Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
my firm designed. My immediate response was to say to look at where
the parking lot was positioned on the plans, and locate it as shown. As
it happened, there was not adequate room to place the parking lot as
shown on the drawing between the building and the property line. Once
out on the site with the contractor, we measured the distance between
the building and the property line, revealing a discrepancy. The building
was built closer to the property line than shown on the staking and lay-
out plan. Why was that? Several explanations come to mind, but in the
end the building was not built on the site as thought, thus requiring me
to return to the office to come up with a solution modifying the parking
layout with the new dimensions taken into consideration.
One explanation for the discrepancy is that the original survey
may not have located the property lines accurately. There could have
been a mistake in the location of the property corners in relation to
the local bench mark or local property records. The building location
may not have been staked accurately, so that it was laid out differently
than shown by the landscape architect's site layout and staking plan.
What I intend students to understand from this story is that it is not
always so easy or straightforward to locate points on the surface of the
Earth. Errors are possible with property maps or any drawings given
to us by others. As professionals, we must always check the work done
by others for accuracy as part of professional due diligence. Errors are
made because people are in a hurry, or caused by some form of mis-
communication. For example, a property measurement could have been
researched as 2498 feet then recorded as 2489 feet—reversal of the num-
bers 9 and 8. Reversal of numbers happens, especially when people are
in a hurry, tired, or under stress.
The parking lot story is not an isolated occurrence; this sort of
thing happens more frequently than one would think. To avoid a simi-
lar experience, one should always field-check critical dimensions before
beginning the design process. This is particularly prudent when you are
handed a plan showing a building already constructed on a site. Make
sure the building is shown on the plan as it actually is on the ground.
