First Survey Fieldwork

I think its a great question!

Been licensed for 34 years, so I don't remember specifically. I think the fieldwork was done by our very seasoned party chief. However, I had already stamped MANY legal descriptions prior to that. The only surveys I insisted being hands on in the field with were ones likely bound for litigation if I was going to be the responsible PLS.

Those days are long behind me now. I only use my stamp to stamp retirement gifts (memory books) these days.

yes

?ÿ

At the time I was first licensed?ÿ I worked in an office where there were field people, and office people, and very little crossover in between.?ÿ Very few of the field people were interested in becoming office people, and almost none of the office people were interested in going to the field. In fact, there are several people at that company who are still there in the same positions they occupied in 1998. The only person who has made the move from field to office was forced to do so when he was hit by a car and had a very long recovery.

So .... I signed a survey that was the field product of another. Which was just the normal thing to do there and then.?ÿ But even then I felt that it was not possible to create great product from flawed raw materials. It never made sense to have,?ÿexclusively, the least experienced and least qualified people at that end of the process. Today I do my own fieldwork, mostly.?ÿ?ÿ

That is an easy one for me.?ÿ It has been rare over the years for me to not be present during much, if not all, of the fieldwork for anything I sign and stamp.?ÿ There have been some easy ones that I skipped the fieldwork and had the guys handle it completely.

So, the first one is yes and the most recent one is yes.?ÿ But, I did skip the fieldwork on one a couple of weeks ago because everything they had to follow was shown on a survey I performed about five years ago.

The first, was done by others. I remember it like it was 1979 and have a copy of the map around here somewhere. Some of my earliest work is a bubbling cauldron based on work by others. From time to time I pull out one of those files scratch my head and squint.

Almost all of the work I've stamped in the last 40 years was done under the supervision of a field manager that is now my business partner. We will retire together at the end of the year.?ÿ?ÿ

I always do and always have done 99.9% of my own field work.?ÿ I think it makes for the best finished product and it also allows for a tremendous 6th sense when going about the remaining details of the survey.

I trained some guys (or at least I had a hand in training them, was team effort) that did better field work than I did. I can admit that. In that case, I don't care. Still, in most cases, if I were to do the field work it would be faster because it would more efficient because if I didn't want it or need it, then?ÿ would not shoot it.

Trust is a huge issue, meaning comfortability, but at some point that risk has to be assessed and dealt with unless you are a single man shop.

Yes

@mark-mayer

most engineering & surveying firms are like that unfortunately. the crowd I worked with for almost 7 years insisted on that. I was (at that time) a licensed PE who had a couple years experience surveying in the field too. but my role in the land development side of things required me to more or less do it all (all the way from data import & base-mapping sites with field data to designing/drafting plans & assisting the surveyors with legal descriptions & mapping needs).

So the field crews were exclusively dedicated to the field but they often missed what I or the other engineers might need (and conversely we didn't always understand what they were trying to convey to us until they started taking pics with cell phones or taking better field notes). Bottom line - I started to make it a habit of going out there with them for a couple hours to help (particularly with as-builts) & boy if the SHTF with both owners about the 2nd time I did that. The complaint was that they couldn't bill for my time (which I get) but what they didn't understand is that if the crews were confused in what our needs were & if I was delayed in getting the data then it would be just as costly further down the road. to this day it still angers me that I was scolded several times for doing this. I was surprised that one of the field crews appreciated having me around out there but I think me bringing a bag full of sausage biscuits a few mornings for them might have helped that

My first was the Saturday after I got my license on a Friday. I donated a small lot survey for a local church. Fieldwork, drafting, signed, and sealed!?ÿ

I got licensed in 1984 and didn't go out on my own until 1993.?ÿ During the intervening time I adhered to the belief that I'd only sign a survey if I was part owner of the company.?ÿ There was lots of talking about making that happen, but after 10 years it never did.?ÿ I finally forced the issue, but after negotiating for about a month we were unable to come to terms, so I left.?ÿ (In retrospect there were larger problems with the firm that would have made staying a bad idea.?ÿ I made the right choice, but at the time I had my doubts.)?ÿ

I still believe that only principals should sign professional work products, but I guess I'm in the minority in that regard.