So I understand we all make mistakes but, this takes the cake. I am doing a small lot survey for one of the real estate agents I work with, should be no problems, its half an acre and was just surveyed a couple of years ago. I went out on Friday to start the job thinking at the worst this will take me 4 or 5 hours. I get out there and I can only find one of my property corners along with a couple of ties. No biggie it is not the first time that I didn't find all the corners and it won't be the last. Well here is where the fun kicks in, I start looking at the plat and one of the dimensions from a tie to my corner is missing, ok still not a big deal, so I called the surveyor who did the work, well not only had he left off a dimension it turns out that they did not actually set any of the corners. The guy I talked to was real apologetic and said the job must have slipped through the cracks and he would get back with me. I called back today and spoke with the PLS that owns the company and basically got the impression that it was my problem that they had not set the corners and not his.
If I had made a mistake like that I would be telling you I will call you back when the corners are set. I am really tempted to send this guy a bill for having to do his job.?ÿ
I would tell him that it may be his problem after you contact the people in Raleigh, I am with you if someone called me and said they found one of my jobs that the corners were not set, I would be right out there to do it.
Ed
"news flash, Supreme Court ruled that you are liable if you tell someone that you will call them back and then go on with life and do not return the call"
So, you may be in the right to send him a bill and could probably make a case if they don't pay.
0.02
I have had to deal with this crap numerous times and while you can turn them in it would likely be a pyrrhic victory. The other guy would get hauled to the board and he would get a slap on the wrist and every day thereafter he would be actively looking for anything to return the favor.
I've never turned in another PLS but I have a bunch of unlicensed folks.
Could a letter to him, from you explaining the situation and give him the opportunity to correct it or you turn him in be an option? Maybe even copy the state board on it.
One the most important things you carry with you everyday in life is your Reputation... remember that PLS's name for the next time you encounter
a plat created by him just use it as toilet paper...
That happened to me on a brand new shopping center that I got hired to do an ALTA on.?ÿ We had the plat that showed corners, but there was nothing set. However, we kept finding these odd looking disks set in curbs and gutters. I figured out they were super fancy control points from some big outfit?ÿ from Albany, NY, the same folks that did the plan. Called them up, spoke to the survey dept manager, and asked him for coordinates for all his control points. He never missed a beat: "Sure! You'll have 'em all by tomorrow!".?ÿ Guess he figured that was way easier than coming out and setting all the corners, and I didn't mind as it made my job a lot easier. If he'd said no, I would have reported them though. That's definitely not cool!
If you contact NC's board of licensure, they will definitely do something about it.?ÿ The lead investigator is a former LEO.?ÿ Failure to set corners is taken seriously.?ÿ The PLS in question will likely receive a fine. Probably around $1,000.?ÿ If he owns up to the mistake and is cordial, they probably won't suspend his license. If he fights them he will lose his license for a year and have to take some ethics classes.
?ÿ
It would be hard for me to turn someone in even if they were rude and in the wrong.?ÿ I wouldn't fault you or others?ÿ for doing it. In NC we're supposed to report violations.?ÿ?ÿ
Why would a decent surveyor "finish" a job without setting corners? They must have found an error they didn't anticipate and just said "the hell with it". Those types will be invited to entertain the Board eventually. ?????ÿ
The guy I talked to was real apologetic and said the job must have slipped through the cracks and he would get back with me. I called back today and spoke with the PLS that owns the company and basically got the impression that it was my problem that they had not set the corners and not his.
Sometimes things actually do slip through the cracks. A couple of my colleagues working for large firms have had field crews get pulled off their project by managers who thought corners had already been set, or had a rush job and never sent them back. In both cases, as soon as they were alerted to the problem crews were on site within 24 hours setting those corners. It does happen; if the PLS fixes the problem quickly, no harm, no foul. As long as it does not become a trend.
Also, from your description it may be that the PLS who performed the survey might have gone to the owner and the owner refused to correct the mistake. Both are in error, and it might not be a bad idea to send the firm a letter citing the relevant statutes, politely requesting them to set the corners instead of you reporting both the firm and the responsible PLS to the board.
I had thought about that, however I am on a deadline to get this one done by the 7th so I'm just going suck it up and set all of the corners on mine.
Not setting corner monuments used to be really common in my area. We used to joke that IPS meant iron possibly set.
A mentor once said that "busy times equals poor surveying". It stands true with what I'm finding lately.
I observed a crew doing a lot survey a few months ago. I had surveyed the whole block for a re-subdivision of several lots and had everything nailed down.
They only got two of four corners correct, the other two they marked were junk. They didn't make any ties to confirm anything even though the adjoining corners
were marked up and easy to find. The rod man leaned the rod at least 0.5' to get a shot on one corner iron due to a tree.
I heard the youngest kid on the crew ask another crew member "why is he using a bipod?" (talking about me)
And by the way, the reason I was working on this lot was due to another surveyor using the wrong rear irons (irons for adjoining lots) and had
the what was supposed to be relatively perpendicular to the street lots lines rotated about 15' from front to back. My client had to move a bunch of privacy fence due
to the error and built a retaining wall in the wrong location.
?ÿ
?ÿ
I don't see in your post where the previous surveyor set the corners??ÿ If the map says they set them and they didn't that's one thing, if it doesn't that's another.
Well, at least they admitted forgetting instead of telling you they all must have been destroyed.?ÿ Send them a bill for a couple hours of work, imo.
The previous plat calls for irons to be set. They just never bothered to do it.
That's bad. If they were paid to do it and didn't, and claimed they did, could be construed a criminal act. Presumably your caps will be on the monuments set now. If I were in their shoes I would make sure to pay you as a subcontractor and get a receipt for setting them that at least matches what I charged the client. Courts don't look kindly on professionals collecting from the public for services not rendered.
