You decide you need to survey your property. Possibly caused by a boundary dispute, neighbors getting together to have a boundary line between them surveyed, or you have sold your property or you want to sell your property and the survey is required by purchaser, the lender or the title company.
The surveyor should be selected very carefully. This may be one of, or the, biggest money transaction in your lifetime. The surveyor is a very vital part of your transaction. Selection of the surveyor by the lowest price is not recommended. This surveyor may be taking shortcuts to do the job at the lower price quoted. Be sure the type survey agreed upon is what is needed for the title company and the lending agency to complete the transaction. Will there be a time when the surveyor starts telling you that some item or items needed was not part of the survey agreed upon and will cost EXTRA?
Some things to consider:
Does the surveyor carry the amount of and type of insurance necessary to protect the surveyor and the owner of the property? Some types of insurance are listed below:
GENERAL LIABILITY—If the surveyor damages your property with their vehicle or cuts down a tree to clear a path, is he covered by the insurance?
PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY: Does the surveyor carry this insurance to ensure the client is protected from a claim due to a mistake made by the surveyor?
AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY: To insure that if the survey vehicle runs into an animal, fence of other property they are covered.
WORKERS COMPENSATION: If the surveyor does not carry this insurance and an employee get hurt or killed on your property, then you could be held responsible for all damages. (This Insurance is mandatory, by the State, but some surveyors hire contract labor and pay them by the job.)
The field party chief you see in the field with the instrument or GPS is usually not the licensed surveyor. They will be the field personnel who act as the eyes and ears of the surveyor. The field party chief should be a well-trained technician with several years of experience. He will be accompanied by at least one or two trained technicians. The information and pictures obtained will be brought into the office, reviewed by the project Manager and surveyor and then assigned to one member of the CADD staff. This staff should be well trained by the surveyor, to help in the research and drawings. The surveyor will generally be the one writing the legal field notes of the property. This is a very good way for the surveyor to do a final check on the field work and the CADD drawings.
If this is a complicated job, then this is the time for a field check of the property by the registered surveyor, or his project manager and possibly along with the CADD person who compiled the drawing.
Steps to preparing a good survey.
The surveyor or staff will talk to the client to determine what the client intentions are. At this time the surveyor will discuss what he may need or do not need for what the client wants to do. At this time the surveyor will give the client a price for what the clients needs.
Before the field personnel go to the field.
The CADD technician will research the property by finding the deed or deeds of the property to be surveyed. The deeds of ALL adjoining property owners will be found, the tax maps, ownership maps, aerial photos and any other information available. Then a drawing is prepared and is commonly called the “WORKING SKETCH” of the property. A working sketch is a drawing comprised of the deed to the subject property and the deeds of ALL the adjoining properties. This is done to check for any discrepancies in the deeds on the property lines. These properties should fit together like a jigsaw puzzle but do not always. When that happens, you want to be sure you have a experienced and knowledgeable surveyor to lead the way to resolving this issue, working with title company attorneys, the realtor, and the clients’ attorneys.
The surveyor should be familiar with the area. Have good equipment and a trained and knowledgeable staff.
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