I have a guy who took lat long from Google earth .?ÿ ?ÿHe used the image of his property .then loaded his phone with "way points"?ÿ ?ÿnow he's telling my client that my survey is off 15 feet.?ÿ ?ÿ
I'm not concerned, because I found and flagged corners from a parcel map.?ÿ Plus they all checked out great.?ÿ ?ÿ The troubling part is that I see a lot of these popping up.?ÿ Clients call in a panic.?ÿ Then it takes my time to explain.?ÿ ?ÿWorse, people want me to double check..but don't want to pay for "my mistake" as they call it.?ÿ ?ÿ
How can we get a handle on these gps appers ??ÿ
Let them build out of compliance on their own accord and when it becomes an issue charge them $$$. This goes against protecting the public, though those that are too arrogant in their own conclusion will get what's coming one way or another...?ÿ
Ask them what repeatability their phone measurement has on different days?ÿ or even how much it moves while just standing there
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Ask him why the survey industry spends thousands and thousands of dollars per GPS unit when we could get the app for next to nothing.
Why are your clients calling these guys? Did you not explain everything and answer the clients questions before you left?
I wear many hats and can accomplish many of those things with results that satisfy myself. That does not mean that I am out doing those tasks for a job, Surveying is my job/life.?ÿ DIY is and has always been good part of my life because I get r done.
These apps are a great progress and the few that I have used explain their limitations and were a hoot to use.
The people that complain about your work and base their complaints on a free app that tells you that it may not work for you is just simply wanting something to support their wants and needs. People remember the parts the elevate their expectations.
I've explained to many people that the licensed surveyor, like me and pointing at a 1x6x48 shingle hangin' outside that was created by the multitalented artist formerly know as Brad Attaway, knows more about surveying than his phone app ever will.
Working for the County, we get a lot of owners coming in for Lat/Long information on their property corners so they can stake out their property.?ÿ I can only give them that information from our GIS and have to explain that the corners shown can be off by as much as 100'.?ÿ Then explain that their phone can be from right on to 30' or more off the Lat/Long.?ÿ I tell it would be okay to use to get close to search for an existing pin, but if they want to know their property corners to contact a surveyor, and then give them a list of surveyors.?ÿ Some get it, but others don't.
Working for the County, we get a lot of owners coming in for Lat/Long information on their property corners so they can stake out their property.?ÿ I can only give them that information from our GIS and have to explain that the corners shown can be off by as much as 100'.?ÿ Then explain that their phone can be from right on to 30' or more off the Lat/Long.?ÿ I tell it would be okay to use to get close to search for an existing pin, but if they want to know their property corners to contact a surveyor, and then give them a list of surveyors.?ÿ Some get it, but others don't.
Similar story when I worked for my county.....I would always remind them that GIS stands for Get It Surveyed!!
Additionally, when guiding a tax payer to our GIS, my (thankfully no longer for all the right reasons) coworker accused me of giving legal advice ( i mentioned that if they wanted to get real boundaries they needed to hire a surveyor) without authority.....I looked at her and rolled my eyes and went back to my desk to work on drafting the Plats she hadn't been able to enter into the GIS for the previous 5 years.
I have a guy who took lat long from Google earth .?ÿ ?ÿHe used the image of his property .then loaded his phone with "way points"?ÿ ?ÿnow he's telling my client that my survey is off 15 feet.?ÿ ?ÿ
I'm not concerned, because I found and flagged corners from a parcel map.?ÿ Plus they all checked out great.?ÿ ?ÿ The troubling part is that I see a lot of these popping up.?ÿ Clients call in a panic.?ÿ Then it takes my time to explain.?ÿ ?ÿWorse, people want me to double check..but don't want to pay for "my mistake" as they call it.?ÿ ?ÿ
How can we get a handle on these gps appers ??ÿ
Does your State classify their activities as Land Surveying? If so, turn them into the Board for surveying without a license.
The cell phone locations will probably catch up with survey grade GPS in the not to distant future. To me, the issue of imprecision is much less important than the issue of accuracy. I just explain to people that our legal system rarely recognizes coordinates as controlling the location of a boundary.?ÿ
The days of needing to hire a land surveyor for their expert measuring abilities are numbered.?ÿ
The cell phone locations will probably catch up with survey grade GPS in the not to distant future. To me, the issue of imprecision is much less important than the issue of accuracy. I just explain to people that our legal system rarely recognizes coordinates as controlling the location of a boundary.?ÿ
The days of needing to hire a land surveyor for their expert measuring abilities are numbered.?ÿ
That time is about now.?ÿ Centimeter accuracy is available for subscription to some services.
