what you can do, depends on the state you live in. Some states would likely regulate offering stakeout services or volume calcs, while others do not. So if you want a good answer tell us what state you are planning on working in.
Texas and Oklahoma
Look up the surveying regulations in those states and see what they say.
In some states you can do what you are describing without a problem. In others it will be illegal. The respective state code should reveal all.
When that fence is along a boundary of the property, that is land surveying and you are locating something in relation to a boundary, license required.
When the fence is starting at a boundary and going across the property, the starting point has to do with a boundary, license required.
etc
> When that fence is along a boundary of the property, that is land surveying and you are locating something in relation to a boundary, license required.
>
> When the fence is starting at a boundary and going across the property, the starting point has to do with a boundary, license required.
>
> etc
That makes sense except the last part unless I misunderstood. His property is fenced around the perimeter and has been for decades. He showed me two places on opposite sides of his property where he wanted a new fence to start and end essentially dividing his property in half (not exactly half but you get the idea) I did not locate anything nor determine any boundaries. We drove along his fence line he said I want to start here and go to here pointing to the end points. All I did was help him make a straight line between two points that he determined the location of.
Tapes, total stations, RTK GPS, scanners, just tools used by anyone that needs to measure and can budget for it. The police officer surveying skid marks with a total station, I can't go tell him that a surveyor should doing this job, can I?
If survey equipment vendors only sold to surveyors, we'd still be using T16's and tapes.
Honestly, if I see am driving down the road and see an unlicensed person doing what you are describing, I am going to take offense to it.
Bad PR on your part.
Being offended by an action and being professionally infrenged upon are two different things, and vary by different state boards' definitions.
I need another line of work!
Totally unfamiliar with the laws in Texas and Oklahoma, but once you are well versed in what is inside the bounds of the law, I say go make some money. As a licensed surveyor, I am totally unthreatened by some guy with an RTK system bopping around doing a little side work. Sheesh.
Yeah, you should totally start doing anchor bolt layouts with your RTK.. Who needs all that taping and angles and stuff.
I've never heard of a company that invests that kind of money into equipment then lets it sit unused.. must be nice!
make cool crop circles
for company ads.
Stumpy,
I admire your entrepreneurial enthusiasm. Please forward your contact information and equipment type including your radio link frequencies. I will be more than happy to submit your query to the appropriate regulatory board and the F.C.C. for compliance issues. Please include your name, address, phone, email, and radio serial numbers. My contact info is listed below.
Jason E. Foose
Registered Land Surveyor
214 Silver Street
Kingman, Az. 86401
928- 715 - 3717
[email protected]
The board in the state where I live and practice told me that helping a farmer build a straight fence between two points was considered land surveying. Was also told that any work I did on any such project had to comply with the boards rules for surveying. We have a requirement for writing reports and tying to established control.
I objected to their interpretation in cases such as the one you describe. But the bottom line is my objection means nothing and their interpretation means everything.
Larry P
Assuming you are a surveyor - just not a licensed surveyor? There are a whole lot of surveyors out there that claim to know how to use RTK and have really messed things up. I would personally be concerned about the liability issue if I was using RTK for anything precise and not truly know how to use it properly and know what the data really means.
Marking a straight line through the middle of a friend's property might not be land surveying, but it's a slippery slope. The next time it will be "I know where my property line is, it's between these 2 markers. I just need you to mark a straight line between them for a fence. Don't even think about property lines."
Stumpy, do you think that would be land surveying? 95% of what you would use that equipment for is land surveying.
> The board in the state where I live and practice told me that helping a farmer build a straight fence between two points was considered land surveying. Was also told that any work I did on any such project had to comply with the boards rules for surveying. We have a requirement for writing reports and tying to established control.
>
> I objected to their interpretation in cases such as the one you describe. But the bottom line is my objection means nothing and their interpretation means everything.
>
> Larry P
Very interesting. What part of it I wonder makes it count as surveying? If said farmer hires a fence company to build the fence they are going to make it straight somehow and I doubt they are using a licensed surveyor to do so.
So in your state anytime you make something in a straight line you have to be a licensed surveyor?
What if someone hires me to plant a bunch of trees in a row? I could get the straight by line of sight, tape measure, GPS, etc. Would this require licensed surveyor?
I get where you are coming from and I know you don't agree with their position but I think they are overreaching their authority.
well, I'd say those things you mention are not actually surveying either.. but honestly, just how much of that kind of work is there ?? most of the farmers I know used their rifle scopes to sight in the fence posts if they were that worried about a straight line.
You'd have to have lots of friends that happen to need things laid out in straight lines to make that work make any money.
> Marking a straight line through the middle of a friend's property might not be land surveying, but it's a slippery slope. The next time it will be "I know where my property line is, it's between these 2 markers. I just need you to mark a straight line between them for a fence. Don't even think about property lines."
> Stumpy, do you think that would be land surveying? 95% of what you would use that equipment for is land surveying.
If it involved the property lines I would not want to get involved for liability reasons though I think marking a straight line between two existing markers is not really land surveying. I recently built a fence on my own property along the property line. I found the rebar markers, set some stakes and connected them with a string to mark the fence line. I could have used my GPS but in this case the string was faster and easier as it was only 100' or so.
Throwing the question back at you many would think your example if I marked a straight line between two existing markers along a property boundary using GPS would constitute land surveying and it very well may I don't know. What if the same farmer hired someone who had no surveying knowledge to mark the location of the fence. They show up and connect a string or high tension wire between the markers to mark the location of the fence. Are they land surveying? Do they need a license? They did the exact same thing just with different tools.
In my mind land surveying involves determining where things are and generally involves either generating a plat showing the location of things or taking information from a plat and marking its location on the ground. Simply "connecting the dots" between objects by walking up to them, taking a shot, and then snapping a line with no reports generated or representation made other than this is a straight line from a to b is not really land surveying in my mind.
> Assuming you are a surveyor - just not a licensed surveyor? There are a whole lot of surveyors out there that claim to know how to use RTK and have really messed things up. I would personally be concerned about the liability issue if I was using RTK for anything precise and not truly know how to use it properly and know what the data really means.
I do not even consider myself a surveyor at all. I just know how to use the equipment and software. I know how to use a bulldozer also but I do not consider myself a heavy equipment operator.
I am definitely not wanting to do anything that would cause a potential liability situation. I want to do simple things that are solutions to simple problems and that the accuracy of my work would be very apparent as soon as I did it.
Stumpy, you could farm yourself out to some local surveyors.
Sometimes they know what the data means, and you know how to get it.
N