A benchmark used in surveying is:
Correct Answer
B) A monumented point of known elevation
Why this is correct: In surveying, a benchmark is a permanent, monumented point (often a brass disk) with a known, published elevation above a datum (like sea level), used as a reference for determining other elevations. Why the other choices are wrong: 'The starting corner of a metes and bounds description' is the point of beginning, not a benchmark. 'The average price per acre in a market area' is a valuation metric. 'A standard depth used for commercial lot pricing' refers to depth tables, not surveying. Exam tip: Benchmark = elevation reference; Point of Beginning = boundary reference.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
A benchmark is a monumented point of known elevation, tied to a vertical datum, from which other elevations are measured. Its two defining attributes are permanence, so it can be relocated and reused, and a published elevation value. Appraisers encounter benchmarks in elevation certificates, flood zone determinations and site grading plans.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: The starting corner of a metes and bounds description
The starting corner of a metes and bounds description is the point of beginning, a horizontal control point that anchors the boundary traverse and to which the description must return to close. It says nothing about elevation. Both are monumented reference points, which is exactly why the exam pairs them.
Option C: The average price per acre in a market area
An average price per acre is a market-derived unit of comparison used in sales analysis, not a survey concept. The word benchmark is used loosely in business to mean a standard of comparison, and this option trades on that everyday usage. On the exam the term carries its technical surveying meaning.
Option D: A standard depth used for commercial lot pricing
A standard depth for commercial lot pricing refers to depth tables and the 4-3-2-1 style rules used to allocate value across lot depth. That is a valuation convention, not a survey monument. It has no relationship to elevation or to vertical datums.
Bench Sits at a Height
Picture a bench bolted to a hillside at a marked height above the sea. A bench has an elevation; a beginning has a corner. Benchmark equals up and down, point of beginning equals side to side.
How to use: When a question offers both a benchmark and a point of beginning, sort by dimension first: if the answer concerns height, elevation or flood, it is the benchmark; if it concerns boundaries or corners, it is the point of beginning.
Exam Tip
Read survey vocabulary questions literally; the colloquial sense of a word like benchmark is planted as a distractor.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Confusing a benchmark with the point of beginning in a metes and bounds description
- -Interpreting benchmark in its everyday sense of a standard of comparison
- -Assuming any survey monument establishes elevation
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
Surveying supplies appraisers with two very different kinds of reference points, and this item checks that you do not confuse them. A benchmark is a vertical reference: a permanently monumented point, often a brass or aluminum disk set in concrete, whose elevation above an established datum is known and published. Surveyors run levels from a benchmark to establish elevations for grading, flood determinations, foundation heights and drainage design. A point of beginning, by contrast, is a horizontal reference used to open and close a metes and bounds description. Vertical control and horizontal control serve different purposes, and only one of them is called a benchmark.
Background Knowledge
You need to know basic survey vocabulary, including datum, benchmark, monument and point of beginning, and how each functions. You also need to recognize that the same word can have a technical meaning in surveying and a colloquial meaning in business analysis.
Real-World Application
Reviewing an elevation certificate on a property near a floodplain, the appraiser sees the surveyor's shot referenced to a nearby benchmark of published elevation, which establishes whether the lowest floor sits above the base flood elevation.
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