Basic Surveying — What This Subject Is About
Before any building, road or dam is built, someone has to measure the land — its distances, its levels, its boundaries. That is surveying, and Basic Surveying is where it begins. In the 3rd semester it is one of the three heaviest subjects: a theory paper (3.2) and a lab (3.3) worth 200 marks together, and almost everything in it is learned by doing — out in the field with a chain, a compass and a level.
You will learn chain surveying with tapes and ranging rods, compass traversing with a prismatic compass (including correcting for local attraction), levelling with a dumpy level to draw contour maps, and measuring areas with a digital planimeter. The lab has 13 practicals, including two full survey projects plotted on A1-size drawing sheets — a closed traverse around a building and a 500 m profile levelling.
Subject 3.2 (Theory) + 3.3 (Lab) • Total 200 Marks • 3 Credits • 3rd Semester — Civil Engineering • Session 2026–27
About this document: Basic Surveying appears twice in the 3rd semester — as a theory paper (3.2) and as a lab (3.3). Both are covered here, completely, in the official order.
What You Will Study
Unit 1 — Overview and Classification of Survey (2 Periods, 10%)
Survey — purpose and use; types of surveying — primary and secondary; classification: plane, geodetic, cadastral, hydrographic, photogrammetry and aerial; principles of surveying; scales: engineer's scale, Representative Fraction (RF) and diagonal scale.
What surveying is, why it is done, the kinds of survey there are, and the scales used on drawings.
Unit 2 — Chain Surveying (3 Periods, 25%)
Instruments used in chain survey: types of chains, tapes, arrow, ranging rod, line ranger, off-set rod, open cross staff, optical square; chain survey station, base line, check line, tie line, offset, tie station; ranging: direct and indirect ranging; methods of chaining, obstacles in chaining and ranging; errors in length: instrumental error, personal error, error due to natural cause, random error, tape corrections; principles of triangulation; types of offsets: perpendicular and oblique; conventional signs, recording of measurements in a field book.
Chain surveying — the chains, tapes and rods, how to range a line, the errors that creep in, and how measurements are recorded in a field book.
Unit 3 — Compass Traverse Survey (3 Periods, 25%)
Compass traversing — open, closed; technical terms: geographic/true magnetic meridians and bearings, Whole Circle Bearing system and Reduced Bearing system and examples on conversion of given bearing to another bearing (from one form to another), fore bearing and back bearing, calculation of internal and external angles from bearings at a station, dip of magnetic needle, magnetic declination; components of prismatic compass and surveyor compass and their functions, methods of using prismatic compass — temporary adjustments and observing bearings; local attraction, methods of correction of observed bearings — correction at station and correction to included angles; methods of plotting a traverse and closing error, graphical adjustment of closing error.
Compass traversing — bearings in the whole-circle and reduced systems, the prismatic compass, local attraction and how to correct for it, and plotting a traverse.
Unit 4 — Levelling and Contouring (4 Periods, 25%)
Basic terminologies: level surfaces, horizontal and vertical surfaces, datum, bench marks — GTS, permanent, arbitrary and temporary — reduced level, rise, fall, line of collimation, station, back sight, fore sight, intermediate sight, change point, height of instruments; types of levels: dumpy, tilting, auto level, digital level; components of dumpy level and its fundamental axes, temporary and permanent adjustments of level; types of levelling staff: self-reading staff and target staff; reduction of level by line of collimation and rise and fall method; levelling types: simple, differential, fly, profile and reciprocal levelling; curvature and refraction correction; contour, contour intervals, horizontal equivalent; uses of contour maps, characteristics of contours, methods of contouring: direct and indirect.
Levelling and contouring — bench marks, the dumpy level, reducing levels by two methods, and how contour maps are made and used.
Unit 5 — Measurement of Area and Volume (2 Periods, 15%)
Components and use of digital planimeter; measurement of area using digital planimeter; measurement of volume of reservoir and earthwork calculation from contour map.
Measuring area and volume — the digital planimeter, and working out earthwork and reservoir volumes from a contour map.
Practical Work
- Measure distance between two survey stations using chain, tape and ranging rods when two stations are inter visible.
- Undertake reciprocal ranging and measure the distance between two stations.
- Determine area of open field using chain and cross staff survey.
- Measure fore bearing and back bearing of survey lines of open traverse using prismatic compass.
- Measure fore bearing and back bearing of a closed traverse of 5 or 6 sides and correct the bearings and included angles for the local attraction.
- Undertake survey project with chain and compass for closed traverse for minimum 5 sides around a building and plot the traverse on A1 size imperial drawing sheet for data collected in survey project mentioned in practical 6.
And more — the complete list of 13 practicals is inside the PDF.
Complete Syllabus
The full examination scheme, the complete practicals list and the reference books from the official syllabus. The unit-wise topics are in the “What You Will Study” section above.
