I was doing a project in a large city within my state, and while doing research and gathering plats, I noticed that very few recent subdivisions had a scale bar on them. I'm talking about within the last 10-15 years. Yeah, I get it. Who pulls out a scale any more. But still.
Is this the new thing now, is everyone forgoing bar scales on their surveys and subdivision plats? Our local platting ordinance requires them, but apparently not in the city I was in. And these were big, well established surveying firms.
OMG, I think I'm turning into an old timer.
I don't put them on unless it's required.
They are still good practice since some jurisdictions (don't know where but remember hearing about it) only record certain size drawings. If they record a reduced size copy, the scale is blown, so the bar helps.
SOP here. Required in many cases, just plain good practice in the rest. I use an AutoLISP function to generate the scale bar as an anonymous block, so it takes me about 1 second to put one on my map.
A graphic scale and text (e.g. 1 inch = 100 feet) are required in NC but I'd put them on regardless. It's cheap insurance and doesn't take up much real estate.
At one of my former employs we would not put the scale bar on the surveys, but always on the Engineering plans. The boss' (PE/LS) philosophy - "only those dumb engineers need a scale bar, surveys should have all of the dimensions necessary". However with the use of scanners and printing a 24 x 36 on 8 1/2 x 11 it does help in case you really do need to scale something.
I think it's a given in today's world that a drawing will be displayed to an end user at a scale other than what the surveyor drew. (What does "what the surveyor drew" even mean if the drawing was drawn, signed, and sealed on a computer screen?) So textural scales such as 1:500 is in doubt unless the viewer is looking at paper or Mylar and the signature and seal were clearly applied by hand.
The end user can be left to his/her own devices, but many end users lack the skills to measure a dimensioned line and calculate the scale for themselves. So leaving off the graphic scale is essentially a message to those end users. "Hey, this is the restricted section of the drawing library. Get the $%&* out of here!" Also, calculating one's own scale can get tiresome when reading at various magnifications on a computer.
My perspective is as a retired integrated circuit designer. Early in my career paper drawings were somewhat useful. By the end of my career, essentially all reading of drawings was done online. Of course the signatures and seals customary among surveyors and building-oriented engineers were not required. Data authentication was required, and writing suitable software for some of that was among the projects I worked on. It was only realistic to read drawings in CAD software that helped you with whatever measurement you wanted to make, so graphic scales and dimensioning were unnecessary.
I have bar-scale .dwg blocks for every engineering scale you can imagine. Takes about 10 seconds to insert to the drawing. Looks professional.
"I have bar-scale .dwg blocks for every engineering scale you can imagine. Takes about 10 seconds to insert to the drawing. Looks professional."
We have the same.
I have no issue with a scale bar on the plat, but I really don't understand why a couple of the cities around here want a scale bar on the cover sheet, the whole sheet is nothing but text, except for the vicinity map which is clearly stated as "not to scale"
In my juridiction it is required for maps that are recorded. It has a benefit to users who obtain reduced size maps. Also, the software I use makes it easy to include a graphic scale.
I refuse to do my plats with the expectation that someone will scan/print it to odd sizes. If they reduce or expand it, that's on them. It's a reason to move away from scale bars, not a reason to include them.
I wholeheartedly disagree the fact that someone may print it a different size is the exact reason to include the scale bar. If I print a plat it doesn't matter what size I print it, that scale bar is the the same relative size to the rest of the plat, so it is still extremely useful. I might have to do a little math but I can still figure things out. saying its a 1/20 scale is useless as there is nothing to compare to.
Surveys have scale bars all over them, every line with a dimension is essentially a scale bar...
That said, a scale bar is very useful. Every single thing I create is scanned or is 100% digital. No scanning is perfect, and digital copies can be printed on anything at all, and at any scale.
Make it easy, takes no time.
The more this is discussed, the less I want to use them.
It's usually a pain to find room for them, the only plats where they are required are Subdivision Plats, and those are so filled with notes that it's a challenge to find a spot.
I keep a scale around as a sanity check on my declared scale for each map.
But who and why is someone using a scale on my maps?
We have a disclaimer under the Surveyor's Statement that the plat isn't valid without a signature and seal, I should add rescale to that disclaimer. Not valid if scanned or printed at a scale different than shown.
Engineering scales are old technology.
I've developed a scale bar that is a "Dynamic Block". Look it up. In this form it has a button which activates a pulldown from which the appropriate scale can be selected. With this I only need one scale bar block, not one for every possible scale factor.
I actually think that the scale bar is a necessary thing, since it is so easy these days to plot our drawings at any random scale.
