> Consider this, if in Steve's example, the building department had a plot plan on file and allowed the home owner to use that for his plot plan (happens around here all the time) would the surveyor still be liable? Who cares where the copy comes from?
>
> Dtp
In my example, the surveyor was held liable because they provided a new copy. If someone else provided it, he would have been off the hook.
Donald,
Do you have any plans to come south next weekend? StubHub reports their cheapest Alabama - LSU tickets are $400 each. If I weren't such a big Tide fan, I would think about selling mine.
No, we have a policy that we do not give out plats older than 5 years, and only then to the original client.
I would however, cut a sweet deal to check it out and issue a new one. Say, 30% of the going rate for it.
No such luck for me Steve. I'm going to be up here waiting for the freezing rain tomorrow wishing I was away down south!
Roll tide.... wow, for #1 too!!!
ROLL TIDE ROLL
(this is not a thread hijack!)
> Consider this, if in Steve's example, the building department had a plot plan on file and allowed the home owner to use that for his plot plan (happens around here all the time) would the surveyor still be liable? Who cares where the copy comes from?
>
> Dtp
Where they got the copy makes all the difference in the world. If they found a bum on the street who happened to have a nice crisp copy of the drawing there can be no expectation that the bum has any sort of professional obligation to protect the public. If they got the copy from the office of the professional who drew the map (or has those records in their storage facility) then there certainly can and should be an obligation to "protect the public".
If we give out old records are we not obligated to ask ourselves whether or not we are protecting the public? Things change over time. Sometimes these changes can be significant. The clients can not be expected to know whether some change is significant or not. This is why they rely on Professionals.
Please note that I am not saying that giving out copies of old records is the same thing as putting a gun to your head. I am saying that there is risk to doing that and that we should understand and evaluate that risk before making the decision.
Finally, enjoy the snow this weekend. We are expecting an inch or so here. Oh boy, winter comes early.
Larry P
The short answer is NO.
If a client calls and asks for an additional signed print I will usually give them one (even though my contracts specifically state how many they get) as a courtesy. But I wouldn't even consider doing this on a survey that old...it's been what, 16 years? I probably wouldn't do it for anything more than a few years old...and it would have to be for the EXACT same person who paid for the original.
The request is unreasonable
at least to me. From a business standpoint, is what they are asking for reasonable? It is an equitable transaction? I am in the surveying business. I do this for a living. If is one thing to give out an additional signed print as a courtesy to a client who calls back a month or two later and asks for one. It is quite another to have someone call many years later and ask for a signed print to be used in a transaction/operation. Even if it were the original client, what they are asking for is unreasonable.
What liability comes from handing out a new print of an old survey is a secondary issue to me. I don't even get that far in my consideration of this kind of request. There is always liability involved EVERY TIME YOU SIGN A SURVEY. From a liability standpoint, since you can deduce from the request that no surviving originals of the survey exist, your liability for that project is now close to zero...issueing another signed print doesn't incurr more liability than the original, but it does extend the practical duration of that liability. If no original signed prints exist, its hard to see how anyone can come back on you for issues relating to that survey...even if in theory the liability continues forever.
I would certainly attempt to help buy offerring my services to provide an up to date survey that meets their needs. I would explain to them why they need a current survey and why you cannot simply "issue" a 16 year old survey and that this old survey really doesn't meet their needs. In this case, there wouldn't be discount at all and the caller has no legitimate right to expect one. You are going to have to go to the field and do the field work, create the drawings, etc. just as you would if you'd never surveyed the parcel before. You didn't do the original survey and even if you did, after 16 years, you are going to need more than a "drive by" to verify the monuments, any encroachments, etc... What time you will save from having the old survey information is of value to yourself and this particular client has no right to that information and hence no right to a discount.
Offer to provide the needed services in a timely manner for an appropriate fee. This is the professional thing to do and at the end of the day, everyone will be happy. You will be happy that you turned a profit (hopefully) on another samll survey, your client will be happy because you will have resolved their problem, the city will be happy with a current survey and there is far less liklihood of any issue arising which might make any of the three unhappy. It is very often the case that one of the most important things we do for our clients is to provide them guidance on what services they really need rather than just providing what they ask for. This is one of those instances, IMO.
The request is unreasonable
No like button, so
:good:
Bob!!!
We agree on something!!!!!
This situation comes up with me numerous times as I have taken over my grandfather's business 6 years ago. Prior to that, he had been in business since the early 1970's. There are many plats out there with his name on them. Of course, every situation is a unique, the majority of the time they do need a current or revised survey. You have to love the clients where their property was surveyed by your company 20+ years ago and they expect you to come out and find or reset their corners. And of course, they want it for nothing since they already paid you once.