I think the lawyers have been pushing this.?ÿ ?ÿ
But ultimately, just because a person takes even a Survey Grade Differential GPS out to "measure points", does not make it legal, accurate, precise nor valid.?ÿ ?ÿI prefer total station to GPS for everything that needs to be super accurate and precise, and GPS is just a convenience, that I always have something to troubleshoot, recalculate, and adjust because it is GPS.
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Let them eat cake..........
The cell phone locations will probably catch up with survey grade GPS in the not to distant future. To me, the issue of imprecision is much less important than the issue of accuracy. I just explain to people that our legal system rarely recognizes coordinates as controlling the location of a boundary.?ÿ
The days of needing to hire a land surveyor for their expert measuring abilities are numbered.?ÿ
That time is about now.?ÿ Centimeter accuracy is available for subscription to some services.
I think the lawyers have been pushing this.?ÿ ?ÿ
But ultimately, just because a person takes even a Survey Grade Differential GPS out to "measure points", does not make it legal, accurate, precise nor valid.?ÿ ?ÿI prefer total station to GPS for everything that needs to be super accurate and precise, and GPS is just a convenience, that I always have something to troubleshoot, recalculate, and adjust because it is GPS.
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Let them eat cake..........
It doesn't make it legal or accurate, but it takes minimal skills?ÿ to be precise. As for valid, it depends on what the purpose of the measurements are.?ÿ I don't know how much longer requiring a license just to measure something should be required.?ÿ
If our clients?ÿ don't understand the difference between a survey and measuring we are not doing a very good job explaining our product.?ÿ
Ask them what repeatability their phone measurement has on different days?ÿ or even how much it moves while just standing there
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You'd be surprised. Newer phones can be repeatable to within the accuracy that the vast majority of land owners care about.
I've never seen neighbors at war over 0.02'.
The only time I've seen 0.2' be an issue is when a surveyor makes it one.?ÿ
How can we get a handle on these gps appers ??ÿ
You can't anymore than doctors can get a handle of people researching their symptoms online then ordering quack supplement.?ÿ
The days of needing to hire a land surveyor for their expert measuring abilities are numbered.?ÿ
Measuring blindly with precision is the antithesis of expert measuring.?ÿ
My experience is that much more chaos ensues from the vast majority of surveyors who believe they are expert measures than from the few who actually are. ?ÿ
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I'm curious what this means....
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"I'm not concerned, because I found and flagged corners from a parcel map"?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
To me, a Parcel map refers to a tax map, which is the bane of my existence when it comes to discussing things like GIS..?ÿ The county has a great GIS, but they still use the rubber sheeted tax map for "boundary lines" .?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
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Maybe it's a regional difference though.?ÿ?ÿ
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Andy?ÿ
If you think your corners are leaking you can have your husband try and fix it.?ÿ If that doesn't work we can make a service call for $$$.
I don't care if phones can locate to fractions of a millimeter. The measurement component of boundary surveying is the easy part. Understanding the rest of the evidence and making a correct decision is our unique function. Without the knowledge and experience to know better folks will only be finding the right spot faster and more precisely...
"Let them build out of compliance on their own accord and when it becomes an issue charge them $$$"
All hell will break loose then and the Surveyor will still be blamed.?ÿ ??ÿ
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I'm curious what this means....
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"I'm not concerned, because I found and flagged corners from a parcel map"?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
To me, a Parcel map refers to a tax map, which is the bane of my existence when it comes to discussing things like GIS..?ÿ The county has a great GIS, but they still use the rubber sheeted tax map for "boundary lines" .?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
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Maybe it's a regional difference though.?ÿ?ÿ
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Andy?ÿ
In California a Parcel Map is a Minor Subdivision Plat, usually 4 lots or less.?ÿ So it refers to a Survey.
Regular Subdivisions, usually 5 lots or more, are called a Final Map.
Tax Maps are called Assessor Parcel Maps.