I do some surveying for governmental agencies in the LA Area and have noticed that most of them do their own initial surveying, typically a boundary/topo, sometimes an ALTA, for construction projects. Very few have the contractor's surveyor, even in ‘design/build’ situations, do this work.
Why is this? Is there some law or regulation that requires the owner to perform the initial surveying work, perhaps because they are determining their boundary? What are the pros and cons of having the governmental agency vs the contractor (via their surveyors) do this initial survey work? Any input would be appreciated.
Lewis Soloff
PLS, CA
> I do some surveying for governmental agencies in the LA Area and have noticed that most of them do their own initial surveying, typically a boundary/topo, sometimes an ALTA, for construction projects. Very few have the contractor's surveyor, even in ‘design/build’ situations, do this work.
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> Why is this? Is there some law or regulation that requires the owner to perform the initial surveying work, perhaps because they are determining their boundary? What are the pros and cons of having the governmental agency vs the contractor (via their surveyors) do this initial survey work? Any input would be appreciated.
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> Lewis Soloff
> PLS, CA
Contractor = low bid
Government is supposed to be based on qualifications. That's a huge pro.
Usually you need to know where boundaries are prior to design and the topo is required for design. The agencies will usually hire a firm to handle design and then the contractor does the construction and hires their own subs. The contractors are responsible for any boundary monuments destroyed during construction and any perpetuation generally is to take place during their portion of the project.
Owners
The owner wants to know the scope of work and the contractor needs to know pre-bid.
Pre-construction design topo and boundary happens 6 months to a year before a contract for construction is awarded.
The city and county of Los Angeles *sometimes* farms out projects. For the most part, they have done and will continue to do thier own field to finish projects.
It's budget and project manager stuff and in this economy, why farm out work if it takes work away from city/county staff?
I have never seen a city/county ALTA though..of course, I have not seen *ALL* of what they do.
In most cases, the design contract and the construction contract are two separate projects, separated by months, if not years.
In my career, I have done design surveys for one consulting firm and worked for another firm years later that did the construction layout. Several projects where I was involved in the design survey didn't let out to build until six or seven years later. The longest I can remember was the reconstruction of Houston Street (pronounced "Howston) hereabouts), which was surveyed in the summer of 1987 (when we did ten such street projects) and has just been completed THIS YEAR.
Also, at least in the NY metro area, the design survey is often performed by non-union firms, while most construction requires union contracts.
Public works projects
I forgot to add that both agencies will use thier own staff for staking public works projects *IF* a private party is not in the mix. When public works improvement cost is borne by a private party then the construction of those public works is contracted out to whomever the private party decides to use.