Fourteen percent of exam questions on the California Supplemental Exam (CSE) for landscape architects involve site inventory job tasks. Since you have likely passed the Landscape Architect Registration Exam (LARE), you already are familiar with many site inventory skill sets required for professional landscape architects.
The CSE exam covers the basics of site inventory with a California flavor.
Four site inventory job tasks are included in the site inventory sub-area of the exam.
- Identify existing site conditions to determine influences that affect development of project site.
- Identify data needed to assist in development of project site.
- Identify off-site conditions to determine influences that affect development of project site.
- Identify potentially hazardous areas of project site to address in development of project site.
Don’t panic! The Landscape Architecture Technical Committee (LATC) helps us out by telling us what specific knowledge areas will be covered under each job task. We will explore each job task and associated knowledge area one at a time to make the studying process manageable.
Lets Get Started….Identify Existing Site Conditions
Identifying existing site conditions is the first job task covered on the CSE for landscape architects exam. Lets examine what specific knowledge that the LATC expects you to know so you can pass the CSE the first time.
According the the CSE candidate guide, the first job task is:
“Identify existing site conditions (e.g., natural, cultural, site features, infrastructure) to determine influences that affect development of project site.”
Lets look at the associated professional landscape architect knowledge areas that fall under this category.
Identify Existing Site Conditions Knowledge Areas
The California Supplemental Exam for landscape architects Site Inventory sub-area includes the "Identifying Existing Site Conditions" job task which has seven associated knowledge areas.
There are seven specific knowledge areas related to identifying existing site conditions.
- Knowledge of procedures used to identify existing site conditions (e.g., natural, cultural, site features, infrastructure).
- Knowledge of types of natural conditions that should be identified.
- Knowledge of types of cultural conditions that should be identified.
- Knowledge of types of site features that should be identified.
- Knowledge of types of infrastructures that should be identified.
- Knowledge of procedures used to identify environmentally sensitive resources.
- Knowledge of purposes for identifying existing site conditions (e.g., natural, cultural, site features, infrastructure).
We’ll explore each knowledge one at a time in a series of article on how to identify existing conditions like a pro.
Related Posts:
- Who Else Wants to Master Site Inventory Skills for the California Supplemental Exam?
- What Everybody Ought to Know About Identifying Existing Site Conditions
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John is a landscape architect who is currently preparing to take the California Supplemental Exam to become licensed in California. He is currently a licensed professional landscape architect in Georgia and Florida. John graduated from California State University, Pomona with a BSLA degree in landscape architecture in 1997 and has extensive practice experience in residential and commercial landscape design.