Land survey costs

[mad murdock]

I am a helicopter mechanic for my day job, so for me precise and accurate go hand in hand.  You have a good point though.  People all see things from different angles depending on their background.  If a guy has no ideal where to start on where his lines are, then he may be at the mercy of a surveyor, as they are the ones who can legaly set forth property descriptions and register said description with the county registrar.  I am sure the saying "posession is 9/10ths of the law", was quipped by some old land baron during a range war from long years ago. When it gets right down to it, the only way I could judge if I was getting a fair shake, would be to get some references from the surveyor, and follow up on them, to see if I was getting a fair shake or not.  Merry Christmass to all!

[maple flats]

I fail to understand how a survey can be precise and not accurate or visa versa. I know it happen but the professional should be both. This said, I know that no 2 surveys put a given line in the exact same spot. If you had a boundry line marked by 3 different surveyers there likely would be 3 lines. However, any of the 3 would be real close to whatever IS accurate, wherever that is.

[Jasperfield]

Precision is to repeatability, as accuracy is to nearness to truth. Both precision and accuracy are required, by statute, in all the United States.

In example: A precise survey is not necessarily accurate; An accurate survey is not necessarily precise.

Your three different professional surveyors (not jacklegs, wanna-bees, or untrained employees) given the same objective and having equal qualifying credentials, education & experience; and having identical field evidence, record evidence, orientation, and absence of title discrepancies; and correctly using calibrated instruments & appurtenances will determine the same corner positions (and their subtended lines).

Absence of any of the above will result in dissimilar results.

Most "meets and bounds" states (and many public land states) set forth ratio-of-precision specifications (compliance required under penalty of law) applicable to different classifications of survey. And they pertain to specific tolerances of distances measured, angles turned, and position of set or found monumentation.

[Black_Bear]

I got interrupted while I was typing and I see Jasperfield beat me to it, but here is what I had to write:

maple flats:

Precision in a survey provides a measure of repeatability. If the survey is performed using acceptable techniques that provide consistent results then precision will typically be high. However, if the precise surveyor locates and marks what he/she believes to be the line (i.e. along a stonewall) and that stonewall is not the line, then the survey is precise but not accurate. And yes, the professional should be both accurate and precise.

Measurements are merely evidence derived during a survey and are generally used to verify the relative positions of monuments. They are generally not the reason behind poor decisions. The lack of diligent research and analysis is what leads to the majority of problems and future conflicts.

Ed    

[Holmes]

 A property I bought took 3 months to survey 86 acres. The surveyor had to sort thru dozens of hand written or scribbled deeds then try to locate stake and stones put up over 100 years ago. Or find blazed trees that do not exist anymore. He spent a lot of time trying to translate the old deeds to modern measurements. A lot of the deeds do not state distance just old markers.I have heard of other deeds stating distance as  hatchet throws ,like 20 hatchet throws east. I wonder if that is 1000' or 4000'.

[indiaxman1]

Most competent surveyors will be precise...my piece of ground was surveyed around 1850....they used chains....10 yrs ago was resurveyed using all the modern instrument....matched the old exactly...for marking property lines, esp. in rough terrain, topo map and compass help