I was reading Chapter 17 – Professional Stature from “Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location”, Fifth Edition by Robillard, Wilson, Brown this morning and found myself ruminating on these topics.
From 17-11 Ethics
“The actions of a few can cast doubt on an entire profession, resulting in a lack of confidence and respect by members of the public.”
Lowballers taking shortcuts. I would like to think that lowballers are simply conduct a job at their own monetary loss while providing a quality project in an effort to gain market share. Intuition tells me that a good portion of lowballers routinely sacrifice quality to maintain profits. What does this say about our profession?
From 17-15 Aiding Unauthorized Surveying Practice
“A lay person may be properly hired by a surveyor, provided that his or her services do not constitute the practice of surveying and that compensation is not a proportion of the fee. Having a lay person be a partner in charge of a corporation practicing surveying is a violation of ethics.”
I have only seen this a couple of times. The reputations of the firms in question wasn’t great in the surveying community. What are your experiences or thoughts?
> From 17-15 Aiding Unauthorized Surveying Practice
> Having a lay person be a partner in charge of a corporation practicing surveying is a violation of ethics.”
That seems like an unusually restrictive provision. How many large AEC firms are owned by licensed land surveyors?
In CA the wording is more flexible, in that a corporation may offer land surveying services as long as a "land surveyor or civil engineer currently licensed in the state is an owner, partner, or officer in charge of the land surveying practice of the business."
Have that exact problem where I operate. A firm being operated by non licensed people. The LS is never available to speak with (I've called twice). I'm wondering even if he lives here. The state BOR has his address in another state. The company is owned by a non licensed guy. The company advertises heavily on Craigslist with the banner "lowest prices guarantied - specializing in boundary surveys"
Jim - I know and work with a firm that is owned by a "lay" person who although unlicensed has over 40 years experience is surveying and engineering and they do a better job than most others that might fit the more restrictive ethical constraints. I don't know (or really care) what position in their corporation their licensee has.
> From 17-11 Ethics
> “The actions of a few can cast doubt on an entire profession, resulting in a lack of confidence and respect by members of the public.”
>
>....What does this say about our profession?
Some great Brown quotes:
- ..."Regardless of the fee charged, the surveyor is obligated to perform a correct survey within specified accuracies."
- ..."Provide services to those unable to pay."
- ..."If surveyors want to acquire and maintain a professional reputation, they can only earn that right by the average standing of all surveyors."
>
> From 17-15 Aiding Unauthorized Surveying Practice.
This doesn't have to do with ownership of a company it has to do with selling your license and or allowing your license to be used when you are not in direct control of what is being prepared under it.
"The selling of signatures for a fee, i.e., signing a surveyor's certificate and certifying to the correctness of a survey where the work was not performed by himself or his employees or his direct subordinates, is the most flagrant violation of the intent of a regulation law." Some of you may be able to tell that this came from the first edition due to the non-pc language.
I prefer the earlier editions. Personally. 2nd's and 3rd's are good for each series of Brown.
Thanks for the post Kevin, It was good to flip through these books again. I should find more excuses to grab them off the shelf for some light reading.:good:
What about those who rely on Don Fanucci to secure their work
In his world competence is irrelevant
He just wants to wet his beak
I think it's imperative that as Professionals, people learn to protect their work. I could have made a killing doing Unlicensed work or getting a "Rubber Stamp". But I chose not to. There is an individual out here who is providing these services under the guise of calling himself Development Company, he doing heavy Civil work and providing boundary information to others, he can't legally call himself a Survey Company. I don't consider this guy competent at all. But if he's bonded an insured, let the contractor use him at his own risk, eventually it will all come out in the end. It's amazing how these contracts aren't being monitored by the respective agencies for competence and credentials.
Ralph
Ralph;
Send any evidence that you have (boundary survey not stamped, alteration of someone else's survey, etc., etc.) to John Robinson of NYSAPLS (or in care of the state association.
One of the committees has been compiling data on this sort of thing.
Thanks for the lead Angelo. I have a dossier on this Guy.
Ralph
We all know what happened to Don Fanucci! 🙂