Examination Scheme
| Code | Paper | Type | L – P | Credits | Internal | External | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.2 | Basic Surveying | Theory | 1 – 0 | 1 | Theory 40 | Theory 60 (3 hrs) | 100 |
| 3.3 | Basic Surveying Lab. | Practical | 0 – 4 | 2 | Practical 60 | Practical 40 (3 hrs) | 100 |
| Basic Surveying Total | 3 | 100 | 100 | 200 | |||
Units at a Glance
| Unit | Topic | Periods | Marks Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Overview and Classification of Survey | 2 | 10% |
| 2 | Chain Surveying | 3 | 25% |
| 3 | Compass Traverse Survey | 3 | 25% |
| 4 | Levelling and Contouring | 4 | 25% |
| 5 | Measurement of Area and Volume | 2 | 15% |
Complete Practicals List
This is the complete list of practicals from the official syllabus.
- Measure distance between two survey stations using chain, tape and ranging rods when two stations are inter visible.
- Undertake reciprocal ranging and measure the distance between two stations.
- Determine area of open field using chain and cross staff survey.
- Measure fore bearing and back bearing of survey lines of open traverse using prismatic compass.
- Measure fore bearing and back bearing of a closed traverse of 5 or 6 sides and correct the bearings and included angles for the local attraction.
- Undertake survey project with chain and compass for closed traverse for minimum 5 sides around a building and plot the traverse on A1 size imperial drawing sheet for data collected in survey project mentioned in practical 6.
- Undertake simple leveling using dumpy level / auto level and leveling staff.
- Undertake differential leveling and determine reduced levels by height of instrument method and rise and fall method using dumpy level / auto level and leveling staff and set up gradient.
- Undertake fly leveling with double check using dumpy level / auto level and leveling staff.
- Undertake survey project with leveling instrument for profile leveling and cross-sectioning for a road/canal/railways length of 500 m with cross-section at 30 m interval.
- Plot the L-section with minimum 3 cross-sections on A1 size imperial sheet for data collected in survey project mentioned in practical 10.
- Undertake survey project for plotting contour map using block contouring method for a block of 150 m x 150 m with grid of 10 m x 10 m.
- Plot the contours on A1 size imperial drawing sheet for data collected in survey project mentioned in practical 12. (In the PDF this item is split across two numbered lines, 13 and 14.)
Reference Books
As listed in the syllabus:
- Punmia, B.C.; Jain, Ashok Kumar; Jain, Arun Kumar, Surveying I, Laxmi Publications, New Delhi.
- Basak, N. N., Surveying and Leveling, McGraw Hill Education, New Delhi.
- Kanetkar, T. P.; Kulkarni, S. V., Surveying and Levelling volume I, Pune Vidyarthi Gruh Prakashan.
- Duggal, S. K., Survey I, McGraw Hill Education, New Delhi.
- Saikia, M D.; Das. B.M.; Das. M.M., Surveying, PHI Learning, New Delhi.
- Subramanian, R., Fundamentals of Surveying and Levelling, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
- D.V.Gupta, Vikram Singh, Land Surveying-I, Asian Publishers, Muzaffarnagar, ISBN no. 978-93-5502-121-2.
- Rao, P. Venugopala Akella, Vijayalakshmi, Textbook of Surveying, PHI Learning, New Delhi.
- Bhavikatti, S. S., Surveying and Levelling, Volume 1, I. K. International, New Delhi.
- Arora K R, Surveying Vol. I, Standard Book House.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many marks is Basic Surveying worth in the 3rd semester?
200 marks in total and 3 credits. Basic Surveying: 100 marks (internal Theory 40, external Theory 60 (3 hrs)); Basic Surveying Lab.: 100 marks (internal Practical 60, external Practical 40 (3 hrs)).
Which units carry the most weightage in Basic Surveying?
Chain Surveying (25%, 3 periods); Compass Traverse Survey (25%, 3 periods); Levelling and Contouring (25%, 4 periods) — the highest weightage in the subject. The complete unit-wise weightage table is in the Complete Syllabus section above.
What practical work is there in Basic Surveying?
13 experiments, including Measure distance between two survey stations using chain, tape and ranging rods when two stations are inter visible.; Undertake reciprocal ranging and measure the distance between two stations.; Determine area of open field using chain and cross staff survey.. The complete list is in the Complete Syllabus section above.
Which books should I refer to for Basic Surveying?
The syllabus lists 10 books, including Punmia, B.C.; Jain, Ashok Kumar; Jain, Arun Kumar, Surveying I, Laxmi Publications, New… and Basak, N. N., Surveying and Leveling, McGraw Hill Education, New Delhi., among others. The full list is in the Complete Syllabus section above.
Is Basic Surveying a theory subject or a practical subject?
Both: Basic Surveying is theory (L–P 1 – 0); Basic Surveying Lab. is practical (L–P 0 – 4).
How can I download the Basic Surveying syllabus PDF?
The PDF is free to download — use the download link in the Download section below. It is prepared by KAMALDNP Academy from the official BTEUP syllabus.
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Download the Basic Surveying Syllabus PDF
Download the complete Basic Surveying syllabus PDF below — prepared by KAMALDNP Academy, with the full topic list, practicals and reference books.
Download the Basic Surveying Syllabus PDF
Source: BTEUP 2nd Year curriculum (IIMT mirror of the official curriculum), approved in C.D.C. meeting held on 16.07.2026. Topic lists follow the official syllabus; short explanations are the author's own plain-English summaries, not syllabus text. Please confirm with your own polytechnic for any local changes.
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