Surveyor Directory

A land surveyor is an investigator of evidence. The land surveyor creates evidence on and under the ground to reference/preserve/perpetuate existing evidence. It is not the position of a land surveyor to make legal determinations; instead, the surveyor provides evidence that can be ruled on by a judge in a court of law (regarding legal decisions as to boundary lines). Evidence found and set by the land surveyor can be filed of record to be used for decisions as to land boundaries. In most States, it is the first one to the court house with that evidence that wins a boundary dispute unless other evidence is found with senior importance to the contrary. In most circumstances, the survey marker is of the highest priority as evidence of the boundary, unless evidence exists to show it was moved.

References to nearby survey markers are important when determining the “preponderance of evidence” for use by a judge who can set the legal boundary of land. A surveyor’s opinion is valuable as evidence for legal boundary decisions, by those in authority, to legally settle a boundary dispute. In most cases, it is wiser for both parties to obtain the evidence and settle the dispute with the help of a land surveyor, than to press a suit in court.

It has become more common for title companies to try forcing a surveyor to change the measured distances and bearings to match existing documentation. If the title company is invested in the closing and promoting a faster “close” to avoid the cost of record corrections, this is a conflict of interest. Title company employees may not understand the importance of a bearing base and measured boundary, based on points found and missing points set, and based on the best fit provided by the surveyor. This has become more and more of a problem with the lack of common knowledge of the importance of land surveying evidence. The survey boundary based on survey field evidence, especially measured boundary markers, should overrule previous written documentation that does not include the description of the survey markers found by the land surveyor.

Many do not understand the true meaning of a “metes and bounds” boundary description. The “bounds” or physical location and relationship of the survey markers has priority over the “metes” or measurements in the recorded description of a boundary. For example, an old measurement of 420 yards at a bearing of 120 degrees does not take priority over the actual positions of the survey markers on both ends, unless a marker is missing and needs to be re-set using that information. Other evidence that will verify the position of the missing marker, based on the senior evidence nearby as first priority, is preferred in such a case

The art of surveying

Many properties have considerable problems with regards to improper bounding, miscalculations in past surveys, titles, easements, and wildlife crossings. Also many properties are created from multiple divisions of a larger piece over the course of years, and with every additional division the risk of miscalculation increases. The result can be abutting properties not coinciding with adjacent parcels, resulting in hiatuses (gaps) and overlaps. The art plays a role when a surveyor must solve a puzzle using pieces that do not exactly fit together. In these cases, the solution is based upon the surveyor’s research and interpretation, along with established procedures for resolving discrepancies.

Land Surveyor:

Cadastral land surveyors are licensed by state governments. In the United States, cadastral surveys are typically conducted by the federal government, specifically through the Cadastral Surveys branch of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), formerly the General Land Office (GLO).^[10] In states that have been subdivided as per the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), the BLM Cadastral Surveys are carried out in accordance with that system. This information is required to define ownership and rights in real property (such as land, water, mineral, easements, rights-of-way), to resolve boundary disputes between neighbours, and for any subdivision of land, building development, road boundary realignment, etc.

The aim of cadastral surveys is normally to re-establish and mark the corners of original land boundaries. The first stage is to research relevant records such as land titles (deeds), easements, survey monumentation (marks on the ground) and any public or private records that provide relevant data. The job of a boundary surveyor retracing a deed or prior survey is to locate such monuments and verify their correct position. Over time, development, vandalism and acts of nature often wreak havoc on monuments, so the boundary surveyor is often forced to consider other evidence such as fence locations, woodlines, monuments on neighboring property, parole evidence and other evidence.

Monuments are marks on the ground that define location. Pegs are commonly used to mark boundary corners, and nails in bitumen, small pegs in the ground (dumpys) and steel rods are used as instrument locations and reference marks, commonly called survey control. Marks should be durable and long lasting, stable so the marks do not move over time, safe from disturbance and safe to work at. The aim is to provide sufficient marks so some marks will remain for future re-establishment of boundaries. Examples of typical man-made monuments are steel rods, pipes or bars with plastic, aluminum or brass caps containing descriptive markings and often bearing the license number of the surveyor responsible for the establishment of such. The material and marking used on monuments placed to mark boundary corners are often subject to state laws.

A total station, GPS or other instrument is set up over survey marks placed as part of a previous survey, or newly placed marks. The bearing datum is established by measuring between points on a previous survey and a rotation is applied to orientate the new survey to correspond with the previous survey or a standard map grid.

The data is analysed and comparisons made with existing records to determine evidence that can be used to establish boundary positions. The bearing and distance of lines between the boundary corners and total station positions are calculated and used to set out and mark the corners in the field. Checks are made by measuring directly between pegs places using a flexible tape. Subdivision of land generally requires that the external boundary is re-established and marked using pegs, and the new internal boundaries are then marked.

