Monument cap ID's

In Florida...

> Now my question. If the purpose is to identify who set the cap, do states require their own license number to be on a cap used in their state? Or suppose I became licensed in another state, could I use my current cap since it clearly identifies who I am and would make me easy to locate?
>
> I'm just curious.

I believe that Florida requires it's own number on monuments.

2. Every boundary monument set shall:
a. Be composed of a durable material;
b. Have a minimal length of 18 inches;
c. Have a minimum cross-section area of material of 0.2 square inches;
d. Be identified with a durable marker or cap bearing either the Florida license number of the surveyor and mapper in responsible charge, the certificate of authorization number of the business entity; or name of the business entity;

In Kansas

"These monuments shall have affixed thereto a cap or other device bearing the registration number of the surveyor in direct supervision or the corporate registration number of the corporation registered to practice land surveying in the State of Kansas (i.e. CLS 000) or the name of the governmental agency legibly stamped or imprinted thereon."

In Kentucky, you would have to have your Kentucky license number on the cap. Rules were recently changed that allowed only one surveyor to be depicted on each cap. Previously, companies with multiple surveyors put upwards of 4 license numbers on a cap which made it easy for the field crews but after the fact, it was difficult to tell who the surveyor in responsible charge was.

In Nebraska you are required to place a cap on all new monuments (set). However, we are also a mandatory recording state since the 1980's that requires a plat of every survey performed to be filed with the record repository. Most surveyors started recording when licensure came into effect in the 1950's.

So, that found 5/8" rebar or 1" pipe is already assumed to be placed by Surveyor XX as described on his plat. There was an argument by some surveyors that monuments were being found that were not of record, so if they had a cap on them they could be traced to the surveyor who set them. Those surveyors who are not filing the plats are not going to place a cap on their monuments to convict themselves.

The other issue is that caps can be basically made of anything or even homemade. The life expectancy of some of the plastic caps when exposed to sunlight and extreme cold, not to mention a sharp spade, are often less than five years. There is no enforcement since a surveyor can claim he capped his monuments and what happened after he walked away is out of his control.

Dave:

Are you saying that you set caps marked with your registration numbers in 3 different states?

I find that to be bizarre, and certainly not what the law or rule intends. If you're in Florida, why would you want your Alabama number on a cap??

What's the problem - as long as each license number has the state abbreviation next to it? No confusion there.

JPH echoed what my thoughts were. Rather than ordering three different sets of caps, I ordered one set good for all three states. That's just the way I did it.

> Rather than ordering three different sets of caps, I ordered one set good for all three states.

The three state cap scenario seems OK as far as it goes. That said, I'd guess getting licensed in a fourth state and NOT having that number on your cap is going to be a no-no.

One reason to have the cap numbered is bureaucratic, i.e, the state wants you to be traceable if the need arises. For simplicity, they want your cap to be findable in their state database, not that of some other state.

Oregon allows for just a business name on caps, Washington & California require PLS #. All three states require a survey (of some type) to be filed when setting or replacing monuments so there is an easy trail back to me no matter what.

It is great that Oregon lets us use our company name. Back in the day when I worked for a large multi-state firm it was always a hassle when setting monuments in Washington. The crew would have to carry caps for every WA LS and getting it correct cap on was sometimes a problem. You grab a bunch of caps and the odd wrong cap shows up. I don't think we were the only firm that has this problem. I have seen many a record of survey with one cap noted on the document but in the field we find someone else from the firms cap.

The one thing that has always struct me is that Oregon does not require a business to register with the board yet we can use our company name. All of the surrounding states require company registration but do not allow the company name. Just a little backwards.

As for the multiple LS numbers on a cap, I see that quite a bit around here. As for me, I would like to have a better selection of cap colors. It would be nice to have a different color for each state.

I made the decision to order caps for each state where I have a license, the only problem is making sure you have the correct caps in the truck when you go out of state, since I live in the middle of the state, this is almost always a planned trip from the office, so I just load the correct caps as part of the trip prep.

I use aluminium caps only and get them pre stamped "OR PLS xxxx", etc. easy to see what state is in the truck.

We used to have a guy here (now deceased) who stamped his surveys with both his Oregon stamp and another one from back east, always seemed a bit strange to me since it meant nothing in Oregon.

SHG

> We used to have a guy here (now deceased) who stamped his surveys with both his Oregon stamp and another one from back east, always seemed a bit strange to me since it meant nothing in Oregon.

Probably just trying to impress the locals with his “eastern sophistication” 😉

My opinion would be to check the regs. of each state and let that determine what needs to be on the caps.

Alabama requires the name and reg. no. of the surveyor or the CA number of the company. That eliminates the need for separate caps if there are multiple licensee's.