eHow again

> I can't help wondering who's writing this stuff.
>
> An example of a modern surveying technique is the total station technique. The total station survey is an electronic survey that is fully robotic and can connect to a global positioning system. An older survey having been performed using simple line-of-sight techniques will be supplanted by the more modern survey.
>
>> http://www.ehow.com/how_6955437_determine-accuracy-land-survey.htmlbr >
That article was written by an attorney and the general content is reasonable. The quoted section just shows that even the other professionals we deal with have the "magic black box" mindset. That is the presumption that the technology is foolproof and experience and judgement are no longer required.

Good Heavens. That's dreadful. An attorney, eh? Well, who would have thunk it.

My "Do Your Own Appendectomy" was tongue in cheek, but at least it was accurate. This article is nonsense.

I Concur Bruce, a junior school student would fail English expression!

If that author is a legal eagle, then I would not like them defending me..

RADU

> I Concur Bruce, a junior school student would fail English expression!
>
> If that author is a legal eagle, then I would not like them defending me..
>
>
> RADU

Just click on the "By Sameca Pandova, eHow Contributor" link and you get the following biographical information:

> Sameca Pandova

>Based near Chicago, Sameca Pandova has been writing since 1995 and now contributes to various websites. He is an attorney with experience in health care, family and criminal prosecution issues. Pandova holds a Master of Laws in health law from Loyola University Chicago, a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science from Case Western.

Most of the articles presented on eHow include a short summary of the author's background. The background of those providing "Property Surveying" articles are interesting for their lack of direct knowledge of surveying. Again the general content of this article does advise hiring a professional surveyor.

This "ehow" malarkey is a great example of what Lucas and others have been saying for years. They have been warning us that believing (and practicing) that surveying property lines is nothing more than an exercise in measurements would eventually bite us in the butt. This is what the latest Lucas column was all about. What happens when a "survey grade" GPS is available at radio shack for a few hundred dollars and the "precise" geodetic coordinates are available for free from the county GIS website? How are we going to defend our claim to being the only expert measurers that can locate property boundaries based solely on precise coordinates?

Is it really that surprising that other professionals (attorneys, architects, etc.) apparently view our profession in the same manner as a large number of us do? It looks like ehow has taken a good sized nibble, I'm not sure a couple of band-aids are going to fix the boo-boo's. Precision (measurements, angles and distances) does not a property corner make. Accuracy (intent, history, reliance, etc., i.e. "boundary law") is what counts.

We only have ourselves to blame.

Black Box BS

I was talking to a client yesterday who related a personal experience about a survey of some land she owned on the Gulf coast following Katrina. She said that the surveyor arrived at a reproduced corner that had been washed away by the storm and she knew the position to be incorrect. The surveyor apparently tried to BS her about using satellites to survey by and that this was where the position was supposed to be as per the satellites. Ultimately the surveyor tied in additional boundary monuments and established the position where she recollected it to be. I'm sure there was something lost in the story, but I do hear from clients from time to time experiences where surveyors use GPS to give credibility to their work just because it's GPS.

It's a dangerous way to promote their opinion, as it suggests the real surveying is being done by the magic box instead of between the ears of the surveyor. "If the box is so smart, why do I need you?"

Black Box BS

:good:

Many times I've been told by clients and adjoiners that "this must be correct, I know so-n-so put it there using his GPS". :'(

Exactly :good:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4763757_homes-property-lines.html

Number 2
Go to your county's website. Look for the "Property/Land/GIS" system page. Go to the interactive mapping function that should be available for property information searches. You can usually input your address to call up a copy of your property map. It should show your house and any other structures, along with your property lines.

Number 7
Consult a surveyor on the cost of a limited survey. They may be able to locate a single property line for a lesser price.

:-O It's no wonder why people are shocked when they hear all the things that need to be done to complete a survey, especially when you start talking money. A lot of people get on the internet and research what they should expect and the processes involved in obtaining professional services. This kind of article really grinds my gears because it sets us surveyors up to look like the bad guys when we tell the client the reality of the situation.

I was locating some rebar/caps set on another survey on the other side of the block. Just tying in a boundary survey which had surveyed some of the block while we surveyed around the block.

Property owner comes out and says his Surveyor (I knew him) did an ultra-precise "satellite survey" on his property. I related that to the other Surveyor over the phone and he said, "huh? We didn't use GPS on that survey."

Lay people think our prism targets and total stations are GPS receivers.

I get that all the time. Probably 80% of the time if a lay person asks about the equipment they want to know "if it looks at the satellites" the rest just want me to take their picture. 😀

I don't even see real estate law among his specialties.

The eHow page has a title down below for Comments. I don't see any comments or a way to enter them. Does anybody else see a way to do a rebuttal?

Black Box BS

I've been trying to think of a way to explain to people that gps is not a magic box. The best thing I can think of is to tell them that it's no more than a hi-tech tape measure when it comes to boundary solutions. It will tell me where the points are, but not where they're supposed to be.

Black Box BS

I think you've got it. I said basically the same thing to my client yesterday.

> I can't help wondering who's writing this stuff.
>

Don't worry about it, if its on the internet it must be true right....right?

Black Box BS

When you misuse the tools, they can be dangerous. GPS or plumb bob, no difference.

You can only GPS a boundary AFTER you find it on the ground. The GPS points are just theoretical search locations for better evidence.