I've seen surveyors go long distance, do a job. There is nothing in their job budget if field conditions are not as expected. In fact, there is nothing in their business model, or their character model, if things are not as expected. They just blow in, and, as my dad used to say, "leave a wake of destruction" behind. Dad had bought a set of ACTION brand sockets. In a metal case. It was a 1/2" drive set, with a nice ratchet, and breaker bar. My brother would fix his bike, and go riding, and leave all the tools in the dirt. Dad would get mad about it.
But, I digress. If you never compromise your ethics, always check yourself, and you don't leave a mess behind, then you don't have to worry about getting embarrassed. If you do "out of your area" work, you had better have a big budget.?ÿ In case things are "not as expected". Or, you wind up having to defend your work in court, because you left a mess. Then, when you have to settle up, you will need even more money!
Bottom line? Charge more. Do more work. Don't embarrass yourself, or the rest of us. Good work has no shame.
Nate
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Too frequently it is a case of the true client having a favored surveyor who has arrived at a uniform fee for doing a survey for a Whatzamacallit Joint.?ÿ That's fine on the sixty percent that are on home turf.?ÿ But, when you add in travel time and researching in an unfamiliar spot, the budget is blown before you get to the site.?ÿ Gotta keep the survey firm owner happy and in the black, so fake it in and hope you never need to go back.
If the 'out of towner' is doing crap work on the road he's doing crap work at home too.
I've done more surveys over 100 miles away than here in town. They got done right, and we made good money.
Nope, we've made our simple 15%?ÿ on sewer staking where the control was tight, easily confirmed & it was a business as usual operation where our hotel bills, meals, etc., paid off.?ÿ Essentially nobody local was?ÿ ready to take on such a big scope, scared of the risk.
What I have encountered is the cell tower site somewhere off the beaten path where all that is needed is four corners set, preferably in the correct location.?ÿ Determining that correct location is not going to happen without doing the proper level of research locally because it isn't all available online.?ÿ Learning how to find the necessary information will take time if one has never been there before.?ÿ So............assume there is nothing, set a bunch of crap, file corner records and assume no one is going to come after you for screwing up the whole section and the adjoining sections.?ÿ Getting assistance in actually excavating in road beds to recover GLO stones may well be the most appropriate action, but that's not going to happen in a single day..............the day you discover you should be looking for that stone.
The same thing happens with what might be simple lot and block work in Remote City if the surveyor would search the local information and adhere to the standard of practice.?ÿ Learning what that standard practice is requires time to look at enough nearby surveys to realize what it is.?ÿ Perhaps prorating includes streets and alleys and maybe it doesn't.?ÿ Perhaps each block is independent of the others with the street width varying from the platted value as necessary.?ÿ Perhaps it is a series of exact values until you hit the edge of the subdivision then all of the error is placed in the final lot or block.?ÿ Perhaps it is something else not readily seen by only looking at a couple nearby plats.
Bottom line? Charge more. Do more work. Don't embarrass yourself, or the rest of us. Good work has no shame.
Nate
I wish the surveyors in my area had the wherewithal to understand this.
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Submit it to the other planner.?ÿ?ÿ
Currently in the last few hours of wrapping this one up. Been in a hotel all week (150 miles from home) doing ALTAs on 3 car dealerships for a good client who pays what is proposed. Proposals are made easy by virtue of couple things- these sites are uniform in terms of improvements and (lack) of topography, and they??re almost always laden with past site plan and title data. It basically becomes a multiplier based on gross land area.
While I don??t like being away from home, if I could count on just two of these a month I wouldn??t need to do anything else all year. Which, I almost can anymore, I am also resistant to having an exclusive egg basket, though.
As someone that does a lot of out of town work, the main reason we get that work is because the client has learned their lesson from hiring the "local surveyor".
@tommy-young Exactly! Earlier in my career, I worked for a firm that did big box stores throughout the west. They would hire us, and pay high fees because the locals would either deliver substandard work, or the work from local to local was very inconsistent. For ALTA surveys in newly developed commercial subdivisions, the survey work was really simple. And every once in a while, we'd get a call from a Development manager asking us to "re-survey" the property, because the local didn't understand their topo requirements, CAD requirements, platting requirements, title documents, etc...
If there is an influx of out-of-town surveyors coming to your town, maybe the local surveyors should look at the products/services they are delivering.
