Land Surveyor

GPS Makes Everyone a Surveyor
That's the claim made by John Boney, a retired engineer and city councilman in Butler Alabama, who surveyed a cemetery in Butler after the city was quoted a price of $30000 by a licensed Land Surveyor. Boney, who is not a professional surveyor received a letter of reprimand from the Alabama State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and land Surveyors. He made the statement that::

"PVC pipe made everyone a plumber," he said. (…)

Proposals and Invoices and Your Professional Image
Nothing looks worse than a hand scrawled proposal written on a piece of notebook paper and mailed to a client in anticipation of winning over a prospective client. Not much better, but certainly more acceptable is a typed up form outlining the work with the charges and a total amount due. (…)

The Perception of the Quality of Land Surveying Services
I was just completing my dental appointment when the conversation turned to technology. I was amazed that the tools and technology in dentistry are somewhat similar to those used in surveying, although at a much smaller scale. (…)

Land Surveying as a Profession
I remember well when I first received my license to practice Land Surveying. It was 1968, and I , at age 28 was the youngest Land Surveyor in St. Joseph County, Indiana. (…)

A Good Time to Call a Land Surveyor
KLSA News is reporting that Habitat or Humanity has apparently built a house on the wrong lot in Shreveport, LA. According to the City Attorney, lots 40 and 41 were sold to Habitat for Humanity and someone else owned Lot 42. However, according to claims by the owner of Lot 42, Habitat for Humanity built on two properties instead of two lots, which caused the mix-up. The complete story can be found on the KLSA website
I don't quite follow the logic, but I suspect she is indicating that perhaps Lots 40 and 41 were under common, leading Habitat for Humanity to believe that the combined lots were all in Lot 40, then assuming that the adjacent lot was Lot 41. (…)

GPS Vehicle Tracking for Record Purposes
When you use a motor vehicle for business, the IRS requires you to keep a written record of personal and business use. In the past, I have kept daily records showing business use, but not always showing detailed information regarding destination and any intermediate stops. (…)

A Fellow Surveyor Needs Your Help
Michael Porter is a Land Surveyor. He works for the City of Lawton, Oklahoma. (…)

The Challenge of Surveying in Ohio
Surveying in Ohio is unlike surveying in any other State of the Union. As John E. (…)

ALTA / ACSM Long-form Certifications
I was reading posts on the POB-rpls message board today when I came upon this excellent post by Peter Lazio, a land surveyor from New York. Peter gave his permission for readers to copy, and I have re-posted it here so that it can be easily found. (…)

Website Revisions and Additions
If you haven't been around Land Surveyors Notebook for awhile you may not be aware of some of the new things on the website. If you have been a regular visitor you have probably already noticed some of the changes which hopefully make this a more valuable tool for your use..
Many additional references have been added to the links page, including some links to patents of some interesting survey related inventions. (…)

Free Survey and Engineering Courses at MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has complete on line access of their entire curriculum with some 1550 courses ready for download and use. (…)

GPS Vulnerability - A Surveyor's Concern
For some time now, the US Military has been expressing some concern about the vulnerability of the GPS constellation. GPS was initially developed for military purposes, and today remains its most important use. (…)

Deadline for the Surveyor's CEU Cruise
Yes, the deadline is near. In fact it is today. (…)

Survey Fees - Hourly Rate or Value
In a discussion with one of my peers the other day, we came upon the topic of cut rate surveyors. We agreed that some will always do the work for less. (…)

Return from CEU Hell
I just got back from a round trip to Indianapolis to get the 24 CEU's required for renewal of my Indiana license. (…)

Surveyors and Continuing Education
We all must have a certain amount of continuing education in order to renew our licenses to practice. (…)

Easement Extinguishment by Merger and Lender Comments
The ALTA Survey I completed last week is owned by a company who purchased it in 1986 from a group of partnerships formed to individually own and finance different sections as they were constructed. (…)

Three ALTA Surveys on One Project
For the past 4 weeks, I've been involved with updating an ALTA survey of an apartment complex in Northern Indiana. It is a project that I have been involved with for the past 30 years. (…)

ACSM Conference in Orlando
The 2006 American Congress of Surveying & Mapping (ACSM) Conference is being held this year in Orlando, Florida, bringing it close to home for those of us in Florida. (…)