Fence "cert"

I assume you indicated the fence on the survey and gave a distance to the boundary line stating it is out? That's what I do, without making any statement as to it's ownership.
I once had a city zoning official ask what is a foot inch because I stated something was 1.1' in!

I tell them what they need to do is get an affidavit from the owner of the property being surveyed stating their knowledge of the ownership or maintenance responsibilities of the fence (and then send me a copy of the affidavit if they want it referenced on the survey).

Normally, I have a note stating the surveyor has no knowledge of the ownership or maintenance responsibilities of fences on or near the boundary lines.

Another cert

I had this one sent to me:

"All underground utilities public and/or private, whether of record or not, that enter or leave the property that may be affected by the project must be reflected on the mylar drawing(s)."

This was after I and he had signed a contract that detailed the specific tasks, submittal dates and deliverables.

I told him, "You remember the price I quoted?"

"Yes, I do"

"Add $200,000.00 to the amount I previously stated."

"WHAT?"

"My name is not Clark Kent. I am going to have to dig a trench at least 30 feet deep around your tract to make sure that I discover and show all public or private utilities entering or leaving the premises.

"WHAT? Where does it say that?"

"Your attorney sent this to me this morning."

Please forward that document to me."

"Yes sir."

I know my client on a personal level. He's a pretty sharp guy. 30 minutes later, he calls me.

"Jack, what can you say that will allow you to be comfortable?"

"This survey plat depicts all visible utilities and improvements as observed by me or those under my responsible charge." (I also wanted to say, "And we are all extremely myopic", but I bit my tongue.)

"Okay, that sounds good. We'll go with that."

"Thank you."

I would have loved to hear the conversation between my client and the attorney.

You're supposed to have the title commitment in hand prior to starting an ALTA survey.

Thats a good one 🙂

Love to break in newbies at the Title Company.

It is what it looks like lady, clear picture shown with distances for you to see. The lines are the boundaries and the numbers are the size. It is either inside the lines or outside the lines and an occasional on line. It's all there.

Oh, my certificate you ask. It is very clear, it reads "Surveyed on the ground by:" and covers all that you see. If you don't see it, then it's not there or is too far away.

There ain't no more to say.

My cogo is calling, you have a good day.

😉

> Love to break in newbies at the Title Company.
>
> It is what it looks like lady, clear picture shown with distances for you to see. The lines are the boundaries and the numbers are the size. It is either inside the lines or outside the lines and an occasional on line. It's all there.
>
> Oh, my certificate you ask. It is very clear, it reads "Surveyed on the ground by:" and covers all that you see. If you don't see it, then it's not there or is too far away.
>
> There ain't no more to say.
>
> My cogo is calling, you have a good day.
>
>

:good: 😉

Another cert

I had an RFP from an out-of-state A&E firm that had the operating pressure of the public domestic waterline AND natural gas line as a requirement of the certification.

I believe it was the same RFP that had a requirement that if there were any contracted or future proposed road widening or re-alignment project in the area; they would be shown on the drawing...

I'm pretty sure that one went unanswered.

maybe the Title Company has commitment issues? OH HAR HAR HAR!!!

Specify in the proposal that an ALTA plan will be completed within a time period after the commitment is received. Then when they pull the BS of providing a commitment the night before they need the plan you can tell them to pound sand.

Another cert

> I had an RFP from an out-of-state A&E firm that had the operating pressure of the public domestic waterline AND natural gas line as a requirement of the certification.

You should have told them you're unit of measurement would be in "minutes", ie how many minutes does is take the DPW and gas company to show up after you punched a hole in their line.

The above discussion is why I do not use the word
encroachment on my plats. I do not know whose fence it is,
even if you claims ownership.

Bingo!

The Land Title Survey is not an exercise in surveyors determining title. It is a tool for owners/lenders/title companies to use to remove the survey exception from the title policy. Nothing more; nothing less.

Often, low level employees are given the task of ordering the survey. They may not have the experience to know what to order or how to order it properly. Like most of the public, their perception of surveyors is that we are low level tradespeople. Kind and gentle eduction is in order. It helps to develop clients for life.

Often, there are many other considerations involved in transactions involving large commercial properties. As much as we would like to think that the conveyance relies heavily on our shoulders, it does not. Many times, the Land Title Survey gets over looked and does not get ordered until the last minute when someone notices that there isn't one in the file and that box hasn't been checked off, yet. It's not an insult to surveyors. Again, a little education is needed.

These aren't "Cadillac Surveys". They're relatively straight forward boundary surveys with very specific requirements as to what must be shown on the plats of the surveys.

I love doing them. And I love dealing with the attorneys who send me what seem to be outrageous certification language. I have a ball chatting with them and discussing the language. I enjoy working with the people who order Land Title Surveys becaus I love what I do and like being able to educate these people. They all seem to enjoy it, too. They keep coming back.

what is a foot inch

Hahaha!

That's like the women who called and told me she couldn't use the Lat. Long.'s I'd sent her because I sent them in feet and inches.

One of my standard survey notes says that "Ownership of fences show herein is undetermined."

As for utilities, in Florida we have an outfit called Sun State One Call which is a collection of various utility companies. If you are going to be digging near utilities you are suppose to call them 3 business days prior to beginning your work so they can get the buried lines marked. This is a STATE LAW. But when they see that the location call is from a survey firm, they ignore it and will not send anyone to mark utilities. Unless of course you pay them for it.

So we make the call and keep a record of the locate ticket in the truck. If we bust something, oh well, we did what we were suppose to do. And I have had to tell several utility reps that too. I just love seeing their faces turn red when you hand them a copy of the locate ticket!

I suppose if it's obvious who owns the fence or other structure encroaching, you would call it an encroachment though wouldn't you?

Typically if I'm unclear about who's structure or fence it is, I just show it with maybe a dimension and leave it at that.