Questions about California Survey Plats:
Is it required to[pre]
1. state whether a monument is found or set;
2. describe the monuments;
3. show property adjoiners;
4. show lines of occupation, fences, etc;
5. show property address;
6. show adjoining streets and alleys;
7. show date field work was completed;
8. show for whom the drawing was prepared
9. define abbreviations;
10. include a surveyor's certificate;
11. include surveyor's seal along with signature and date;
12. show north arrow and scale;
13. show and describe monuments used as Basis for Bearings;
14. ... other ?
15. When or in what situation might the standards be relaxed or waived?[/pre]
Could someone post the URL for California Minimum Survey Plat Requirements and Standards?
> Questions about California Survey Plats:
> Is it required to[pre]
> 1. state whether a monument is found or set;
> 2. describe the monuments;
> 3. show property adjoiners;
> 4. show lines of occupation, fences, etc;
> 5. show property address;
> 6. show adjoining streets and alleys;
> 7. show date field work was completed;
> 8. show for whom the drawing was prepared
> 9. define abbreviations;
> 10. include a surveyor's certificate;
> 11. include surveyor's seal along with signature and date;
> 12. show north arrow and scale;
> 13. show and describe monuments used as Basis for Bearings;
> 14. ... other ?
> 15. When or in what situation might the standards be relaxed or waived?[/pre]
>
> Could someone post the URL for California Minimum Survey Plat Requirements and Standards?
There are no minimum survey plat requirements.
http://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/laws/index.shtml
The Professional Land Surveyors Act - 8762 through 8773.4 cover the Record of Survey or Corner Record.
Also see the Board Rules section 464 about Corner Records.
> There are no minimum survey plat requirements.
Isn't "survey plat" and "record of survey" one of the same? I thought this was a regional difference in terminology.
Is there officially such a thing as a "Survey Plat" in Calif.?
I seem to recall some dingbat having a very long, high-level fight in California over a definition very close to what is being questioned above.
http://ladpw.org/SUR/info/RSCR_guide.pdf
Page 11 has the County Engineers Association of California Record of Survey Check List.
Perhaps the OP can elaborate some as to the purpose of their inquiry.
What is a Survey Plat?
I agree with the above but there are also land division maps, covered in what we call the Subdivision Map Act. That set of laws gives Counties and Cities rights to require more, but Not less that the Land Surveyors Act.
In California "Record of Survey" is a very specific animal, it is like a legal term (see the LS Act). Best not to mix it with Plat or we would maybe think it is a topo, or a control diagram, or a assessor's map, or a real estate sales sketch, or.... 🙂
MLSchumann what part of the world do you work in?
> MLSchumann what part of the world do you work in?
I believe he is in Colorado.
First and foremost, thank you all for responding to the post. The information presented in California's "Professionl Land Surveyor's Act" provided answers to the bulk of my questions.
The questions were prompted as a result of looking over a drawing titled as a "plat" with the seal and name of a California surveyor. It was sent to me by the daughter of a very good friend. The drawing, 8 1/2 by 11 inches, was not titled or identified as "Record of Survey." Because the inscriptions on the drawing were cryptic to my friend and daughter, they asked me for an explanation. Not being current with California standards, Beerleg was my first resort to obtain information so that I could provide an appropriate and meaningful response. It worked. Results happened!
Upon reading the Act, it is quite apparent the drawing does not meet requirements specified in sections 8763, 8764, 8764.5 and other sections. It would not meet the requirements specified and discussed in BLM's Manual of Survey Instructions in the chapter titled "Plats." Too, it would not be construed as a plat as defined in ASCE's and ACSM's "Definition of Surveying And Associated Terms." In short, unless a lot of research was completed, it would be difficult to find the parcel, and once found, more difficult to determine the existence of any monuments and where the boundaries might be.
Peter Ehlert states "In California 'Record of Survey' is a very specific animal …" However, a "specific" or explicit definition could not be found for "Record of Survey" in the Act. The definition, unless defined elsewhere, is only implicit.
In Colorado where the preponderance of my surveying has been done, "plat," defined in statutes, is the term used. "Record of Survey" if heard would probably result in a "deer in the headlights" reaction.
"What is a Survey Plat?" Refer Colorado Revised Statutes 38.51.102 (12) "Land survey plat."
