Types

Local organisations or regulatory bodies class specializations of surveying in different ways. Broad groups are:

• As-built survey: a survey that documents the location of recently constructed elements of a construction project. As-built surveys are done for record, completion evaluation and payment purposes. An as-built survey is also known as a 'works as executed survey'. As built surveys are often presented in red or redline and laid over existing plans for comparison with design information.
• Cadastral or boundary surveying: a survey that establishes or re-establishes boundaries of a parcel using a legal description. It involves the setting or restoration of monuments or markers at the corners or along the lines of the parcel. These take the form of iron rods, pipes, or concrete monuments in the ground, or nails set in concrete or asphalt. The ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey is a standard proposed by the American Land Title Association and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. It incorporates elements of the boundary survey, mortgage survey, and topographic survey.
• Control surveying: Control surveys establish reference points to use as starting positions for future surveys. Most other forms of surveying will contain elements of control surveying.
• Construction surveying
• Deformation survey: a survey to determine if a structure or object is changing shape or moving. First the positions of points on an object are found. A period of time is allowed to pass and the positions are then re-measured and calculated. Then a comparison between the two sets of positions is made.
• Dimensional control survey: This is a type of survey conducted in or on a non-level surface. Common in the oil and gas industry to replace old or damaged pipes on a like-for-like basis, the advantage of dimensional control survey is that the instrument used to conduct the survey does not need to be level. This is useful in the off-shore industry, as not all platforms are fixed and are thus subject to movement.
• Engineering surveying: topographic, layout, and as-built surveys associated with engineering design. They often need geodetic computations beyond normal civil engineering practice.
• Foundation survey: a survey done to collect the positional data on a foundation that has been poured and is cured. This is done to ensure that the foundation was constructed in the location, and at the elevation, authorized in the plot plan, site plan, or subdivision plan.
• Hydrographic survey: a survey conducted with the purpose of mapping the shoreline and bed of a body of water. Used for navigation, engineering, or resource management purposes.
• Leveling: either finds the elevation of a given point or establish a point at a given elevation.
• LOMA survey: Survey to change base flood line, removing property from a SFHA special flood hazard area.
• Measured survey : a building survey to produce plans of the building. such a survey may be conducted before renovation works, for commercial purpose, or at end of the construction process.
• Mining surveying: Mining surveying includes directing the digging of mine shafts and galleries and the calculation of volume of rock. It uses specialised techniques due to the restraints to survey geometry such as vertical shafts and narrow passages.
• Mortgage survey: A mortgage survey or physical survey is a simple survey that delineates land boundaries and building locations. It checks for encroachment, building setback restrictions and shows nearby flood zones. In many places a mortgage survey is a precondition for a mortgage loan.
• Photographic control survey: A survey that creates reference marks visible from the air to allow aerial photographs to be rectified.
• Stakeout, layout or setout: an element of many other surveys where the calculated or proposed position of an object is marked on the ground. This can be temporary or permanent. This is an important component of engineering and cadastral surveying.
• Structural survey: a detailed inspection to report upon the physical condition and structural stability of a building or structure. It highlights any work needed to maintain it in good repair.
• Subdivision: A boundary survey that splits a property into two or more smaller properties.
• Topographic survey: a survey that measures the elevation of points on a particular piece of land, and presents them as contour lines on a plot.
• Underwater survey: a survey of an underwater site, object, or area.

Plane and geodetic surveyingedit

Based on the considerations and true shape of the earth, surveying is broadly classified into two types.

Plane surveying assumes the earth is flat. Curvature and spheroidal shape of the earth is neglected. In this type of surveying all triangles formed by joining survey lines are considered as plane triangles. It is employed for small survey works where errors due to the earth's shape are too small to matter.

In geodetic surveying the curvature of the earth is taken into account while calculating reduced levels, angles, bearings and distances. This type of surveying is usually employed for large survey works. Survey works up to 100 square miles (260 square kilometers ) are treated as plane and beyond that are treated as geodetic. In geodetic surveying necessary corrections are applied to reduced levels, bearings and other observations.