How much accuracy can you expect from a land surveyor? I am building a house at a difficult site. Everything has to fit exactly right, which is almost impossible in construction. So we hired a surveyor to get it started as well as we could. In the first try he was off by about a foot which made the plan unusable until we realized that it was a survey error not the plan. We got him out again. This time the angle was off by about 2 degrees. 2 degrees may not be much but it got amplified after traveling some distance and resulted in 3’ off. We are getting ready for the third go. I am just not sure how he could have gotten it so wrong. A tape measure and a simple protractor could have done just as well. Should I look for another surveyor? It will cost additional.
Around here we count on our surveys to be accurate within an inch. I have found major and minor errors on surveys - especially newer ones. I think surveyors are not training their underlings properly anymore. In your shoes I’d look for another surveyor. Get one with good references. As an architect, there are at least two surveyors in our area that I would warn people not to use.
I would have expected within an inch, too. Do they rely on computer program to do the heavy lifting? The builder hired the surveyor. Is it appropriate to suggest to him that we use another one?
I would in your shoes.
I used to work for a company that made survey equipment. The equipment we designed was capable of sub centimeter accuracy. If they are just hammering in stakes, you will add a little more variation. The accuracy can get worse based on the environment being surveyed, the type of equipment used and skill/knowledge of the surveyor. I would discuss with the new surveyor the accuracy you think you need for the corners of the building and relative to the property boundaries if that is critical.
Probably not nearly as much as it will cost you if you start construction and later have to tear things down for reconstruction because of an erroneous survey.
If everything has to fit “exactly right” – then the survey needs to be exactly right too.
This might not be such a concern on more typical suburban home lot where there there is plenty of extra space between the structure and the property lines – but it sounds like you can’t afford a mistake in your situation.
Oh, my gosh, yes, you can expect more accuracy than a foot on a small lot!
My husband managed to survey our 48-acre lot in the densely forested, mountainous woods of Maine within a couple of feet, and the boundary line zigged and zagged all over the place. Magnetic north has changed a lot since we purchased the land in 1990, and he had to take that into account, also.
I agree with @calmom. Get the survey right.
@MaineLonghorn , 48 acres-wow, how nice!
@Nrdsb4, it’s in the middle of nowhere, but it does have a wonderful view of a lake and mountain range. We bought it in 1990. We made the decision to use the money that way and drive old clunkers for many years, ha.
I’m a little confused. Are you having the surveyor stake out the lot from a description? Or doing a survey? How do you know he is wrong in that case?
What is difficult about the site? It can be difficult on complicated sites with very old survey documents to get it right, but there is no way it should be off by feet. I would ask what the difficulty is and if I don’t get a proper answer, talk to another surveyor. Make sure the issue really is with the surveyor and not something about the lot. I work with surveyors and seems like sometimes it can be hard to get the tie-in to the adjacent lots, streets, etc correct based on the available documents. That is, if something else is off and you are tying into that lot line, you may be off as well.
I agree that is almost impossible to fit everything exactly right in construction. Personally, I would want a little wiggle room in the plans. Good luck.
Yes, for staking out. It is on an uneven ground with boulders. and slopes. We gave them the building plan and they also drew out a survey plan with stakes. When you overlap the two, they are off. I have no idea how it can be so off. They said they mark the stakes on the plan in the office before coming out to the site. Again, I have no idea why they don’t stake it directly to the plan provided. They do seem to agree with the property lines, street, and top. Not the building itself.