Then in the 2010's after much back and forth FEMA released new mapping. Today that owner wants to re-finance and can't get a loan because the new Zone A in the county mapping GIS shows the house into the flood plain. 

Now the option is to locate the flood plain from the plat, get a new 88 elevation BFE from that and do an elevation cert from the platted flood plain. Or, hire a new engineer, redo the entire process and get the new BFE that way. From our experience the first engineer who did the flood mapping  is quite good at it. Floods we have seen where he did mapping are spot on. Of course the new Zone A is a joke, much like the previous one, some of the water course isn't even covered by the Zone A very near the house. 

So my question is: will FEMA accept the original flood plain if stated as platted, or does a new study need to be completed. This is a mountain stream, not subject to accretion or avulsion, it's remained in place since the 80's since the huge rocky bed isn't going anywhere, or at least we haven't had the 1000 year flood that might move something. 

• Added a Transcribe & Compare tool that will load two deeds side by side to extract and transcribe the full legal descriptions and then highlight any differences between the two transcriptions. This tool can find transcription errors in newer transfers and extract the text of legal descriptions in its original formatting.
  23218
• Added the ability to process and generate a plot from a CSV file in PNEZD format.
  
  
• Improved the KML tool to allow manual entry of latitude and longitude, plot lines and support centerline descriptions.
  
  
• Added additional curve calculation methods and fields in the Call Table to support curves tangential to the next call and calculate curves when a radial bearing to the PT is provided.
  
  
• Added the ability to detect and automatically load POC or POB coordinates.
  
  
• Added Easement and CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) fields in the Deed Info. A description of each Easements and CC&R is automatically extracted and loaded into the Deed Info table.
  
  
• Added Abbreviate Monuments & Adjoiners option to replace customizable keywords for monuments and adjoiners with abbreviations.
  
  
• Added the ability to create and save PDFs of plots with larger Arch C and Arch D paper sizes.
  
  
• Added the ability to click on a line in the Plot to have it highlight the text of the call and highlight it in the Call Table.
  
  
• Added the ability to customize the fields that are displayed for curve labels with a Curve Info Format option in the Configuration Options.  

𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼 is the next generation of metes and bounds plotting software that uses AI to automate the tedious and boring task of plotting legal descriptions in deeds.  

Try Free for 30 Days: www.deedreaderpro.com

For a crew it's a morning of staking, probably will need to return for some details on a small rip rap structure, maybe they will eyeball that in. 

But what struck me is how we've turned into the CYA nation. Can't blame the engineer, all those notes basically say: it's not our fault or responsibility to do,,,,,,,,,,,anything. 

Instructions on a shampoo bottle stuff. 

If so this seems dumb as hell.  How do you guys that do staking jobs handle it?

We're new to the vendor space here and wanted to introduce what we're building.

What it is

Azimuth Prep is an exam prep app for land surveying certification and licensure, built by working surveyors for working surveyors. Live since late May 2026 on iOS, Android, and web.

What we cover

NSPS CST certification:

• Level 1
• Level 2 (Field and Office tracks)
• Level 3 (Party Chief Boundary, Party Chief Construction, Chief Computer Operator)

NCEES exams:

• FS (Fundamentals of Surveying) - 550 questions
• PS (Principles & Practice) - 500 questions

State-specific exams:

• Texas TSSE - 340 questions
• Florida PSM - 458 questions
• California PLS - 462 questions

Plus 2,000+ flashcards across all exams, full-length practice exams, audio review mode (good for windshield time), and a daily question.

Why we built it

The long lectures and bulky textbooks aren't built for people with busy lives or those trying to maximize their time. We wanted exam prep you could pick up during a lunch break, work through on the drive home (audio mode), or grind on in 10-minute chunks instead of needing a 3-hour study session to make progress. Built by working surveyors, written to read like a colleague walking you through the answer instead of a textbook footnote.

How it works

• First 30 questions are free, no signup. Open the app and start.
• Subscriptions: $29.99/month, $74.99 for three months, or $279.99/year at azimuthprep.com (web). In-app pricing runs a few dollars higher because Apple and Google take their cut, so subscribing on the web saves you a bit.
• Students with a .edu email get a full year free, auto-applied when they confirm their email.
• Surveying instructors and CTE program leads can get free classroom codes for their students - just reach out.

