Just curious how others might approach this. Few years back client did a job in a rather old and messed up subdivision and a couple of this fellows pins were bumped by contractor's equipment. We had done a design survey and made ties to all the corners in question and post construction received a complaint from this person that their pins had been disturbed. I went out a found both pins in their original location, one slightly bent which I straightened and re-set, the other unmolested but missing the plastic cap. The pins in question had been set in 2017 by another surveyor who chose not to hold a number of found monuments in the area and he filed a Record of Survey. I've now been out to this property three times in an attempt to appease him. What he is asking is that I replace any corner that might have been bumped with a new pin with my LS number and make a record of it. What it comes down to is should I replace another surveyor's (now deceased) pin (minus the original cap), with one of my own when the original pin is in it's original location (prior to our work) and file a monument record? Further, would I then incur some liability for the original surveyor's survey? This guy is convinced that without the 50 cent plastic cap on the pin, it is no longer a valid 'legal' corner and he flies off into a tirade when I try and explain anything otherwise.
Don't walk away, run! This is the type of client that will be a thorn in your side until the end of time. Simply let him know that you are not replacing and pins or adding your cap where there is a missing one and leave it there. This is the type of person that demands that you come out every time the wind changes direction.
One thing raises a big red flag though and that's the mention of the missing cap not being a legal corner. With that comment being made, it sounds like he wants to drag you into any sort of legal situation that may arise.
Oregon law places the responsibility for replacing disturbed or destroyed monuments on the disturber. So this homeowner would be within his rights to demand that these monuments be replaced/rehabilitated if he was here. What does Alaska law say?
I'm not suggesting that you should do this for free. The developer needs to cover the cost.
This is a circumstance where you might be excused for pin cushioning, one in the 2017 location, and one in the location you believe is correct. Just what kind of a difference are we talking about here?
Law reads the same way here. The original corners are in the same location give or take a tenth from where they were tied prior to any work being done. So if the cheesy 50 cent plastic cap disappears, I'm responsible for making them whole, but by placing my own cap on another surveyor's monument, I'm afraid we are taking ownership of a potentially messy situation. I'm getting all communications in writing from this individual at this point because he's changed his story multiple times. It just strikes me as a little strange to pull an original corner in it's original location and replace it with one of my own because the plastic cap is missing. I've suggested that I will go ahead and leave the pins in place and replace the caps in question with my own and file a monument record stating exactly what was done and why. It's the liability aspect of taking ownership of a potentially litigious boundary solution that I have no stake in aside from a missing 50 cent plastic cap. It really doesn't help my comfort level that the property owner is argumentative to the point of being a few fries short of a happy meal.
Your first mistake was messing with the pins without a new contract, but maybe you can still run him off by telling him you were hired for a design survey not a boundary survey-- and if he wants the pins fixed he'll need to cough up a few thousand dollars for your time and liability.
One ugly option would be to explain the situation to the contractor and give him the price you'd need to resurvey the world. Then give him the contact info of a nearby lowballer/hack and strongly hint that the latter would be the best value for them.
I can't stand caving to jerks, and would just right the guy a letter stating that I found the monuments as set by so and so, who is deceased, and disagree with the original placement of them and cannot therefore attach my cap to them. There are reasonable exceptions to all rules, just articulate them with references to other rules that allow for professional judgement.
NEVER try to appease a Whackadoo!
Never fails, I always end up getting whacked when I try, because, that's what they doo.
Like wrestling a pig, both of us end up smelling like poo but they enjoy it.
The problem with what you are saying is that the designer needed the boundary survey to layout the subdivision that clearly ties down where the pins should be. The subdivision was signed of on by an LS. If I did not set the pins, I would not be placing my caps on pins that don't land where I calculate them to be. I also would not pull and/or straighten anybody else's pins.
The owner seems to be barking up the wrong tree, he should be going after the developer to resolve the issue and not the subdivision designer.
I wish it were that straightforward. Developer and surveyor that set these pins are pushing up daisies. Subdivision was done in 1955, lake front. Plat is full of errors, little original control remains, nothing on the ground matches record worth beans. Another local outfit re-surveyed this guys property and chose not to hold a number of unstamped monuments. I can only surmise that this re-survey was done out of a disagreement on where common boundaries fell. My outfit placed fiber in the ROW, there no utility easements and the clearing contractors got a little sloppy as does happen in our short construction season. Long story short, the utility I represent wants to do the right thing, however I have to point out to them that doesn't mean that we need or want to take on liability for a situation that we are not responsible for creating. I have no issues with resetting any corner that has been genuinely disturbed or obliterated, do it all the time. I nearly always have ties to put it back where it was, but this feels very different and given my experience with people like Mr. Whackadoo, what he is trying to do is draw us into his real or imaginary conflict by insisting that I replace original pins set by the deceased surveyor that are where I found them, with new monuments with my stamp, because a plastic cap is missing and they are no longer 'official', in his words. I have refused and told him politely to pound sand. Of course he continues to call and insist that others (unlicensed of course) individuals here have supported what he's asking for. They probably just wanted to be rid of him. This guy is as charming as can be with everyone he thinks he needs to win over and then a raving lunatic when I try and explain why I can't do as he is asking. I tell my guys to take care with every survey we do without exception because you just never know when we are going to plant our foot in a big pile of dog s**t and I have to clean it up. Apologies for the rant.