A plat (survey plan) and description (depending on local and state requirements) are compiled, the final report is lodged with the appropriate government office (often required by law), and copies are provided to the client.

Building Surveying:

Building surveying

Building surveying emerged in the 1970s as a profession in the United Kingdom by a group of technically minded General Practice Surveyors.^[6] Building surveying is a recognised profession in Britain, Australia and Hong Kong. In Australia in particular, due to risk mitigation and limitation factors, the employment of surveyors at all levels of the construction industry is widespread. There are still many countries where it is not widely recognized as a profession.

Services that building surveyors undertake are broad but can include:

• Construction design and building works
• Project management and monitoring
• Property Legislation advice
• Insurance assessment and claims assistance
• Defect investigation and maintenance advice
• Building surveys and measured surveys
• Handling planning applications
• Building inspection to ensure compliance with building regulations
• Pre-acquisition surveys
• Negotiating dilapidations claims^[7]

Building surveyors also advise on many aspects of construction including:

• design
• maintenance
• repair
• refurbishment
• restoration and preservation of buildings and monuments^[8]

Clients of a building surveyor can be the government agencies, businesses and individuals. Surveyors work closely with architects, planners, homeowners and tenants groups. Building surveyors may also be called to act as an expert witnesses. It is usual for building surveyors to earn a college degree before undertaking structured training to become a member of a professional organisation.

With the enlargement of the European community, the profession of the building surveyor is becoming more widely known in other European states, particularly France,^[9] where many English-speaking people buy second homes.

Lidar Surveying – Three-dimensional laser scanning provides high definition surveying for architectural, as-built, and engineering surveys. Recent technological advances make it the most cost-effective and time-sensitive solution for providing the highest level of detail available for interior and exterior building work.

Surveying as a career:

The basic principles of surveying have changed little over the ages, but the tools used by surveyors have evolved tremendously. Engineering, especially civil engineering, depends heavily on surveyors.

Whenever there are roads, railways, reservoir, dams, retaining walls, bridges or residential areas to be built, surveyors are involved. They establish the boundaries of legal descriptions and the boundaries of various lines of political divisions. They also provide advice and data for geographical information systems (GIS), computer databases that contain data on land features and boundaries.

Surveyors must have a thorough knowledge of algebra, basic calculus, geometry, and trigonometry. They must also know the laws that deal with surveys, property, and contracts.

In addition, they must be able to use delicate instruments with accuracy and precision. In the United States, surveyors and civil engineers use units of feet wherein a survey foot is broken down into 10ths and 100ths. Many deed descriptions requiring distance calls are often expressed using these units (125.25 ft). On the subject of accuracy, surveyors are often held to a standard of one one-hundredth of a foot; about 1/8th inch. Calculation and mapping tolerances are much smaller wherein achieving near-perfect closures are desired. Though tolerances such as this will vary from project to project, in the field and day to day usage beyond a 100th of a foot is often impractical.

In most of the United States, surveying is recognized as a distinct profession apart from engineering. Licensing requirements vary by state, but they generally have components of education, experience and examinations. In the past, experience gained through an apprenticeship, together with passing a series of state-administered examinations, was required to attain licensure. Now, most states insist upon basic qualification of a degree in surveying, plus experience and examination requirements.

The licensing process typically follows two phases. First, upon graduation, the candidate may be eligible to take the Fundamentals of Land Surveying exam, to be certified upon passing and meeting all other requirements as a surveyor in training (SIT). Upon being certified as an SIT, the candidate then needs to gain additional experience to become eligible for the second phase. That typically consists of the Principles and Practice of Land Surveying exam along with a state-specific examination.

An all-female surveying crew in Idaho, 1918

Licensed surveyors usually denote themselves with the letters P.S. (professional surveyor), L.S. (land surveyor), P.L.S. (professional land surveyor), R.L.S. (registered land surveyor), R.P.L.S. (Registered Professional Land Surveyor), or P.S.M. (professional surveyor and mapper) following their names, depending upon the dictates of their particular state of registration.

In Canada, land Surveyors are registered to work in their respective province. The designation for a land surveyor breaks down by province, but follows the rule whereby the first letter indicates the province, followed by L.S. There is also a designation as a C.L.S. or Canada lands surveyor, who has the authority to work on Canada Lands, which include Indian Reserves, National Parks, the three territories and offshore lands.

In many Commonwealth countries, the term Chartered Land Surveyor is used for someone holding a professional license to conduct surveys.

A licensed land surveyor is typically required to sign and seal all plans, the format of which is dictated by their state jurisdiction, which shows their name and registration number. In many states, when setting boundary corners land surveyors are also required to place survey monuments bearing their registration numbers, typically in the form of capped iron rods, concrete monuments, or nails with washers.