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HOW THE SURVEYING
PROFESSION SERVES THE PUBLIC
A Guide to Selecting a
Professional Land
Surveyor
Provided as a courtesy by
the
Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon
INTRODUCTION
Since you may require the services of a Professional Land
Surveyor only once during your lifetime, you may not be aware
of the logical steps to be followed when selecting a Land
Surveyor.
To help in making such a selection, the Professional Land
Surveyors of Oregon have prepared this brochure with the
answers to a few commonly asked questions.
In general, a survey should be made before purchasing real
property, when dividing any parcel of land for sale or when
adjusting existing parcel boundaries (in conformance with
state laws and local ordinances), and prior to the
construction of any improvements on property in which you have
an interest.
Remember, the services of a Land Surveyor today will cost
less in time, worry, and money than the cost of moving
improvements or defending a lawsuit later!
HOW DO
I CHOOSE A LAND SURVEYOR?
Only a Professional Land Surveyor licensed by the State
Board of Registration is legally permitted to perform land
surveys in the State of Oregon.
Most active Land Surveyors are listed in the yellow pages
of the telephone book, or a listing may be obtained from the
Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon.
A Land Surveyor is an integral part of a professional team
composed of attorneys, engineers, architects and planners.
Some land surveying companies offer comprehensive services
including some, or all of the above.
Choose a reputable Land Surveyor in whose skill and
judgment you can put your trust. A Land Surveyor should not be
selected by price alone. Competency is of first importance.
Your selection should be made when you are sure that the
professional you have chosen has all of the facts, and is
completely aware of your requirements and/or the requirements
of the governmental agency having jurisdiction over the
property.
Land Surveyors, like other professionals, vary in knowledge
and ability. The experiences expressed by clients have shown
that the majority of Land Surveyors provide competent work for
a reasonable fee.
HOW
MUCH WILL A SURVEY COST?
The cost for most land surveying work is based on the
following variables:
- Type of survey: Costs may increase as
the required precision and scope of the survey increases.
- Record search: This varies by (a) the
number of parcels involved; and (b) the number of past
transactions. (This necessary step is complicated by the
casual manner in which land transactions have been handled
in the past, resulting in many vague, incomplete, and often
contradictory legal descriptions and land records).
- Size and shape of property: An
irregularly shaped parcel has more corners to monument than
a rectangular parcel containing the same area.
- Sectionalized Survey Work: This could
require the survey of the entire section (640 acres +) in
which the land being surveyed lies, regardless of the area
of the parcel. In some cases, a survey of more than one
section is required, depending on the location of the parcel
in question in relation to the sections shown on the
government plat.
- Terrain: A level parcel of land is
easier to survey than a mountainous parcel.
- Vegetation: Branches, brush, and small
trees must frequently be cleared to afford a line of sight
for the surveyor. Shrubs, flowers, and trees on home sites
are normally not disturbed, but may require additional field
time to perform work around them.
- Accessibility: The time to perform the
surveying work varies with the distance to, and the
difficulty in reaching, the corners on the site.
- Amount of existing evidence on the
property: Existing evidence such as iron, wood, or
stone monuments, old fences and occupation lines and
monumentation is a considerable aid to the Surveyor.
- Adjoiner Difficulties: When neighbors
are cooperative, an otherwise difficult or impossible
boundary line location may be established by boundary line
agreement.
- Time of Year: In summer, foliage may
present problems making traversing difficult. In winter,
weather may slow travel to and on site, and sometimes
conceal field evidence.
- Title Company Requirements: Title
companies may require considerably more documentation than
is normally required by the average land owner.
Because of these variables, it is difficult to determine
exact fees. However, based on general experience and the
requirements for the work, the Surveyor can usually furnish an
approximate estimate of the costs. Land Surveyors familiar
with an area or locale are usually more efficient than those
who are not.
WHAT
WILL A LAND SURVEYOR DO FOR ME?
Question: Will a Land Surveyor tell me
what I own?
Answer: No. It is your
responsibility to furnish the Surveyor with a legal
description, current title report, or policy concerning the
parcel that you want surveyed. The Surveyor will then locate
the property on the ground, marking the corners with physical
monuments, and provide you with a record of the survey map
showing the results of the survey. The Surveyor will also
disclose the areas that are in conflict so that the title
company and/or attorney can resolve any problems.
