Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2.3 A Land Surveyor's Ethical Obligations
A surveyor has certain obligations to his client and to the public. It is a surveyor's
duty to locate boundaries at their true location. Even though a surveyor is paid by
his client he has a duty to the
Adjoiner
(abutting property owner) to locate the
boundary line in its true location and not in a location that will favor his client's
interests. That is not to say that a boundary surveyor shouldn't listen to what a
client has to say about boundary locations. For example, a client may recall the
exact location of a monument that was destroyed many years ago. The final deci-
sion about where to locate the boundary must be based on the legal principles of
boundary establishment in the jurisdiction in which the property is located. If the
property is in a state in which the public land survey system exists, the rules gov-
erning corner reestablishment must be understood and followed.
When re-establishing property lines from a previous survey, a surveyor has a
duty to find the original monuments. A surveyor has a duty to inform the client of
encroachments on the client's property that come to the attention of the surveyor
during the process of surveying the property. A surveyor also has a duty to set suf-
ficient permanent markers so that the client and future owners of the property will
be able to locate the property lines.
2.4 What Does a Surveyor Need to Know?
Boundary Surveying requires knowledge of the mathematics and physics neces-
sary to make accurate measurements and to analyze and adjust survey data. It also
requires an intimate knowledge of the recording system where property records
and road layouts are kept. It requires knowledge of the legal aspects of evidence
and procedures for boundary location. It requires diligence in searching for and
finding all of the record and real evidence which has the potential to affect owner-
ship and the location of boundaries. It requires an understanding of the surveyor's
ethical responsibility and duty to the client and the public. When working in the
Public Land Survey System the surveyor must understand the appropriate rules
for boundary location and reestablishment as set out by the Government in the
Manual of Instructions
for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States
.
The surveyor must be familiar with and understand statutes and case law which
have the potential to affect the outcome of a survey. For some surveys, the sur-
veyor must be acquainted with subdivision control laws and zoning.
It cannot be stressed enough that, in many cases, precise measurements, by
themselves, will not establish a property line in the correct location if the legal
rules concerning evidence and procedures for boundary location are not under-
stood and followed. This is the element that sets boundary surveying apart from
a merely technical discipline. This is what makes it a substantially more complex,
interesting and challenging endeavor.
