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.