EDMs give surveyors much more accuracy than metal measurement tapes. Various surveys, such as detail surveys and a control survey, use this technology. Surveyors calculate the horizontal distance between two control points using an EDM instrument. The device directs the energy to another surveyor holding a reflector.

Accuracy is when a surveyor has a length of rope that is 250 feet long, measures it, and records that it is 250.04 feet long. That measurement is close to accurate. Precision is when a surveyor measures the same line 6 times, getting measurements within . 01 of each other.

Civil engineers are responsible for designing, constructing, and maintaining infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings. Land surveyors, on the other hand, are tasked with measuring and mapping land, as well as delineating property boundaries.

To measure the horizontal distance between two points, one surveyor uses an EDM instrument to shoot an energy wave toward a reflector held by the second surveyor. The EDM records the elapsed time between the wave's emission and its return from the reflector.