Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 chart lists 541370 for “Surveying & mapping (except geophysical) services”, which is the closest wording to a land surveying business. The code goes on line B beside your line A description. Neighbors such as 541360 and 541330 may read closer, depending on the principal source of your receipts.
The surveying row on the chart
The chart has a row built around the word surveying, and a second row that carries the same word with a geophysical limit.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 541370 | Surveying & mapping (except geophysical) services |
| 541360 | Geophysical surveying & mapping services |
The first row excludes the second by name: it reads “Surveying & mapping (except geophysical) services”. A boundary or construction survey is the sort of work a reader would compare with that wording, while the second row, “Geophysical surveying & mapping services”, is a separate line.
What to write on line A for survey work
Line A asks for a description of the work: “Describe the business or professional activity that provided your principal source of income reported on line 1.” Line B asks for the code: “Enter on line B the six-digit code from the Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes chart” The code goes in the box on line B, beside the description.
An example of the kind of description, not IRS wording: boundary and lot surveys for homeowners and builders. Line A can name the kind of survey and the customers, and line B holds one six-digit code.
Engineering, drafting and architecture rows next door
Survey work often sits beside plans and drawings. The chart words those neighbors separately, and each row is short enough to compare with your own description.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 541330 | Engineering services |
| 541310 | Architectural services |
| 541340 | Drafting services |
| 541360 | Geophysical surveying & mapping services |
A business whose receipts come mostly from design drawings would read “Drafting services”, while one that mostly produces building designs would read “Architectural services”. The row for “Engineering services” is the one to read if the receipts come mostly from engineering work.
The chart’s rule has two steps: “Select the category that best describes your primary business activity”, and then “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
A surveyor with more than one kind of income
The chart has no row that names a surveyor; the wording it carries is surveying and mapping. A person who does field surveys and also prepares drawings is therefore comparing rows rather than looking up a job title. The second step of the rule is what settles it: “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
If the survey work and an unrelated venture are truly separate, the instructions say: “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
Where this goes next
The code sits on line B next to the line A description on Schedule C (Form 1040). Field work often involves driving to sites, which is why some surveyors read Schedule C lines 8 and 9, and clients who pay by contract may send a Form 1099-NEC. the full list of Schedule C business codes shows every chart row at once.
Edition and chart year
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041”. Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the chart that comes with that year’s instructions, because a different year’s chart can list different codes or reword them.
Common mistakes
- Using the geophysical row because it also says mapping. It is worded as “Geophysical surveying & mapping services”, a separate line from “Surveying & mapping (except geophysical) services”.
- Looking for a row spelled surveyor. The wording is surveying, as in “Surveying & mapping (except geophysical) services”.
- Spreading one survey business over several codes. The instructions say “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”, so one activity leads and a second needs its own business.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C business codes: the full IRS list, Schedule C lines 8 and 9, and Form 1099-NEC.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.