I had a call come in from a homeowner wishing to build a fence. He said he had already had the services of a 'surveyor' but that there was some discrepancy and that he wanted a second opinion.
He explained that after calling through a handful of google results and finding 10-12 weeks out being the norm, he got to a guy who provides Aerial Mapping Services. This guy advised that he could come out and mark his lines within a few days, for $200. The homeowner said he came out with some type of 'machine' and staked the boundary line in question. When asked later, the aerial mapper said he relied up on publicly available GIS parcel data and GPS to mark the line.
Upon marking, the homeowner felt it wasn't right. He asked the 'surveyor' if he was sure, was told it was close though 'it probably wouldn't hold up in court'. When the fence estimator came out, he offered to check a distance with a measuring wheel from one known corner and said that the stakes appeared to be 6 feet out of what the plat says, but smartly clarified he was not a land surveyor and recommended homeowner hire one.
Sensing trouble, the homeowner pulled out all of the stakes set by the aerial mapper and is asking me for a price and schedule for a certified boundary survey.
Homeowner provided me information on the aerial mapper, and I see he is young, recent college grad, with a very new drone business. Offering everything from aerial mapping, inspection, stockpile volumes, to real estate, wedding, and live event aerial video. My read is that he is a kid with a drone and a Part 107 willing to do anything anyone is willing to pay him for. I think he probably means well but is ignorant of where his limits are.
I am in North Carolina. If this kid told homeowner he was marking boundary lines, I believe he's practiced without a license. I don't know what methods he used to locate those lines, but I don't think it matters. The homeowner called him to mark boundary lines, mapper came and put stakes in the ground, and charged a fee. He is not a PLS and does not appear to be supervised or in any other way involved with one.
My first inclination is to call this kid up and offer some unsolicited guidance and advice, and perhaps send a few statues for him to review. Thoughts?
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I would call him, try to provide him with some guidance and mentoring.?ÿ In fact I have already done this in a similar situation with a forester.
His attitude will determine the next step, he's humble and appreciative then good.?ÿ He cops an attitude and argues, then my next call is to the appropriate Board.?ÿ The fact that he set stakes tells me that he has already crossed the line into non-licensed practice.
@tfdoubleyou It does not matter where he sourced the property line data, he represented a property line. Any activity that references a boundary line is considered surveying.?ÿ Glad the chat dissuaded him from further activities.?ÿ The board would have sent a cease and desist notice and if continuously repeats said offences then would be referred to the attorney general.
I'm curious.?ÿ Has anyone paid to have a fence constructed lately??ÿ While a firm believer in let the buyer beware I also believe that as a profession whose duty is to the public that when someone crosses the line the best approach is to let the proper governing agency deal with it.?ÿ His actions have the potential of costing someone thousands of dollars.
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He did say that it probably wouldn't hold up in court.?ÿ Who knows other than the judge hearing the complaint.
Sincerely Bill must be on vacation. What's a Licnese? I'm personally offended my the term Licensed Land Surveyor. I'm a Registered?ÿ Land Surveyor.?ÿ
You don't hafta call me Bill.
@skeeter1996 I think the proper term is "Professional Land Surveyor, duly licensed and registered with the State of ______" (insert applicable state name here).?ÿ
We do a "license renewal" every two years.?ÿ We are now to call ourselves Professional Surveyors as opposed to the old Land Surveyor and use PS instead of LS.?ÿ We are what we are.?ÿ We are registered with the State that licenses us to provided provide professional services related to land surveying.
We also do a "license renewal" every two years for being a PE.
They don't take away your registration if you are a bad boy or girl.?ÿ They take away your license.
Sounds like you did the right thing.
Let's hope he does too.
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Sincerely Bill must be on vacation. What's a Licnese? I'm personally offended my the term Licensed Land Surveyor. I'm a Registered?ÿ Land Surveyor.?ÿ
You don't hafta call me Bill.
In 84 when I became licensed I noticed by dog gave me more respect. ?ÿLol
@holy-cow So you're a "LLS" and a LE?
Back in the day. Engineers got a Surveyor's license when they attached a Wheaties box top to their application.
If Bill was around he would educate you on the proper use of the terms Licensed and Registered. Do you wear a collar with your license tag on it????
Engineer Surveyor is also a term that irks me.
They aren't Professional Land Surveyor's like George Washington was. I don't want to hijack this guy's post, but this would be a great conversation over a couple of good whiskeys.
PLS is the correct term.........the late, great Paul Reid explained that to me.?ÿ
Technically speaking, I have three licenses from the State of Kansas to conduct business.?ÿ Two of those licenses are controlled by the Kansas State Board of Technical Professions.?ÿ The five categories of licensure they control are: Architect, Landscape Architect, Professional Engineer, Geologist and Professional Surveyor.?ÿ Engineer and Surveyor are the only two that specifically add Professional ahead of the category.
Study the link.?ÿ You will find the term "license" used repeatedly throughout.?ÿ We are licensed to practice.?ÿ Without the license, there is no practice.
My third license is from the Kansas Real Estate Commission to be a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson.
No box tops in my history.
@holy-cow Real Estate License! One of my favorite licenses of incompetence.
You must have a wall full of "Licenses". Driver's License...????
@frozennorth ???
@holy-cow State Licensing Boards are another one of my heartburns. All they do is collect "revenue" by selling "licenses". They do very little policing of their licensees. Continueing Education is left up to State Societies to fund and regulate.
proper use of the terms Licensed and Registered
Registered means placed on a list, licensed means given authority to perform some defined action.
Registered used to be used in several states.?ÿ I expect the change over in most cases was to clarify that it was not simply a register of people claiming to be surveyors, but a group of people who had been provided authority to practice.?ÿ Similar to how doctors can be board certified, but still need to be licensed to practice.
Washington's 4 year professional career in surveying is outlined here: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/washingtons-youth/surveying/ ?ÿ