Question: Will I be shown if there are any
encroachments on the property?
Answer:
Yes, if you instruct the Land Surveyor to show encroachments
in the area of concern to you.
Question: Will I be shown if there are any
easements on my property?
Answer: Yes, if
you instruct the Surveyor to do so, and provide a current
title report or title policy to use for this purpose. The
Surveyor will supply a map, plat, or exhibit showing this
information.
Question: How will I be shown what has
been surveyed?
Answer: Corners of the
property will be marked with steel pins, or other such
monuments with the Professional Land Surveyor's license number
indicated thereon. The corners on the parcel will be pointed
out to you, if requested. A map of survey will be filed when
these monuments are set, indicating dimensions of property
lines, monuments, and other relative data as required by
Oregon State Law, the client, or others.
Question: Should I explain why I want a
survey made?
Answer: Yes. If the Surveyor knows why you
want a survey, the Surveyor can recommend the type of survey
you need, and how much detail should be shown on the map,
plat, or exhibit.
Question: Why are there conflicting
boundary and easement lines?
Answer: It
is often true that boundary/easement line disputes, gaps, and
overlaps are a result of legal descriptions which were
originally written and recorded without the benefit of the
services of a competent Land Surveyor. It is important to have
these lines properly described and surveyed, if necessary,
when property or easement lines are created or changed. Any
newly created or adjusted boundary line requires processing
through the local governmental agency as required by Oregon
State Law and local ordinance.
METHODS
OF SURVEYING
Most Surveyors use electronic distance and angle measuring
equipment, as well as the traditional transit and tape. Modern
computer systems aid in efficiently gathering measurements and
in evaluating all collected evidence required to perform the
survey. The Land Surveyor takes pride in being able to use
these instruments and computers to perform land surveys
efficiently, accurately and cost effectively.
LAND
SURVEYOR-CLIENT RELATIONS
The Professional Land Surveyor renders a highly technical
and complex service. The Surveyor is a member of a
professional team--attorney, title company, architect,
engineer, and others and prepares the foundation upon which
your project is built.
In case of controversy, a Land Surveyor appears in court in
your behalf as an expert witness. No one else can assume
responsibility for the correctness and accuracy of the work
performed by an individual Surveyor.
Many Land Surveyors also act as their clients'
representative at planning commission meetings and at other
public hearings when city or county approval is required for
certain developments.
Members of the Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon have
subscribed to a Code of Ethics and are committed to the
highest possible standards in the public's interest.
DID YOU KNOW?
... that to correctly survey a 40 acre tract such as the NW
1/4 of the SE 1/4 (fig. 1) requires a survey of almost the
entire section?
Consider the steps that are necessary:
- Recover original government corners 1,2, 4, 6 and 8
(these are corners set by the General Land Office, usually
in the 1800's).
- Establish the center of the section (point A) which is
the intersection of a straight line between points 4 and 8,
and 6 and 2
- Establish 1/16 corners B, C, D and E; for example: B
being exactly midway between A and 2, etc.
- Establish SE 1/16 corner (F) which is the intersection
of straight lines between point B and D, and C and E.
The above steps are necessary to locate the four corners of
the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4. Since most sections have dimensions
such as in figure 2 (exaggerated to show that the lines are
not straight nor parallel, due to difficulties encountered in
the "1800s" surveys) it follows that the distances around a
"40" will not always be 1320' nor will the sides be at right
angles to each other.
A Typical Section: 1
square mile
CONVERSIONS
7.92 inches are 1 link.
25
links are 1 rod.
4 rods or 100 links are 1 chain.
A rod
is 16 1/2 feet.
A chain is 66 feet or four rods.
A mile
is 320 rods, 80 chains or 5,280 feet.
An acre contains
43,560 square feet.
An acre contains 160 square rods.
An
acre is 208.7 (plus) feet square.
Square chains x
0.10=acres.
40 chains equal 160 rods or 2,640
feet.
© 1998-2009 Professional Land Surveyors of
Oregon
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