I've been working on this commercial center for years, and after the last major renovation I re-surveyed it on September 19, 2014. Thus the certification says the field work was completed on September 19, 2014.
They needed an update last week, so I walked the site checking for any new parking lot stripes (which often happens) and to make sure none of the buildings have burned down. Thus the date of last field check was April 11, 2015.
In my opinion walking around the site and back and forth between the buildings wasn't real surveying since I used no instruments. The attorneys want me to change the date the field work was completed to April 11, 2015. Piddly of me to object, I know, but you give them an inch and they will take a mile.
What is your opinion?
I am not really sure what a field check is, was it surveyed or not? If you have to justified a survey "move" to call it a survey just reflag the corners. I feel you did you a survey instrument, the most important one. The one between your ears.
You could always just delete the April 11 2015 field check, and see what the attorney says about that, they my just say ok put the April 11 2015 field check line back on.
Your notes should be perfectly acceptable. You are the surveyor, you should be able to say whatever you want on your map!
As a client, I'm not sure what I would be expecting from a "field check". As a surveyor, I know what you mean, but even at that, I can either rely on the information shown to be correct as of that date or I cannot.
Your license makes you the most important and most useful surveying instrument.
Once you change a date on your drawing, you have perpetuated that survey again and have given full certification as though you pulled out all your equipment and performed every task necessary to do the entire project over again.
An attorney will charge the same to form fill every document they prepare even if only the names and dates are changed.
Never short yourself in regard to your profession.
:gammon:
It seems to be important to the attorneys and I'd like to know why before I agreed to the change. I'm sure they have a reason that favors their client to your detriment.
Just guessing - it probably restarts the clock on discovery, which in Oregon is two years from "substantial completion". That may be reasonable on their part depending on just how extensive your current update is and how much loot you extracted for it.
besides what you did, i would probably recheck the corner locations from whatever control is remaining just to make sure that they are still there and haven't been boogered up and make a few building tie checks, and then label it "Boundary and improvements verified April__, 2015"
charge whatever...the only thing you GIVE for nothing is charity. i assume this ain't a charity situation.
Sounds like a survey to me and charge them accordingly.
You did not find any changes to the old survey but you did give your professional opinion that there were no changes. You surveyed the property and found no changes. You should either certify to that or go back out and remeasure everything until you feel you have completed the survey. If they asked for a survey update then that is the date they need on the plat. Whether anything changed or not.
How are they supposed to know everything was the same if you don't note the last date you checked to make sure everything was the same?
Surveying doesn't require an instrument.
BTW, we do note on monuments when visited, etc.
But, if you broke out an instrument, would anything change? You certainly did survey work in your most recent visit.
Beware.
I once did an ALTA survey of a high rise hotel. Unremarkable except there were encroachments on top of the 75' cut slope on the property; rich hilltop homeowners who built retaining walls for their expansion patio-barbie-hottub improvements. 5 years later they wanted an update. Glory be the retaining walls were gone, a resurvey showed newish privacy fences which were within hundreths of the line. Walked the rest of the parcel old ALTA in hand, no visible disturbances or changes. Edited in the new condition at the top of the cut slope, updated and collected a nice fee.
A few months later I get a call; negotiations concerning sale are underway, and the guy asks me; "You show a swimming pool in the interior courtyard of the hotel, but I see "Island Themed" landscaping?" Yep, they'd ripped out the pool and made an outdoor restaurant motif area.
Didn't think to walk into the hotel, woops:pinch:. Strangely, they didn't formally come after me for the deficiency, just asked if I'd provide another update reflecting the missing pool, gratis, which I heartily agreed to do. They said, no big deal; no update needed now and maybe in a few years I could do another update for them if they sell or refinance, at a reduced fee|-) .
Later learned from a third party the original owners used the ALTA to serve the rich, loud, leaking hottubs, throw garbage into the parking lot encroachers, and after a fairly cheap court process made them clean it up. The pool-outdoor restaurant issue was nothing; but the owners loved my ALTA giving them the ammunition to reign in bad neighbors.
I still get poked about it at meetings now and then, the surveyor who didn't notice a missing swimming pool.
I've spent the better part of the last week updating about a dozen ALTA surveys for a client. Even though the last date on the survey was December/January of this last year, I have a very specific checklist of item I go through with each survey I update:
1) I check the Register of Deeds Office for any activity by the property owner of record since the last date of survey.
2) I update the owners and recording information of all adjoining properties with the county tax office.
3) I check the FEMA flood map to make sure there hasn't been a Community Panel update in the interim
4) I check the zoning and zoning requirements as required by the client to make sure these haven't changes since the last date of survey
5) We perform a thorough site inspection to ensure the physical conditions at the site are the same as the last survey. If so, we update the survey accordingly.
6) we verify that property corners previously recovered are undisturbed, and reset any corners which are missing
Anything less than this and we will not put a new date on the survey it's simply a revision. I'd also like to note that we are adequately compensated for the update.