We often get requests to survey just one line of a property boundary. Thinking that clents, and potential clients need to be informed about our services, it would be nice to have a synopsis on the reasons this type of survey is not probable.
Today I searched the Internet on this subject and got a typical response to keep handy when this situation arises. Let me know what you think. Does it need some work, or is it okay just the way it is written. Anyway, here it is.
We can’t survey just one line for many reasons:
Mathematically we can’t prove the corner is in the correct spot. Unless a minimum of three property corners are located, we cannot determine if a corner marker is in the correct place or if the corner marker was disturbed. Most surveyors will want five or six survey markers before they make any determinations.
It’s against state law. Statutes require that we find sufficient evidence to justify our results, and locating one line is not deemed to be sufficient evidence.
We have to do the extra work anyway. So you might ask, “can you locate just one line”? We can tell you yes, but the fee might be the same as if we did a boundary survey of the entire parcel. If we have to do all the work, we prefer to give you all the findings regarding the property.
Nobody can solve a puzzle using only a few pieces. All the pieces are needed, and performing a boundary survey is no different. Land Surveyors have to find multiple property corners in order to be able to prove what you do and don’t own.
True, you usually can't survey just one line. But you can monument just one.
I had a request, just the other day, from a potential client reach out to me last week telling me that he wanted a fence staked across the front of his property and that it should be "easy". I immediately gave him some references and he contacted one of them who gave him a discounted price of $1,200 to do the survey. My price would have been higher on a larger wooded rural lot but the potential client responded that he was willing to pay $300 because the markers were already there. Obviously, this person is still shopping for an "honest surveyor".
Tell him $300 will get him a nice length of string and a machete at the hardware store
People generally don't care why; they're coming from a place of price. So just cut to the chase and tell them the price is the same whether you locate 1 line or every line.
... and I'm not paying more than $11.50 for that fence!
Saying you are just surveying one line and restricting your measurements to that line is the same as surveying one lot, and never looking beyond your lot to see how it fits in the neighborhood. One could do that, I suppose, but it is not right.
This almost happened in the late 70s when I was an unlicensed guy working for an LS in northeast NJ. We were having a hard time finding control, but our lot had concrete monuments at all 4 corners. Perfect angles, perfect distances. We used them to locate the improvements and were packing up to leave when the owner came home. His first question was "How did I do?" He was a union crane operator in the city, and had the union surveyors (not licensed) "stake the lot." We spent some time looking further down the road, and it turned out the union guys were about 4 feet out. It happens.
I get requests for a single line all the time. After solving for the neighborhood, and confident I have the correct line, I set the required markers and prepare a map showing features along the line requested as a "Limited Survey Map." As others have stated, the potential client is often looking for the lowest price, and they wind up using someone else, or just drop it. Do it right and you have no problem.
Ken
I usually tell people that surveying (as in marking) one line is no problem but it’s going to require us to look for some other evidence outside of that line too. Sometimes it’s significantly easier snd cheaper than surveying the whole lot sometimes it’s not.
I realize it may be futile to explain to somebody who is just trying to minimize the cost. Beleive it or not, there are some who do understand the explanation, and hire us. It is also worth it to discuss the process of a survey to our clients. Since most people use email, we can easily send this standard memo without much effort.
I give callers my fee to do the whole shebang, if they bite - great. If not, oh well.............
Sometimes you can do one line. If it is a modern plat with all the monuments...sure.
But, often, I need to go to all the corners to recover what the short plat set, etc. Then, it is all or nothing.
It makes no difference to me whether the client wants one line or four or eighteen. I calculate the time to perform a proper survey based on employee hourly rates, multiply it by 1.15 or 1.25 if it looks like a pain, then give them a T & M estimate and explain that if I have to survey half the county to reestablish their boundary, I will contact them first and make them aware that my additional work will increase costs. I also bill daily usage costs for my gear and vehicle as well as stakes, capped rebars and anything else needed to complete the project. This approach worked even when I surveyed rural areas because I spend a great deal of time educating my clients on what surveyors do. It also helps that I give them a 2024 era set of deliverables (dwg, point file, boundary over an ortho, GoogleEarth KML of boundary and corners (with a disclaimer of course), and a downright silly amount of copies of various versions of their plat. I'm also responsive and will not let 24 hours go by without returning a call, email or text.
Boundary surveying can be similar to renovating an old house, you often get unpleasant surprises once you peel back a few layers. Good on you if you're solo and stick with a lump sum no matter what, shame on you if you have employees with no benefits or poor wages and do this.
One of the fellas I volunteer with brought this up to me. He owns a piece of land where two counties meet. He wants "one line" surveyed so he can put in a fence. He's fairly certain both corners are "in".
I informed him that surveying "one line" was going to require a complete survey by most surveyors and that I was going to be WAY too expensive for his taste. I gave him some other surveyor options in his neck of the woods and he updated me on the last ramp build that he contacted a surveyor who estimated $3,200. I told him that sounded reasonable.
He disagreed and said he was going to run a string between the two points he thought represent his property and install his fence. I told him, good luck with that.
It probably wouldn't work for that fella, but I'll joke about reducing my price if they sign a statement absolving me from all liabilities associated with the fence being placed over the boundary. I can usually follow up the joke with a short conversation about how most contractors and fence crews are fully capable of stringing a line or pushing buttons on a GNSS receiver. They're hiring me to say where to put the expensive improvement and regardless of how easy the fieldwork is, it would be foolish to accept a large financial risk without comparable compensation.
Just did a one line survey yesterday, found almost all the original monuments, they "fit" within 0.2' from the deeds written circ 1979. The purpose of the survey was for the landowner to build a new fence and the survey was 1.5 miles of line with 14 monuments along the way. There wasn't any need to survey the other lines of the property. A couple of monuments were missing, clearly due to some disturbance so they were replaced.
easy peasy.
