Ethics Question Mark
Mark I would simply state that having carried out a comprehensive survey over 36 allotments in their region that if in the future they wanted their land surveyed to contact you as you have much data to make a survey for them easier. Slightly different approach from saying can do now for $X , as economic climate for most is not the time to have a boundary survey done.
RADU
I agree with Andy and Jud....Your problem lies with the original client's perception of being over-charged.
Ethics Question Mark
Surveying is a funny business. It costs more to survey a smaller property. By that I mean that I have to survey a whole exterior of a section (and sometimes go into neighboring sections to break it down to a fraction of a fraction of a section. Same with lots and blocks. You virtually have to survey the whole block and all the lots inside of that block to figure out the correct placement of one lot.
After all of that "preliminary" work you would be the most efficient person to survey additional lots. It would be good to know a way to educate the property owners of that fact. The best possible for all of the property owners in a block would be to all pitch in and hire a surveyor to survey the block and all of their lots in one survey. If you could only convince them of that.
To the question. I don't see an ethics issue. You would like to collect on some of the work you have already had to do.
In North Carlona, under Section .0700- RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT, 21 NCAC 56.0701 subsection (d)(2) (Conflicts of Interest) it states:
Shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for services on the same project, or for services pertaining to the same project, unless the circumstances are disclosed to, and agreed to, in writing, by all interested parties.
Does this apply to your situation? It may. Check with your Rules of Conduct in your State
> Does this apply to your situation? It may. Check with your Rules of Conduct in your State
I am not aware of any similar passage in Oregon Law. I may point out that Oregon is a recording state and that my survey is public record. In another week it will be posted on the internet. Still, it would seem prudent to let my client in on the gag.
There is another twist I haven't shared here yet. My client, the one paying the whole bill, is the business partner of the son of the seller of the property. So I don't think it likely that he will be hearing much scuttlebutt from this neighborhood.
> > Does this apply to your situation? It may. Check with your Rules of Conduct in your State
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It doesn't matter if your state does have such a statute or administrative rule. The situation described by Mark would not be charging different clients for the same project. Each lot survey would be a different project based upon the same work foundation or control work. There would still be additional field work for any other individual lot he is hired to survey, additional analysis, and additional mapping.
Whole new project on a common control network. Besides, as I understand it, he did not charge his current client for all the work performed. That work is an investment on potential additional business in the area.