Statute bundles

Separate from the app, we also sell state-specific statute bundles - searchable PDFs of state surveying statutes, board rules, and licensing law, with annotation for what's tested. Texas, Florida, and California are live. $29.99 one-time, free updates when laws change.

On the roadmap

North Carolina and Oklahoma state exams next, then more states behind those.

Where to find us

• App: search "Azimuth Prep" on iOS App Store or Google Play
• Web: azimuthprep.com
• Statute bundles: azimuthprep.com/statute-bundles
• Email: prep@azimuthedu.com

Happy to answer questions, take feedback, or just talk shop. We'll post updates here when new content ships. Glad to be in the community.

- The Azimuth Prep Team

I've started and deleted this post more times than I'd like to admit, because there's no easy way to say it. So I'm going to be straight with you, the way I'd want someone to be straight with me.

I've been running this community for 16 years. It started as BeerLeg back in the summer of 2010, became SurveyorConnect a couple of months later when corporate firewalls didn't care for the word "beer," and today it carries the RPLS.com name, continuing the legacy Mark Deal started back in 1996. Through every name change, software rebuild, and server move, one thing never changed: this has been a labor of love. I was a surveyor myself from 1986 to 2009, and building a place where our profession could talk shop, swap war stories, argue boundary law, and lean on one another has been one of the great honors of my working life.

But I owe you the truth about where things stand. For most of those 16 years, I've run this just to break even, and plenty of years I didn't even manage that. We had some wonderful advertisers for a while, but Covid wiped them out and they never came back. I dropped ad rates to almost nothing to bring in the smaller shops, and it has barely moved the needle. The membership plans help, and I'm grateful beyond words to everyone on them, but the honest fact is it isn't nearly enough to justify the hours this takes. I've reached the point where I can't keep pouring myself into something that isn't sustainable. Something has to change.

So here's what I've decided — and I wanted to give you a real heads-up well before anything actually changes. I'm going to find out, once and for all, whether this community can stand on its own two feet. This August, I'm planning to move the forums to a membership model. Here's the gist of how it would work:

• The active, recent discussions would be for members.
• Visitors who aren't logged in, and members who haven't subscribed, would see topic titles and a short preview of each discussion.
• Our older archive would stay open to everyone, so the years of discussions you've come to rely on — and the threads people find through Google — won't disappear behind a wall.

The idea is simple: if this place has real value to the people who use it, then it's worth a small amount to keep it alive. And if it turns out folks aren't willing to support it, then I'll have my answer, and I can make my peace with that.

A few things I want to be clear about up front, because I know they'll be on your mind:

• If you already support RPLS.com — whether you're on a monthly plan or you've sent the occasional donation over the years — you'll be grandfathered in, automatically. You won't have to do a thing or pay a penny more. You've already had my back, and I'm not about to ask you to do it twice.
• It will be affordable. I'm not doing this to price working surveyors out. It'll be a modest annual amount — a rounding error next to what we all spend on equipment and software, and easily worth it if this place saves you a single headache a year. I'll share the exact pricing when the system goes live.
• Early members will be rewarded. The folks who step up first will get a special founding rate, locked in for good. More on that when we launch.

Nothing changes today. The membership system goes live in early August, and I'll post all the details — pricing, the founding offer, and how to join — the moment it's ready.

Let me also be straight about the bigger picture, because you've earned it. There are really only three possible ways this goes from here:

1. If enough of you join that the community sustains itself, then RPLS.com keeps going strong for years to come. That's what I'm hoping for with everything I've got.
2. If it doesn't bring in enough to be viable, then I look to hand it off to someone respectable in our industry with the resources to do right by it.
3. If neither of those pans out, I have to shut it down for good.

But here's why I'm posting this now, weeks ahead of any change: I genuinely want your honest take before I build this. If you think a membership model is the right move, tell me. If you think I'm making a mistake, tell me that too. If there's something about how I'm planning to do it that worries you, I'd rather hear it now than after I've flipped the switch. This community was built by surveyors, for surveyors, and I'd be a fool not to ask its members what they think before I act.

Whatever happens next — thank you. Truly. Getting to know so many of you over this time has meant more to me than this ever made in dollars.

— Wendell

Has anyone figured out a work around on this?

Was up near the park today. Bear grass is blooming. It’s Mrs File favorite wildflower.  Later I stopped at another job. Yeah it’s probably fine…..