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Produce a topographical survey plan

Level / 5
Credits / 8

PurposeThis unit standard is for people working, or who intend to work, in the surveying profession as a survey technician.

People credited with this unit standard are able to: prepare for a topographical survey; perform a topographical survey; process field observations from the topographical survey; and develop and present a topographical plan.

Subfield / Surveying
Domain / Survey Practice
Status / Registered
Status date / 25 February2008
Date version published / 25 February2008
Planned review date / 31 December 2012
Entry information / Open.
Accreditation / Evaluation of documentation and visit by NZQA and industry.
Standard setting body (SSB) / Infrastructure ITO
Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP) reference / 0101

This AMAP can be accessed at

Special notes

1Evidence for this unit standard must comprise a topographical plan for an urban development site with existing services. The plan must be produced using computer aided design software.

2A reference for this unit standard is:Price, WF, and Uren, J, Surveying for Engineers (UK: Palgrave Macmillan 2005), available at

3Definitions

Job requirements take account of site conditions to meet contract specifications, and accord with procedures and work instructions written in quality manuals.

Workplace procedures refer to documented procedures specific to an enterprise which set out the quality management requirements for the business practice and activities of that enterprise.

Elements and performance criteria

Element 1

Prepare for a topographical survey.

Performance criteria

1.1Job requirements are determined in accordance with workplace procedures.

Rangerequirements include – spot levels, contours, physical features, buried services, boundaries.

1.2Survey methods and equipment are selected in accordance with job and accuracy requirements.

1.3The plan scale, contour interval, and level of detail are identified in accordance with job requirements.

1.4Feature coding is chosen to suit the task within software capabilities in accordance with workplace procedures.

Element 2

Perform a topographical survey.

Performance criteria

2.1Features, breaklines, strings, and ground heights are surveyed in accordance with job requirements.

2.2Spot height density is surveyed to accurately reflect ground topography in accordance with job requirements.

Element 3

Process field observations from the topographical survey.

Performance criteria

3.1Field data are reduced in accordance with triangulated irregular network software instructions.

3.2Analysis of the triangulated irregular network eliminates errors and omissions from the data in accordance with software instructions.

Rangetriangle orientation, long triangle, breaklines, include boundary, exclude boundary.

3.3Contours are generated using computer-aided design in accordance with job requirements.

Element 4

Develop and present a topographical plan.

Performance criteria

4.1The draft topographical plan is developed in accordance with client requirements for format.

Rangeformat – electronic, printed.

4.2The reliability of the draft topographical plan is confirmed by a field audit that is documented to suit the task.

Rangeincludes but is not limited to – scale, contour interval, level of detail.

4.3The final topographical plan is presented in accordance with workplace procedures.

Rangepresentation includes but is not limited to – title block, scale bar, north point, legend, symbols, limitations, disclaimers, datum notes, contour interval, contour label, boundaries.

Please note

Providers must be accredited by NZQA, or an inter-institutional body with delegated authority for quality assurance, before they can report credits from assessment against unit standards or deliver courses of study leading to that assessment.

Industry Training Organisations must be accredited by NZQA before they can register credits from assessment against unit standards.

Accredited providers and Industry Training Organisations assessing against unit standards must engage with the moderation system that applies to those standards.

Accreditation requirements and an outline of the moderation system that applies to this standard are outlined in the Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP). The AMAP also includes useful information about special requirements for organisations wishing to develop education and training programmes, such as minimum qualifications for tutors and assessors, and special resource requirements.

Comments on this unit standard

Please contact Infrastructure you wish to suggest changes to the content of this unit standard.

 New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2018