Got a call from a construction manager this morning having doubts about my boundary survey.
He asked why is there an overlap/encroachment of the property boundary with the adjoining lot when the 2 lots were part of a larger tract of land that was subdivided.
The point of contention was that a part of a concrete wall made by the adjoining lot was located by me to be around 70cm - 130cm inside of my client's lot.
I said that that was my findings. He can have the lot surveyed again by another surveyor if he wants but I am sticking to my findings.
Why don't they call the guy that constructed the wall and find out why his wall was off by 100+ cm?
Are civil engineers stupid to think that all walls constructed are correct in their position?
> Are civil engineers stupid to think that all walls constructed are correct in their position?
Why would the real world ever differ from the construction plans? I mean, all an engineer has to do is to draw a line on paper or some electronic medium and the wall magically appears, right? It's not as if construction is a Comedia de Errores. :>
Everyone likes to think of streets and fenceline as running straight. All they have to do is open their eyes to discover that there are bends this way and that. Also, many cannot separate the pavement as STREET from right-of-way as STREET. For example, less than two months ago a potential client was showing me where he intended to build a new garage. When I pointed out he was too close to the street by over twenty feet, he pointed to the pavement and said, "I was told to stay back 25 feet from the street and it's way out there."
Over the years I bet I've had that same conversation with various clients more than a dozen times.
He wanted you to say you were wrong and the building would be ok. It's always easier to get the surveyor to change his opinion than move the building. They think if they whine enough or maybe bluster enough we'll just give up and say they're right and we're wrong. Most people don't want the truth, they want whats conveniant. That's why they always ask us first hoping it won't cost them any money.
I don't have a problem with that
I'd rather a client come to me with questions like that first rather than go to whoever built or designed the wall so that they can begin the exchange with a proclamation that the surveyor screwed up.
I have no problem explaining to a client what I based my conclusions on and why the evidence I used is solid.
Getting defensive and simply stating "If you don't like it, have someone else survey it" does nothing to inspire confidence and trust. In fact, it leaves the person to whom such a comment is directed with the impression that the surveyor does not have enough confidence in his own work to explain it, or worse, may be hiding something.
He already paid you to determine and mark the boundary. The suggestion that he pay someone else to do what was already supposed to have been done correctly is unnecessarily flippant and unreasonable. Unless this is just one more example of a string of accusations from this construction manager that you've screwed up, treat it like a legitimate question and give a complete and professional answer.
If you have the first opportunity to answer, and answer the question well, then that leaves the wall builder and/or designer defending their work and having to overcome your well-reasoned and well-explained conclusions.
I don't have a problem with that
:good: