Licensed Land Surveyors in North Dakota
North Dakota has 44 licensed land surveying firms in our directory, concentrated across four cities: Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot. The state is large and largely rural, so the geographic distribution of firms matters when you are looking for a surveyor close to your property or with experience in the specific challenges of your region.
The North Dakota State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (NDPELSB) licenses Professional Land Surveyors (PLS) under NDCC Chapter 43-19.1. Every surveyor in our North Dakota directory is sourced from state licensing records.
Where North Dakota Surveyors Are Located
| City | County | Firms in Directory |
|---|---|---|
| Bismarck | Burleigh | 17 |
| Minot | Ward | 9 |
| Grand Forks | Grand Forks | 8 |
| Fargo / West Fargo | Cass | 8 |
Bismarck has the largest concentration of surveying firms in the state. Its central location, status as the state capital, and proximity to a wide range of agricultural, government, and energy-sector clients makes it a natural hub. Firms in Bismarck regularly work across south-central North Dakota, and several handle Bakken-related work in western counties.
Minot is the primary hub for Ward County and north-central North Dakota. Its surveying community has extensive experience with post-2011 Souris River flood remapping and the agricultural landscape of the Minot region. Grand Forks serves the northeastern corner of the state, including the intensively farmed Red River Valley counties. Fargo-area firms are the largest market in eastern North Dakota and handle significant residential, commercial, and Red River flood zone work.
Why Local Surveying Experience Matters in North Dakota
Each Region Has Different Survey Challenges
North Dakota covers a large area with distinct geographic and legal survey challenges by region. The firm you hire should have direct experience with the specific conditions in your area.
Red River Valley: Fargo and Grand Forks
The Red River Valley is among the flattest terrain on Earth, the bed of ancient glacial Lake Agassiz. While flat terrain is efficient for fieldwork, the valley presents two distinctive challenges. First, the original GLO section corner monuments set in the 1870s and 1880s have been heavily disturbed by more than a century of intensive agriculture, deep plowing, and drainage ditching on some of the most productive farmland in the country. Recovering or reconstructing those corners requires experience with local monument conditions and county records.
Second, the Red River is one of the most flood-prone rivers in the United States. The 1997 Grand Forks flood forced evacuation of the entire city and destroyed portions of downtown. The 2009 Fargo flood required a massive city-wide sandbagging campaign. Both events drove extensive FEMA remapping, and Zone AE flood designations are extensive throughout both metro areas. Surveyors in Fargo and Grand Forks regularly perform elevation certificates and flood zone surveys. A firm with that specific experience can complete the work more efficiently and accurately than one without it.
Souris River Corridor: Minot and Ward County
The 2011 Souris River flood was the worst natural disaster in Minot’s history. Roughly 12,000 residents, about a quarter of the city, were evacuated as the Mouse River crested at record levels. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed. The FEMA remapping that followed substantially revised Ward County flood maps, reclassifying many properties from outside Zone AE to within it, and rendering pre-flood elevation certificates obsolete for those properties.
Minot-area surveying firms are deeply familiar with that remapping, the updated base flood elevations across the city, and the ongoing elevation certificate work that has continued since 2011. If your property is anywhere near the Souris River corridor in Ward County, a local firm with that institutional knowledge is the right choice.
Missouri River Corridor: Bismarck and Burleigh County
Bismarck straddles the Missouri River. Zone AE flood designations run along the river corridor through Burleigh County, though the Garrison Dam and Lake Sakakawea upstream provide significant flood management. Bismarck-area firms handle Missouri River flood zone work, but the bulk of their work across south-central North Dakota is agricultural boundary surveys, subdivision plats, government project surveys, and construction staking. With 17 firms in Burleigh County alone, Bismarck has the most competitive market in the state.
Agricultural Parcel Work Across All Regions
North Dakota is one of the most agricultural states in the country. Farm parcels covering quarter sections (160 acres), half sections (320 acres), or full sections (640 acres) are common throughout the state. Agricultural boundary surveys require experience with the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), including the ability to locate or reconstruct original GLO section corner monuments that were set more than 130 years ago and have often been disturbed.
Agricultural land sales frequently require boundary surveys for acreage verification, particularly when a lender or the USDA Farm Service Agency is involved. A surveyor familiar with your county’s PLSS monument records and township plat history can do this work more efficiently than one who does not regularly work in that county.
Oil and Gas Easement Work: Western North Dakota
The Bakken formation, centered in Williams, McKenzie, Mountrail, and Dunn counties in western North Dakota, is one of the most productive oil regions in the United States. Pipeline easement surveys, well pad surveys, access road layouts, and mineral rights surveys are specialized work that some Bismarck and Minot firms handle for clients with western North Dakota properties. If you need a survey related to oil and gas activity, ask the firm specifically whether they have done this type of work in the relevant counties.
What to Ask a North Dakota Surveyor Before Hiring
Before committing to a firm, ask these specific questions:
- Have you done boundary surveys in [your county] before? Do you know the condition of PLSS monuments in that township?
- Do you handle elevation certificate work? Do you have experience with flood maps in [Minot/Grand Forks/Fargo/Bismarck] specifically?
- For agricultural parcels: Have you surveyed section or quarter-section parcels in this county? Are you familiar with local drainage easements?
- For oil and gas: Do you have experience with pipeline easement surveys and well pad layouts in western North Dakota?
- What is your current scheduling lead time for fieldwork?
- Can you provide a written quote specifying what is included in the scope?
Why the Short Field Season Makes Scheduling Critical
North Dakota’s climate limits practical survey fieldwork to roughly April through November. Frozen ground prevents monument recovery, and snow cover makes outdoor measurement impractical through the winter months. The busiest period for field crews runs May through September, when spring construction projects, agricultural land sales, and the backlog of requests from the off-season all compete for scheduling.
If you need a survey completed before a specific deadline, particularly before freeze-up in October or November, contact firms well in advance. A six- to eight-week lead time is not unusual during peak months at busy firms. For agricultural land sales tied to a closing date, build the survey timeline into your purchase agreement.
Getting Accurate Quotes From North Dakota Surveyors
To get a useful quote, gather this information before you call:
- Property address and county
- Approximate parcel size (residential lot dimensions or agricultural acreage)
- Your current deed or legal description
- Any prior survey plats you have on file
- The specific purpose of the survey (fence, permit, sale, flood insurance, easement, subdivision)
- Any known complications such as disputed lines, missing monuments, or flood zone concerns
Contact at least three firms. Quote variation of 30 to 50 percent for the same project between firms is common. A local firm with direct experience in your county and survey type will give you a more accurate estimate and typically a faster turnaround than a firm working outside its usual area.
North Dakota Licensing Requirements
The NDPELSB licenses PLS holders under NDCC Chapter 43-19.1. Only a licensed North Dakota PLS can certify boundary surveys, elevation certificates, ALTA/NSPS surveys, or subdivision plats for legal or permitting use. Survey work from an unlicensed person has no legal standing in North Dakota.
Start your search in our North Dakota land surveyor directory, where all 44 firms are listed and sourced from state licensing records.