How Important is Land Surveying in Today’s World?

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Most of you have probably never thought about land surveying until you needed it at some point. Many of us hear about land surveying all the time but never really give it much thought. Since an investment in land and/or a home will likely be the largest investment you will ever make in your lifetime, knowing where your property lines are becomes very important indeed.

The art of land surveying was developed centuries ago. In fact, it’s one of the oldest professions in the world. The fact that it was used by man at such an early time and is still being used now shows how important surveying is to our survival.

The different uses of Land Surveying

Surveying land has many uses. Boundary surveying, for instance, allows you to know where your property corners or property lines are. This is especially helpful when disputes with a neighbour or with other people arise in terms of where your property ends.

If your family wants to divide a tract of land and transfer ownership to other family members, a boundary survey is the first step to do so. If you’re having a building constructed, it is very important that you have the land surveyed to make sure that you are not encroaching onto other peoples’ property. A mistaken building location is very expensive to fix so you might as well invest in a boundary survey to prevent this.

A topographic survey, or topo survey for short, is another important type of land surveying. A topo survey is done to locate natural and man-made features on a particular parcel of land. A topographic survey is different in that the elevation of the land is surveyed which means it can show man-made underground features, retaining walls, utility lines and etc.

Before you start any kind of construction activity, it’s important to have a topo survey done in the area so they’ll have an accurate record of the land’s existing conditions. Yes, that spot with the new mall in the neighbourhood had to have a topo survey done first.

Now, a flood survey or flood determination – this is very important too. It isn’t evident just looking at a property whether you are at risk of flooding or not. And, in some cases, even looking at the flood maps doesn’t give you an accurate answer. The flood survey determines the elevation of the home and compares that to the base flood elevation.

This is the only way to be sure you’re not in a flood hazard zone. If you’ve just been told that you live in a flood-prone area, having that confirmed by a professional land surveyor would let you know how to best proceed.
When getting flood insurance, insurance companies would require an elevation certificate from you. A land surveyor would be able to assist you with this.

If a company wants to invest in another state, or if there is a national lender on a commercial project, they will likely need an ALTA Land Title Survey done before anything is constructed. An ALTA Land Title Survey is a lot like a regular boundary survey except that nationally accepted ALTA Standards are used to guide the surveying effort.

Land surveying standards vary widely from state to state and an ALTA Land Title Survey is used to cut down on this variation. Also, an ALTA Land Title Survey typically is more involved than the state standards variety. Because of this, an ALTA survey can be more anywhere from 50% to 200% more expensive than using the state standards only. If you need this type of survey, I suggest seeking an experienced land surveying company who is familiar with these additional requirements.

In summary, there are many uses for a land survey and for seeking the services of a land surveyor. If you’re unsure of your situation, consult Dothan Land Surveying at (334) 828-7320 today or go to the Contact page and send us an email.

Land Surveying: Ethics of a Land Surveyor

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land surveyorNot a lot of people realize that land surveying is actually a fusion of art and science. Yes, different equipments are available for the surveyor’s use, but the land surveyor still has the last say on the results.

Despite this though, a land surveyor still has several guidelines to follow. If you’ve had an experience with a dishonest surveyor, or are wary about hiring one, this article should be able to help you out.

What ethics should a land surveyor have?

A surveyor should always start a project with fairness in mind. Your client as well as everybody party involved in the project is expecting you to be fair and just so make the best possible assessment with the evidences handed to you.

Before a project commences, the surveyor assigned to the project should come forward if there’s a possibility of conflict of interest. This is very important to preserve their relationship with the client. A surveyor should avoid professional impropriety by declaring involvement or any prior affiliations with any of the involved parties. It is also the surveyor’s responsibility to keep any information regarding the project as well as the client confidential even after the project is done.

Several cases were reported where the surveyor overcharged the client. This usually happens when the client doesn’t know anything about land surveying. A land surveyor running his business with ethics will never do this. Fortunately, there are more honest land surveyors than dishonest ones.

A surveyor should charge a project according to the length of time needed to get it done as well as the level of technical complexity required for it. For the surveyor’s sake as well as the client, one should never sign plans, certificates or reports unless these are personally supervised by him. Not only is this unfair on the client’s side, doing so could put his reputation in danger should the results get disputed and he doesn’t know anything about them.

Just like with other industries, a land surveyor should never undermine the capability of other surveyors or the people from the land surveying industry.

New technologies come up for land surveying all the time. When a surveyor knows that a project is beyond his skills, he should tell the client about it. There’s no sense accepting a project only to come up with a subpar result. It will only hurt your business and your reputation.

Surveyors should also be responsible enough to study, do a thorough research, practice and utilize his skills before offering clients a new service. If a surveyor is new to flood determination, for instance, then he needs to make sure that he knows how to perform it before offering it to his clients.

Surveyors do not work alone. They usually have a staff to support them. The land surveyor needs to be responsible for their actions at all cost, for actions or work carried out by them.

For assistance in finding a land surveyor, call us at (334) 828-7320 or send us a message by clicking here.

A Short History on Land Surveying

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land surveyingLand surveying is probably the oldest professions anywhere. After man has decided that a section of land should be owned by a tribe, the necessity for surveying began.

Land surveying is fascinating. The strategy used aim to determine which section of land is owned by whom, hopefully ending arguments for good.

To put it briefly, surveying is really a process using mathematical methods for survey land.

The 1st accounts of surveying land extends back to ancient Egypt. Experts have discovered evidences that the ancient Egyptians used basic geometry to redraw the lines of boundary when the Nile River overflowed. An Egyptian land register going back 3000 BC was found.

Following the Egyptians, the Romans – also the most powerful civilizations within the ancient world – practiced land surveying. They took it a pace further and made “land surveyor” an official position inside the Empire. These folks called agrimensores, often called Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum. Despite the fact that used rather simple tools, these people were very thorough with their jobs and would create straight lines and proper angles with the use of these tools. As soon as the lines were measured, they’d create shallow ditches to mark the lines. Actually, much of the furrows they made continue to exist today.

One of several recorded land surveying of the “modern” times belongs to William the Conqueror who wrote the Domesday Book in 1086. This book is really a menu of names of land owners, the number of land they owned as well as other information about the land. While it was a substantial volume of information during this period, the pieces of information weren’t 100% correct. The locations just weren’t accurate and the maps were not made to scale.

Among history’s greatest icons have also been an ardent surveyor – Napoleon Bonaparte. The interest in surveying land was really just a product of his wish to conquer the earth. Napoleon Bonaparte founded a registry referred to as cadastre. This includes a registry of properties of a county, ownership details, locations and as much information concerning the land’s value. Yes, Napoleon Bonaparte can be regarded as a land surveyor – plus a very smart man.

The strategies put to use in land surveying also have evolved over the centuries, over time. Long ago, people would use whatever could help them determine the space from one point to another. This implies using chains with links and even ropes. Not surprisingly, this didn’t give accurate results but they did not have the technology we now have back then.

Today, land surveyors possess the best technologies to assist them with their job. There is GPS, or Global Positioning System, which is quite possibly the most accurate technologies available today. Total stations are also crucial to a land surveyor, which employs the utilization of an EDM or Electronic Distance Measurement device together with a theodolite which enables for further precise angle and distance measurements.