk Management Surveyors Only

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

This course is designed to help educate surveyors to the realities of liability in their practice. The program will review liability that surveyors necessarily incur as part of their practice and how they can mitigate their exposure. Sources of unnecessary surveyor liability will also be explored by exposing the things that surveyors inadvertently or unwisely do that increase their liability. In all cases, steps that surveyors can take to eliminate or at least mitigate their exposure will be outlined.

Surveyor's Reports: The Good, the bad and the Ugly

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Several states encourage a Surveyors Report, Indiana requires one, and many surveyors are considering the benefits of using Surveyors Reports, but most have not written one. The concept of a Surveyor’s Report has been the topic of a number of published articles and columns over the years. In this program we will review the Indiana rules, the purpose of a Surveyors Report, outline possible and important content, discuss how a Surveyors Report might be formatted, provide suggestions, and review examples - complex, typical, simple, good, bad and ugly.

Being an Expert Witness Surveyors and Engineers

4 hour course - $119

Elective credits for Indiana Surveyors

Surveyors often find themselves involved in legal proceedings or even in court, although hopefully as an expert and not a defendant! This program explores a wide variety of related topics including how to avoid claims, what happens if you land in court, and the many aspects and considerations of being an expert witness such as preparing a Rule 26 Expert Report, what to expect in a deposition, what the rules of evidence are and how they may affect or apply to your work, and how to deal with the client and attorney through the process. Several expert reports are provided as examples.

Guidelines for Writing Surveyor Reports - Surveyors Only

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Do you have questions about what to say in your Surveyor’s Report or how to say it? The presenter sees more Surveyor Reports that are substandard, and not helpful to the reader who needs to understand what was done in resolving the boundary and why, than he does otherwise. In this program we will review what Rule 12 specifically says about Surveyor Reports then provide practical, helpful advice and guidance, and offer detailed examples on how to comply with the letter of the Rule. More importantly, we will provide an outline with detailed suggestions, and discussion on how to fulfill the Rule’s underlying intent of a Surveyors Report providing clear and helpful information to those who may follow in your footsteps.

2021 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards - A Deep Dive Part 1

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Part 1

- Section 1: Purpose. Exploring the relationship between title insurance and ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys. What constitutes an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey?

- Section 2: Request for Survey. Who is responsible for what in placing the order? How do I handle surveys of atypical types of properties?

- Section 3: Surveying Standards and Standards of Care. Among other topics, dealing with conflicts between state law and the ALTA/NSPS Standards, and Relative Positional Precision.

- Section 4: Research. Information to be provided to the surveyor… and what if it’s not provided?

- Section 5: Fieldwork. What is required in the field… and why?

2021 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards - A Deep Dive Part 2

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Part 2

-Section 6: Plat or Map. What is required to be shown on the surveyor’s instrument of service, why is it important, and how is it to be presented?

- Section 7: Certification. What is required and what is allowed? Who should I be certifying to?

- Section 8: Deliverables.

- Table A: Optional Survey Responsibilities and Specifications. There are 20 items with some sub-items. Some items were deleted in 2021. What purpose does each item serve? How do I address it, and can I negotiate changes?

Ethics and Professional Conduct

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Surveyors often have questions related to their desire to conduct their practice in an ethical manner. Whether related to potential conflicts of interest, complaints about other surveyors’ professional conduct, interactions with clients and agencies, or one of the many other routine challenges, there are statutes and administrative rules (including the Standards of Professional Conduct and even the Minimum Standards of Practice) that provide mandatory guidelines for keeping your practice on the straight and narrow. In this program we will explore many of the ethical and professional conduct requirements, and discuss many of the ethical dilemmas that surveyors may face in their everyday

On Demand Courses

Easements and Rights of Way: Part 1

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

This program generates a lot of interest because the surveying community deals with easements almost every day, and they are the subject of a tremendous amount of litigation. The program covers all aspects of easements from their creation (both written and unwritten), through interference, maintenance, overburdening, how they differ from licenses, the importance of recordation, reversionary rights, and the many ways in which they can be terminated or extinguished. The program will be offered in two free-standing parts, so persons can take either, or both, and get the applicable credit.

Easements and Rights of Way: Part 2

3 hour course - $99

Mandatory credits for Indiana Surveyors

Managing Your Business in the 21st Century Part 1 - Surveyors Only

3 hour course - $99

This program is designed to help surveyors navigate the constantly changing climate of today’s economy, technologies and society. The program ranges from a close look at a number of traditional business topics such as financial statements, contracts, metrics and project management to a study of the elements of leadership that make for a healthy workplace, like understanding millennial employee motivations, leading by serving, and listening.

Managing Your Business in the 21st Century Part 2 - Surveyors Only

3 hour course - $99

Health and Safety for Surveyors

3 hour course - $99

Survey field crews are routinely exposed to a wide variety of environmental and societal factors that compromise their safety. These can range from diseases such as Lyme disease to poisonous plants like Giant Hogweed, and from confined space issues to construction-related hazards such as working in, on or around excavations and scaffolding. In this program, we will explore a number of the primary safety hazards that field crews encounter and how to recognize them by maintaining a constant awareness of one’s surroundings. We will also review some of the primary safety-related metrics that clients may look at as part of their process of selecting a surveyor, and steps companies and employees can take to help control them. Finally, we will outline a variety of good practices that companies should maintain in order to help their employees get home safely each night.

The Surveyor's Judicial Role Part 1

3 hour course - $99

Only two persons can truly resolve a disputed boundary or title problem. Those persons do not include attorneys, title companies or surveyors. And, in a sense, they do not even include judges and juries - at least not of their own volition. This program explores the role that the professional surveyor can, and arguably should, take in helping property owners establish or maintain their common boundary in the location that they were perfectly satisfied with - at least until the surveyor showed up! We will look at the role of the surveyor as related to boundaries, not only from a statutory standpoint, but also as eloquently expressed by renowned Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Cooley in his seminal 1881 treatise "The Judicial Function of Surveyors." As a part of this, we will review the dynamic that exists between matters of title and matters of survey, including a close look at title insurance and marketable record title. An in-depth look at the various unwritten rights doctrines will be provided.

The Surveyor's Judicial Role Part 2

3 hour course - $99

Only two persons can truly resolve a disputed boundary or title problem. Those persons do not include attorneys, title companies or surveyors. And, in a sense, they do not even include judges and juries - at least not of their own volition. This program explores the role that the professional surveyor can, and arguably should, take in helping property owners establish or maintain their common boundary in the location that they were perfectly satisfied with - at least until the surveyor showed up! We will look at the role of the surveyor as related to boundaries, not only from a statutory standpoint, but also as eloquently expressed by renowned Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Cooley in his seminal 1881 treatise "The Judicial Function of Surveyors.” In this program, we will take a deep dive into "Cooley’s Dictum,” review several examples that demonstrate the problem, and offer alternatives to what is often the standard approach by surveyors. We will outline a new approach that has the surveyor helping property owners avoid the expense and angst of unnecessarily litigating boundaries when there has been acquiescence to an accepted line by both owners.