I like your bottom line, but I don't think distance from home has anything to with it. Familiarity with an area is an asset, but having?ÿ experience, ethics, and intelligence, and appropriate budget is far more important.?ÿ?ÿ
Sorry, but can not agree with your last sentence. Familiarity with the area is the number one asset in boundary work.
What needs to happen in many cases is to budget consultation with a local surveyor to lock down the boundary concerns. Your firm can still do the site work, but, get the straight scoop from someone who knows it first.
I have found too many bogus monuments set by those who did not budget enough to do the job correctly. Like that one over there that is 70 feet too far north and 50 feet too far east. Sometimes it gives one the urge to do really, really bad things to such fools.
I've seen surveyors go long distance, do a job. There is nothing in their job budget if field conditions are not as expected. In fact, there is nothing in their business model, or their character model, if things are not as expected. They just blow in, and, as my dad used to say, "leave a wake of destruction" behind. Dad had bought a set of ACTION brand sockets. In a metal case. It was a 1/2" drive set, with a nice ratchet, and breaker bar. My brother would fix his bike, and go riding, and leave all the tools in the dirt. Dad would get mad about it.
But, I digress. If you never compromise your ethics, always check yourself, and you don't leave a mess behind, then you don't have to worry about getting embarrassed. If you do "out of your area" work, you had better have a big budget.?ÿ In case things are "not as expected". Or, you wind up having to defend your work in court, because you left a mess. Then, when you have to settle up, you will need even more money!
Bottom line? Charge more. Do more work. Don't embarrass yourself, or the rest of us. Good work has no shame.
Nate
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And never be afraid to contact local surveyors for local knowledge. The side benefit of names being on caps...
Perhaps the thing for rural surveyors to do is to contact those big city survey managers, become a known quantity, and maybe form a cooperative relationship. Nobody really wants to send crews off on a long road trip into unknown territory.?ÿ
Another thing for you rural guys is to make yourself more accessible. The OP has zero on-line presence, for example. That is where people with work to do go start looking for people to do it.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
The best search will start with a call to the county office where surveys are recorded/filed. They will gladly supply contact information on the top local surveyors because they see them regularly. This is exceptionally true in the most rural areas.
A recent look at surveys recorded in one county during all of 2019 found a grand total of three survey firms doing the work. Absolutely none were recorded by any other survey firm. There should have been surveys recorded by several others of my own knowledge, because I found their bars and figured out their projects. Stealth surveying is what that is called.
The OP has zero on-line presence, for example
Yes. I have enough work.?ÿ
I got behind, via a tick bite. Still not caught up.
N
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The best search will start with a call to the county office where surveys are recorded/filed.?ÿ They will gladly supply contact information on the top local surveyors because they see them regularly.?ÿ [?ÿ .?ÿ .?ÿ .?ÿ ]
????ÿ County Officials are not in the business of vetting local surveyors.?ÿ When I worked in County survey offices if the question came up (rarely) we were instructed to dodge it.?ÿ Not a problem because if it's a rural area you can simply look them up in a phone book or review the last dozen or so recorded surveys at the Courthouse to figure out who the players are. Dropping in at local LS Society meetings & even visiting local bars (if the town's small enough) can be productive;?ÿ it's called networking.
When working in the privates we'd rarely do work more than a hundred miles away and it was long term cut and dried big construction work (sewer trunk lines & roadway improvements, dam construction, etc.), with really good plans and we could cover motel bills, etc.?ÿ It was mundane 10 hour a day hard work for a lump sum but pencilled out in the end.?ÿ Boundary, meh, no way to compete with local knowledge without charging an unacceptable?ÿ premium price.
They know who is researching and adding to the records routinely and has been for years. That's who you need to get in touch with. They may give you three company contacts to eliminate the appearance of bias, but, they will try to help you. (your mileage may vary depending on exactly where you are going) In any event, it's worth a try.
Not everyone is in the phone book. By choice.
Not everyone is in the phone book.?ÿ By choice.
Yes. I have enough work.?ÿ
That is your choice, but don't bother complaining when somebody with survey needs hires somebody who is findable - even if they are from out of the immediate area.?ÿ
Having enough work isn't the problem.?ÿ Having enough knowledge to do it correctly is the real challenge.
