Disclaimer, what good is any disclaimer....... none.
Every licensed person has to operate under guidelines and standards set forth for all licensed persons to be in compliance.
That can not be circumvented by any mere disclaimer.
Why would I disclaim my work at all. If I can not have a final product that is not worth my weight then it is a sad day for surveying.
I simply state under a "PLAT SHOWING" the purpose of the drawing is to express Joe Client's understanding of what he owns as told to him by the agent, person or whoever he viewed the land with and made contract to by the land, or something akin to that. Basically, the intent of the exhibit, aka drawing.
One thing I advise everyone calls and asks about a survey of is that they meet with someone at the property and be shown the limits of and what it is that they are buying.
If the seller or agent can not property and with confidence show the buyer exactly what they are buying, then they need to call me in to survey the property and answer all their questions.
I always certify to my proficiency as a surveyor, regardless of drawing's intent.
B-)
A land surveyor only advocates for the true location of the property boundary line. Thus, theoretically, the land surveyor is not only the surveyor for his client, but also for the adjoining property owners as well. The land surveyor resolves the location of the property boundary line without any regard to it favoring or dis-favoring the person who is paying the bill. So in that sense, no, you are not an advocate for your client.
However, aside from the location of the property boundary, you should keep their best interests in mind. Most likely you have a wealth of experience and knowledge of local real property law and local zoning regulations that they could benefit from.
Stephen
Well, this is touchy, and something that we discussed recently. My thoughts are this:
During normal business, whereby you are requested to perform surveying services by the public, then no. Being an advocate is not a good thing and will end up biting you in the butt.
However, there are times were, I feel, that it is permissible, however, they are very narrow in scope.
If you are hired by an attorney whereby the parties have already lawyered up, and there is no normalcy to the job, then finding a solution that could help the lawyer is permissible, so long as you note that there are other possibilities.
If you think about it, every time we set a corner, there is no less than 5 possible locations, either dist-dist, brng-brng, brng-dist from one of two corners, or loading the deed as a whole. That's every stinking time. Compound that with ancient fences, parole testimony, un-documented iron stakes, well, you can see that there are always MANY solutions to where to locate a corner. MANY times, one can be as good as another. Our jobs, like I need to say it, is to find the BEST solution. In some cases, it's the BEST WORST solution. If you find yourself in a court room, and you are in a survey where it's all effed up, then picking one to help a client, that is contrary to the other solution, where neither of them are any better than the other, well, that's okay in my book. The judge will rule whether or not you're right, and you haven't violated your license.
I'm involved in a court case right now. I'll be deposed soon, and I don't want to let too much out there, but suffice to say, I've disagreed with another fellow surveyor, BY A LOT! I think he's wrong, and I'm sure he thinks he's right, and a district judge will ultimately decide, but I'm not being an advocate for my client, I'm being an advocate for my survey and defending it on it's merits and the evidence I found. However, this is one of those REALLY SCREWED UP AREAS, and it's tough, real tough to decide what is right and wrong. In my surveyor's report, I noted all that I disagreed with the other guy on, but also noted that there were serious flaws with some of mine, and that without some curative work, it was going to be wrong regardless. Hopefully, I will prevail, but only time will tell.
Like it said, it's permissible, but damn narrow in scope.