Your one of the boys, adopt a go along/get along attitude.
> We were using a Sokkia digital auto level and had to take the shots at 1AM three days in a row to insure accuracy and no thermal expansion.
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> Most total stations should be able to put you with in a sixteenth (0.0052 ft) all day..
I find that most people that make these types of claims have a fundamental lack of understanding of measurement science and error propagation.
>I find that most people that make these types of claims have a fundamental lack of understanding of measurement science and error propagation.
Most total stations should be able to put you are designed to tell you you're with in a sixteenth (0.0052 ft) all day..
> Working directly for the contractor involves a shift in perceived status, construction surveyors often feel appreciated less working directly for the contractor than coming in as a sub.
I have never done much construction surveying, but when I did I found there to be quite a lot of pressure to get things done quickly (often by the seat of your pants) with not always the best plans to work from. I would think it would be better to be on the contractors payroll from a liability standpoint. Considering the nature of the job, I doubt you are going to be perfect 100% of the time. As a private subcontractor, are they going to pay you all that much extra to assume all of the liability (which can be considerable in construction layout) for your work?
I have been Construction surveying for 12 years, with little private work. I love it, but thats me. A few things I've learned is when tolerance has to be tight your better of not staking radial. For example when I stake bridge CLxCL on piers and abutment I will layout 1 CLxCL point then occupy that point and stake everything in straight lines, its a lot of moving the gun but works well. It really doesn't matter if the whole bridge is of .2' as long as its off as a whole. I usually run a traverse with a lot of points through out the whole site, and then I resection off a those points when something has to be laid out.
As stated by others you will always be blamed, I had a contractor blame me for a bridge footing in the wrong spot and it went all the way to the top of the DOT. When it was done and over and it was determined I did not lay out the footing, and he had laid it out with a tape, he told me he knew he was at fault but had to try to blame me. I was pissed
I store all the points I lay out, at the end of the day I bring them into the drawing and make sure they all went where they were supposed to, I have a caught many errors that would have been a disaster had I not caught them. It's also a record of what you did. I use point number above 80,000 that way I don't get conflicts with points I create in the drawing.
Are you using company supplies equipment/software or your own?
"Some construction companies want the engineering mistakes caught, some others want to build it wrong ......
Not a very good business plan."
I wish you were right Roadhand, but one of the largest construction firms in my state operates just that way. A former co-employee of mine is one member of a 6-person review team whose sole purpose is to document plan errors and omissions. They tabulate them and pass the list on to a team of estimators who calculate how much money they can expect from back-charging for the "errors". This number is a factor in the decision to pursue the project. This firm has done this quite well for decades with this plan...
If it documentation of this process reached the BOR, any PLS or PE involved should expect a reprimand on ethics.
Not having been there or done that, ....
It seems like a tolerance of 1/16" might be reasonable for the relative locations of the bolts for one column, but certainly a bigger tolerance could be allowed from column to column without undue distortion of the building.
Exactly right. The company that I realized did this always piecemealed information to us. What they would do is try to find an error and START there so it would delay the entire project.
I was merely a pawn in their game of life. 🙂 (we were subs)
I mean it was bad. I would say something like "Hey, that curb from the plan that is supposed to match existing is off by half a foot". They would tell me to keep it quiet, then proceed to form it up and pour it...
They made a pile of money doing it. It was a horrible practice, don't get me wrong, but civil plans seemed to really increase in quality after a few companies getting hit for multiple back charges...
Everyone's been giving some good advice. Though I've never worked for a large contractor, I've done a lot of construction staking back in the day. Something that may seem like overkill but is well worth your time is to make sure you're comfortable that the contractor/subs understand what your write-ups on stakes/offsets mean. If something gets built to a misunderstanding of what you're staking to, it's a little late for the shoulda-coulda-woulda game, sadly. Echoing the check and check again school of thought and the need to document goings-on as well.
I will be using their robot, but it's a 10+ year old topcon 825A. It uses the satel radios at the gun and rod. It seems really outdated to me. I'm used to more modern equipment, so I've been pushing to get a newer unit probably Leica or Trimble (I've used both). They seem very receptive to my request, which I take as a good sign.
Never used one, but from what I've read you will HATE that robot.
