I am Befuddled

This rarely happens and when it does, it really gets my head swimming.

I have a client who "just wanted one line staked". The parcel is in a Large Lot Subdivision, done in 1995. It seems his neighbor is mowing what he thinks is his property and they just want to know for sure.

On the first site visit, I search for the corners on the line and in the immediate area and find nothing. All of the lines are mostly in thick brush, more blackberries than anything else and the line I need to stake is over 1000' and 2/3's of it fall down about 300' in elevation to a creek.

I keep looking for other corners in the plat and come up with a couple that are about 300' apart. I go back to the van and calc up the search positions for my line and still find nothing. The distance between the 2 corners I find is 1.13' long. The neighbor comes out and says he saw a lath with flagging about 8 years, in the general vicinity and still, I find nothing. I even looked again for corners between my line and the ones I found, nothing there either.

Some of the dimensions are hard to read, on the plat so I call the guy up who did it and tells me to stop by his office and he will verify the dimensions for me. We go over the numbers and I see I'm off by 4 degrees, that must be it. I go back out for a second visit and still, I can't find anything on my line. I find 5 more corners in the plat and go back to the office and try to make them all fit. I have a couple that are pretty close but there is no rhyme or reason the rest of them. I go back out for a third time with the latest search position, about 18' from the last one and clear out about 200 sq. ft. of real estate and still, nothing.

I found 7 brass caps in an adjoining plat that all fit very well with each other. I put the 2 plats together and find that a couple of corners in my plat fit within about 5' or so. I'm now armed with a new search position and will be leaving shortly to see if I can't find at least one corner on the line (the one the neighbor thinks he saw 8 years ago).



Now this is where the confusion comes in. It's not how do I find this line. I've been surveying for over 35 years; I know when I'm making mistakes, I know how to use found evidence to resolve my clients boundary, I know how to stake this line so that any other surveyor could retrace what I've done and come to the same conclusions I have.

I do not keep track of hours, I tell the client how much it's going to cost and that is what I bill him.

The problem I have is, who do I send the bill for the extra time to?


TIA for any and all responses.

I hope you have a great day I know I will

Dugger

I think if you look in your wallet, you might find some small pieces of paper with your name on them and maybe an address. Send the bill for the additional hours to that address.

You win some, you lose some. :D

Send it to Doug Casement.  I hear he has lots of $ for this sort of thing.


Oh, uh... nevermind.

"I do not keep track of hours, I tell the client how much it's going to cost and that is what I bill him.

The problem I have is, who do I send the bill for the extra time to?"

Unless I am missing something, these two statements do not coincide with each other... its one or the other but not both.

What are you trying to say?

you are getting $hit on...

I would never stake one line unless I've surveyed entire parcel on either side of the line.

Sure, I'll stake one line. It is the same price as staking all the lines.

Do you want a one legged table? It is the same price as a four legged table.

I have to agree with James. Clients love lump sum quotes and in fact so do I but I bill by the hour unless there are absolutely no unknowns in play. And there are almost always unknowns.

Hi Dugger,

These just come by once in a while.  In our office, we don't quote until preliminary research is done.  This gives us some kind of idea what we will be up against.  It sounds like you did this though.  In our area (Nova Scotia), those discrepancies don't exist unless something is awry...  If this is the case in your area, then you dropped the ball by not stopping the project and explaining to your client that this is taking more work that quoted and extra charges will be coming.  I know it sounds unfair to your client, but it is not your fault either.  When projects go overbudget because of something beyond your control, does your staff work for free?  I think I know the answer, so why shouldn't your client pay for it?  I agree it not something we like to do, but sometimes that is what comes around.  When I provide clients a quote, I let them now that the quote is based on what my experience tells me it will cost provided there is not any problems.  18' foot discrepancy?  Don't have to be a surveyor to know that is a problem.

Good Luck with it Dugger.  Wish I could say that I do what I say everytime.  :)  Guess that's the surveyor in all of us.

Regards,
D

Since the previous surveyor was kind enough to verify the ambiguous dimensions on his plat, I would certainly ask him if he set all of his lot corners. I have subdivisions that date back to the early 90's where the corners are still in place.....the correct place at that!

Tommy Young:

So, you do you send the bill to?  The Dugger Educational Fund.

 

But to pay the bill Dugger has to debit his Alaska fishing fund, that is the bummer.... :-(

 If the numbers on the ground don't fit, then let the client know. What is the scope of work in his mind? My contact has these "wiggle words":

Since the previous surveyor was kind enough to verify the ambiguous dimensions on his plat, I would certainly ask him if he set all of his lot corners. I have subdivisions that date back to the early 90's where the corners are still in place.....the correct place at that

When the original monument is set in a subdivision that's the corner, not some mythical measurement on a piece of paper.  1.3' in heavy brush on a 1,000' line ain't didly.  Heck, I run into 1.3' on 150' lines.  Nothing unusual about that.

Also I don't know how one can charge a flat fee on a boundary survey.  Too many variables.  Boundary surveying ain't construction staking!!!