Mr. Hambright, I am so disappointed with you, our builder just called and you do not have a pre-construction elevation certificate on file with the county so we can begin our new home.
Me, excuse me, what job is this?
Our property across from the lake you surveyed 3 years ago.
Me, I remember that, all I was under contract for was the boundary survey.
But the county is telling my builder that they need it to issue a building permit.
Me, Yes they usually require that, but what makes you think that I should have done that 3 years ago when it was never discussed that you were planning on building anything in the near future and I have never been called by your builder to discuss anything and by the way has your builder ever built on the lakes out here? If he has, he knows the process.
The builder is my nephew and he usually builds homes in west texas and he is telling me its all your fault.
Me, Well if your nephew was standing in front of me and you, I guarantee that I would rip him a new one for being an idiot.
You need to do this today or else
I choose else. Goodbye and good luck.
This was the same lady that said that my survey was wrong because a particular tree ended up off her property that the Realtor told her was on it.
Somehow, knowing that someone is a fool is little consolidation in a situation like this. That lady is no doubt a fool and apparently it is in the genes.
We live in a world today where it is always someone else's fault. This time you were the "someone" of choice. Three years ago you were accused of being the "someone" but you knew the true "someone" was the real estate agent.
For Shawn: Was that supposed to be consolation or constipation? Danged autocorrect.
I wish I could reply like that. It would feel good, but probably would not end well.
I run into this often enough to have a rough speech about scheduling and the like.
I was unaware that you were planning to build. I will prepare a proposal for your documents so you may obtain a building permit. Would you be available for a meeting so we can review the construction process and I can outline all of the services you will need from a surveyor? These range from that elevation certificate to site plans for approvals, (some of which will likely require an engineer to design), construction layout, as-built locations and other certifications. Construction is no longer as simple as putting up a building.
I believe it would also be beneficial for your nephew to be present and authorized to contact me directly to request the services as they are needed. For example, there is usually a short window of opportunity to stake out the footings between the time when the foundation hole is excavated and the concrete form crew arrives at the site. It is not in your best interest to have the crew wait and they are often impatient with my crew for not setting the stakes before they arrive. Unfortunately, building is more about management than hammering.
I am sorry the realtor told her the tree was on her side of the line. If realtors were surveyors then you would not have been called for the property line from the onset of the project.
Good luck. I can't wait to read what the OR ELSE! is.
:good: :good:
In order to prepare a preconstruction elevation certificate, you'd need topo and the arch plans, I believe. (I don't do many, but I think you need the proposed floor elevation, foundation type, and plot plan showing location on the property so you can compare to topo for adjacent grades). I probably would have explained this, ask her if they asked for topo and provided you with arch plans 3 years ago, then quote them a price to get it started.
But when the client starts off with a nasty attitude, it's probably best to blow them off. Let them be someone else's problem.
I'll second that thought. When a client's first contact with you is surly and uncooperative there is little reason to think you can convert them to the "sunshine and lollipops" crowd anytime soon. You, in their mind, represent an unplanned expense and delay. You aren't those things. The reason they had to call you is/are those things. You are the solution, not the problem. Nevertheless, too many potential clients will call and blame you because it MUST BE someone else's fault.
What do you think? Start out poking you, and trying to get something for free.
Those who contribute the LEAST, complain the MOST.
Life is like that.
Nate
thanks for the heads up on that brother Cow. Consolation was what I was going for. Samsung knew better though.
Really good response. It's hard not to get ornery with a repetitively ornery client, but you never know who is going to see or hear your response. So, I make every effort to bite my tongue in an effort to put forth a professional appearance. Not that I always succeed.
Steve
A great response! I approve.
I've been surveying for 20 years (licensed for 10 of them) and I learned on Day 1 that the surveyor is always the first to be blamed.
I get calls like this often.
Contractor: Hey, you gotta come back out here, these stakes are all messed up.
Me: Oh? What's wrong?
C: They aren't hitting right.
Me: Hitting what right?
C: They're all off!
Me: Off from what?
C: Well I can't lay out the building/sidewalk/underground/whatever with these stakes.
Me: Why not?
And the conversation ends in them not being able to explain what is "off" and I send out a crew or go out myself, often both, only to find that they are doing something wrong and my stakes are just fine and I've wasted half a day in the process...
Another one of my favourite calls was from a contractor building a swale along side an existing sidewalk where I had put cuts to the flowline of the swale every 25 feet on the back of the walk.
Cont: I don't understand these marks?
Me: What marks?
C: The numbers.
Me: You mean the cut values?
C: Yeah, I need you to tell me how far to go down from the back of the sidewalk.
Me: That's what those numbers are.
C: All I see is 1.50 or 1.78, are those inches or something?
Me: *sigh* no, they're feet. You know, 1.50 feet, 1.78 feet?
C: Oh, because I need it in inches.
Me: Well, then you should convert them.
C: How do I do that?
Me: Go to the engineering supply store and get a dual unit pocket tape!