Does this exhibit that you have claim to be or do anything that you have cited?
All a stamp might mean is that the surveyor stands behind what is on the exhibit.
I am unfamiliar about CA rules. Is there a limit to what you can stamp? (Other than your area of.expertise and having responsible charge?)
The CA surveyor above seemed to imply that there is a long list of (unregulated?) items that a CA surveyor might stamp.
(When I say "unregulated" I mean without specific stated minimum standards unique to surveyors.)
I believe the best reply to your questions can be found in California's "Professional Land Surveyor's Act." Refer post above by by imaudigger for the URL. There are requirements, "minimum standards" if you will, in the sections I cited prior. The Act does not explicitly define a "Record of Survey." Neither does it define a "plat." The title of the drawing I looked at included the qualifying word "plat." Without knowledge of how California might define a "plat," the word was used and its definitions are in Colorado statutes, BLM's Manual of Survey Instructions and ASCE's and ACSM's "Definition of Surveying And Associated Terms" - - consequently my questions. I still don't know how California defines a "plat" and what or how it might affect the contents of a drawing so labelled. At this point, the number California definitions for a "plat" is probably as many opinions as there are people with opinions.
> I believe the best reply to your questions can be found in California's "Professional Land Surveyor's Act." Refer post above by by imaudigger for the URL. There are requirements, "minimum standards" if you will, in the sections I cited prior. The Act does not explicitly define a "Record of Survey." Neither does it define a "plat." The title of the drawing I looked at included the qualifying word "plat." Without knowledge of how California might define a "plat," the word was used and its definitions are in Colorado statutes, BLM's Manual of Survey Instructions and ASCE's and ACSM's "Definition of Surveying And Associated Terms" - - consequently my questions. I still don't know how California defines a "plat" and what or how it might affect the contents of a drawing so labelled. At this point, the number California definitions for a "plat" is probably as many opinions as there are people with opinions.
MLSchumann can you please post the drawing? perhaps that would help me get an idea what kind of sketch you are looking at. we are all working in a vacuum here.
if for some reason you feel that it contains private information you can email it to me.
Peter
Appreciate your concern. You are not operating in a vacuum. The drawing, from my perspective, was irrelevant except for the word "plat." It was that particular word that prompted my questions and not the drawing itself. The post title is "Questions about California Survey Plats" -- in general. The title is not "Questions about a specific California plat." In posting, my interest was not focused upon the drawing but, specifically, just how does California define "plat?" It is mentioned, if the pdf viewer search function count is correct, thirteen times in California's "Professional Land Surveyor's Act." However, as stated prior, the word "plat" is not specifically or explicitly defined.
If the responsibility for the definition fell upon my shoulders, I'd refer first to ASCE's and ACSM's "Definition of Surveying And Associated Terms" and then BLM's "Manual of Survey Instructions."
From "Definitions of Surveying And Associated Terms"
plat--A diagram drawn to scale showing all essential data pertaining to boundaries and subdivisions of a tract of land, as determined by survey or protraction.
A plat should show all data required for a complete and accurate description of the land which it delineates, including the bearings (or azimuths) and lengths of the boundaries of each subdivision. A plat may constitute a legal description of the land and be used in lieu of a written description.
BLM's "Manual of Survey Instructions" serves a whole chapter on the word and I'll not repeat here. The chapter begins:
"The plat is the drawing which represents the lines surveyed, established, retraced, or resurveyed, showing the direction and length of each line; the relation to the adjoining official surveys; the boundaries, description, and area of each parcel of the land; and as far as practicable, the topography, culture, and improvements within the limits of the survey. Occasionally the plat may constitute the entire record of the survey."
From an overarching perspective within the context of surveying, I associate a plat as a drawing with attendant annotation that summarizes survey observations and presents a surveyor's conclusions. The term "Record of Survey" conjures up in my mind only a journal-like listing of events, facts and numbers -- no drawing, no summary, no conclusions. I do not know who coined the "Record of Survey" term or how it came about. Wish I could have been a participant in the conversation to submit my objections. "Plat" is a word that has been around for a long time with usage discovered in writings from the 1500's. "Record of Survey" is a relatively new term and is not an entry in ASCE's and ACSM's "Definition of Surveying And Associated Terms" 1978.
Hopefully, this lets the air in to fill the vacuum!
