As a younger member of our profession I get a lot of enjoyment reading about other folks surveying experiences on the board. We need to be experts and expertise comes with experience. So let’s share some experiences.
I am wondering if anybody has examples of mistakes they made or witnessed in their careers they would be willing to share. Both funny and serious examples would be great. Of course changing names and locations to protect the innocent and avoid libel/slander accusations 😉
My contributions:
Lesson 1: Running a traverse line around a tall thick growth of 8 foot manzanita didn’t really save me any work.
I ended up spending more time reducing offsets when it was time to mark and post line.
Lesson 2: Designing a PUD for a retired electrical engineer is not fun.
He always thought I could tweak the layout a little bit more to get more lots. After one redesign we got 2 more lots. After four more redesigns we ended up with the same amount of lots and a very full folder of archived layout drawings.
Lesson 3: Compile your own documents when submitting to a County Surveyor to review.
Very early in my career (1 year in as a survey tech) our staff planner submitted a map, closure sheets for a Certified Survey Map (in WI, partition, minor subdivision, you get the idea). Well it seems he managed to send an old version of the layout along with new closure sheets. I had the displeasure of trying to help the deputy county surveyor decipher what he had been given. Lesson to be learned… double and triple checking your work doesn’t matter if somebody submits the wrong material!
Lesson 4 (hearsay): Use the right tool for the job.
I also heard rumors of another greenhorn attempting to set a 5/8 inch rebar with a Estwing rock hammer. A kinder man than myself suggested that a sledge hammer be used. I think it would have been more entertaining to let the first rebar get set with a rock hammer then offer up the sledge hammer.
Lesson 5: Use the right end of the tool.
Another time I took a newly graduated EIT into the field with me to a half-built subdivision that was being revived. We knew that the utilities were half constructed so we needed to do some field verification. We were supposed to locate anything and everything we could find to get a good feel for what we were up against. I proceeded to set up our robot and the backsight and sent the EIT ahead with a schonstedt and a machete to locate the curb stops. Once I was set up I saw that the EIT didn’t make it very far so I walked ahead to see what was going on. He told me that he was unable to locate any curb stops because he thought the schondstedt was broken. Turns out he was holding the detecting end and waving the volume and sensitivity end towards the ground. Seriously one of the funniest things I have every witnessed in the field.
Never turn your back on a disgruntled person who is standing close enough to the total station to knock it over in the three seconds your attention is diverted.
Never assume that your client is the nice guy and his neighbor is the jerk.
Remember that the fellow who is amazed your estimated is so low is the same fellow who has absolutely no intention of ever paying you at any fee.
Never assume that EVERYTHING that was in the survey chariot at the end of Day 1 will still be there upon arrival at the job site on Day 2.
If you have one, you need two. If you have two, you need three. If you...........
Never assume that client is going to pay you.
Take steps to assure that he will pay you.
Stand clear of any project when the client says he knows where the property corner is, because he put it there.
Be aware that there is no such thing as a standard survey.
If an architect says he just needs a couple topo shots
you better have him meet you onsite and ask questions
because the probability is he really needs a full design survey
if a builder says the site is clear
you might want to drive by the site to check
"good enough" is never good enough
lowballers will always take the job you thought you had
If a realtor requests a survey and says he needs it Friday
he will be calling Wednesday asking if it's done
Holy
Your second one is so true. People call up and tell you the story that the neighbors are doing this and that and they're going to sue them and blah, blah. Then you get out there and the neighbors are nice as pie and tell you your clients have been a PITA since they moved here from the Bay Area.
*Important Lesson*
Never start without a signed contract. Never start without a signed contract.
Never start without a signed contract. Never start without a signed contract.
Never start without a signed contract. Never start without a signed contract.
Never start without a signed contract. Never start without a signed contract.
Never start without a signed contract. Never start without a signed contract.
I, sometimes, will forgo the retainer, but I never......
Rick
Holy
I never get so far as to visit the property. When someone is telling me what a huge a-hole their neighbor is I instantly am curious what the neighbor's story is.
Kevin –
My contribution to your list would be:
Lesson 6: Pull your head out of the box
Data collectors, controls, lap tops and all the other boxes hooked up to survey instruments have changed the face of field work. However, you still have got to look up from the box and see if you’re missing something on the ground, in the real world.
You’ve got to go snake eyed:
Classic Mike. But lest we forget...
Lesson 7
Write down all instructions to field crews, and make sure they are correct!
When I was a young tech I set up a Topo Job for one of our Union Field crews to go do. I spent a good 30 minutes going over the job with them trying to detail everything we needed and go over the provided, highlighted maps that I had prepared showing the limits.
What I failed to do is re-read the work request that I also gave them because if I had, I would have realized that within that, I wrote down the wrong side of the street. (East Vs. West) When the job came back into the office guess which side was topo'ed, The side our client didn't own. Maybe they saw it and were proving a point, but I didn't live that one down for a while. I few compasses would always show up on my desk so I could find my cardinal direction.
Lesson 8
Don't substitute math for common sense. I calced up a really complex boundary once while I was a tech and within that I was trying to deal with slop from the various record surveys, deeds, and occupations, Most of which was 60+ years old. Once I was confident with my resolution I had one original corner that was fitting out of "Record position" by less than a tenth. I calced all my notes up and presented and defended my boundary to my boss, where he promptly asked me why I was calling a 3-1/2" IP out of position by 0.07".
Lesson 8 is a classic.
That is a lesson that should always be pounded home in the classroom in my opinion.