Did you know that 90% of surveyors think ......
Did you know that 90% of surveyors think they are above average?
Did you know that 90% of surveyors think ......
When is it ok to pull another surveyor's monuments?
whenever he ain't looking.
Duane has hit it on the head. This would be my position as well. Position yourself as this was a new project for you. Get a contract signed as you would any other project, price your fees accordingly, then move forward as a completely new project.
Why not take this project over? Its a job and it's money. Glad you are doing so well that you can turn away a profitable endeavor but it makes little sense to turn away a client (new or existing) in their time of need.
If the 'new' surveyor is doing this project 'on the cheap' and not charging appropriately, then he will not have enough time or desire to properly check/reset those existing markers. Were this to come across my desk I would ask the previous surveyor what it would cost to buy him out and get his info and input. Odds are, this is probably less money/time than it would take to retrace all their work, and the client would probably be happy to pay the fee and save the time.
If the previous surveyor's fee is too much then there are two thoughts: 1- the new surveyor is probably leaving money on the table and is instead funding his client's corporate yacht account while absorbing all the risk/liability. 2- The previous surveyor is gouging (he's pissed) and perhaps charging for work he has not yet accomplished as opposed to charging for work for which he has not been paid. I would think hard before presuming the latter. I would spend time on the phone with the previous surveyor and find out what I can. There may be a reason his costs are higher than expected (if such is the case).
If everyone is charging for the value of their services then the costs should be reconcilable and everyone wins.
Years ago we ran into a similar issue in which the previous surveyor died and whose records we were able to acquire (and check). We were aware of the board's position (WA state) but after a discussion with the reviewing agency we elected to label all the corner markers and monuments as 'found/accepted'. We did not change caps.