Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
cost restrictions on the preparer who provides the plans so there is pressure to
complete the work in as short a time as possible. Because of the limited amount of
time that the preparer can expend on one of these plans, they usually contain dis-
claimers such as a note that the property is not the result of an instrument survey.
Lending institutions generally make arrangements to have these plans prepared
and the borrower is charged a fee for the plans as a part of closing costs. Because
these plans do not represent actual surveys of the property, some surveyors con-
sider them to be a disservice to the property owner because many property own-
ers believe that the plans represent the results of a survey of their property and as
such, the plan can be relied upon. It could be argued that the owner's position, in
this regard, is not wholly without merit, particularly when the owner paid a fee for
having the plan prepared. In any event, these plans have little actual value to either
a land surveyor or a property owner and should be accorded little to no weight
as reliable evidence of property boundary locations, or even of the relationship
between boundaries and structures.
9.19 Compiling the Research
As the process of gathering research progresses it will be necessary to compile the
research. If there are many deeds and or plans, the surveyor may find it convenient
to take the pertinent information from the individual documents and compile it in
the form of a sketch. The sketch can then be carried into the field thereby reduc-
ing the number of documents that the surveyor will need to deal with. In the field,
the surveyor must contend with the terrain and the elements and carry equipment.
When the survey crew finds itself knee deep in the middle of a swamp besieged
by mosquitoes, snakes and killer bees, it is usually not the most convenient time
or place to try to read and make sense out of the archaic language of a dozen deed
copies, perhaps handwritten in the 1800s and barely legible due to a worn out and
under-funded copier in the recorder's office.
When the survey crew finds itself knee deep in the middle of a swamp
besieged by mosquitoes, snakes and killer bees, it is usually not the most
convenient time or place to try to read and make sense out of the archaic lan-
guage of a dozen deed copies, perhaps handwritten in the 1800s and barely
legible due to a worn out and under-funded copier in the recorder's office.
The information that the surveyor initially needs in the field will depend on the par-
ticular survey but will probably consist of the dimensions relating to property lines
and the type and location of monuments called for in the record. If this information
is clearly shown on the sketch the field work is more likely to proceed efficiently.
