Long story short...I am preparing a survey for a developer and was provided with a copy of a survey done in 1998 by a well-established surveyor(Surveyor John Doe) in town. I go out and break the section and locate the corners he set/found as shown on his survey. After reviewing the information I notice that he is 32' west of the N-S 1/4 line which should be his east boundary. I also notice that the subdivision that was platted in 1985 (by a another surveyor) and bounded on the west by the N-S 1/4 line was 8' feet west of the N-S 1/4 line (8' encroachment onto the property I am surveying).
I have alarm bells going crazy in my head....back to the research. I look for an additional day into official records and can't find anything. I go out in the field looking for where I screwed up. I contact every surveying firm with a cap in the ground (7 firms+Surveyor John Doe). I survey every subdivision that ties to the section line. I speak with all of the property owners in the area.
After all of this I have a boat load of information provided by surveyors, land owners and county officials. I still can't find anything wrong with my survey. I have also had every surveyor I contacted take my call or call me back and be happy to give me all information they had in my area except for Surveyor John Doe.
He hasn't called me back and it ticks me off. I find it rude and unprofessional! I was hoping he would give me information that would make my survey wrong or he would find his survey wrong and not be blindsided by it.
Also, when I left messages for him with his secratary I just simply said that I would like to speak with him about the project. I never stated that I thought his survey was wrong.
What do you guys think?
Have a great weekend!
It looks like you have reliance with the subdivision being based off the erroneous 1/4 corners. It would be interesting to see why the John doe set things where he did....
Has it been weeks or days since you called Doe? How many times have you called.
Maybe he's been very busy. Maybe he's lost the message. Maybe his secretary forgot to give it to him. or maybe he's just absent minded and although he intended to call back, it slipped his mind.
Give him the benefit of the doubt and call him again.
4 Scenarios:
1.) He knows he has a goof up, and simply cannot come to terms with his own goof up. He cannot add up all that he already knows, but is lost to deal with.
2.) He thinks you have falsely accused him, and is offended.
3.) He is busy, and simply needs a bit of room, and a few repeat calls.
4.) Something else.
Whatever the case, you should do what it takes to get to the bottom of it. That is, communicate with him.
I have done this kind of thing.
And encountered all 4 above.
Some surveyors are so bad, that I don't bother calling them, as this is normal for them.
Nate
Not related to your story, but I had a message from a surveyor last year that stated that he had found my survey in great error and needed to speak with me immediately about the situation. His call was very rude and disturbing coming from a so called professional.
I called him back the next day and he was not in. Waited on him to call me back for a week and called him again.
Come to find out from someone other than him, that the survey plat he had was not even mine, the copy he had was cut off at the company info and he just assumed it was mine.
Never did speak to this idiot directly and I felt like driving to his office (2 hours away) so we could share some thoughts on the matter.
I just entered him into my "idiot book" for future reference. This book is getting quite full.
Randy
It has been about 1 1/2 weeks and I have called 3 times...and in all three messages I left I in no way implied I had a problem with his survey. I am hoping he is crazy busy. Can't he at least tell his secretary to say that he will get back to me asap
What did you break the section down from? Did you proportion any corners or use any corners that had been proportioned by others? Are your section corners pedigreed back to original? Has there been substantial reliance upon the surveys or the boundaries you wish to reject? Are these boundaries established or not? How come you are the first in a hundred years or so to be able to locate the boundaries? Just some things to think about.
I don't know all the details but it sure sounds like doing it how it should have been done isn't the answer. Might be time to look into the law governing the establishment of boundaries other than doing the math. Maybe this section has already been broke down. Maybe not perfect but acceptable under the law and the time that has elapsed.
LRDay
Not a big fan of pulling out the math.
Defiantly not a big fan of disagreeing with two reputable surveyors,
As far as the section corners...I have certified corner records, r/w maps, old surveys, fence corners, testimony and then I went as far as to locate all subdivisions on the N-S 1/4 line...the 2 subdivisions in the s 1/2 fit within a foot of my breakdown...the one adjacent to me encroaches by 8' (meaning his plat bndy is 8 feet west of the west line of the ne 1/4)...Surveyor John Doe's survey (not a subdivision) is 32' west of said line as I located. That is why I contacted him and every other surveyor with a cap in the ground (there is no recording of surveys in Florida)and sought information. The only one that did not call me back is Surveyor John Doe, hence my gripe.
As far as the law goes, I am well aware of the rulings that apply. I will not be disturbing the harmony, my client will probably get a break on the purchase price and I will be amazed at the lack of professional courtesy by Surveyor John Doe.
Well, then maybe you have determined that the boundaries haven't been established by the previous surveys. If so just reject them and deal with the landowners to get the boundaries established where they should be. Hey, the surveyor doesn't establish the boundaries the landowners do. Your obligation is to get the boundary placed correctly for the landowner. Be nice if the other surveyor would get back to you and discuss but sometimes its a waste of time. Get it right for the landowners involved and forget about the other surveyor. If the other survey is in error its really only the landowners that can get some damages. One thing that amazes me is the survey work that gets ignored or causes damages that the surveyor never has to pay. Most landowners just let it go and don't bother to do anything. They do lose respect or become suspicious of survey work. Its sort of a sad reality.
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I think I see 99% of the problem...
I could not agree more!!!!!!!!!!!
