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in the state i am in , and every other state , it is illegal to offer any resemblance of land surveying to the public without a professional license , usually under the same board as engineers, sometimes architects. look up your board online for your state. it will say "engineers and land surveyors".
Land surveyors are licensed professionals overseen by the state board where they are licensed. Its not a society, or a realtors board, its a board with an attorney general or district attorney assigned to prosecute any surveyor or person offering to survey that does not follow minimum standards of that state. or, trys to operate without a license or run a business without a certificate of authorization.
anyone that depends on a civilian to locate their pins and then accepts that as a corner is out of their mind! if it is set by a surveyor and has been pointed out to you, then ,of course, you can walk out to it and say "there it is". anyone can dig a pin up, but only a surveyor can set it. each pin MUST have an identifying cap on it from the surveyor that set it. if a pin is set without a cap, it is not legal.
yes, "illegal" and "not legal" are different. a pin set by a civilian is not legal. to offer to engage or practice the profession of land surveying without a license, is illegal.
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I just want a pin finder to use my existing survey to find the accurate locations of the pins. How could that be illegal?
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Daniel Berg - (dlb & Associates) is going to survey our property while we are on island in October. We also know the exact placement of our front pins as we front paved road. Are they accurate? We will find out. The back pins are elusive despite the green/blue plastic tape markers in a couple of the trees. We decided to pay the money and get it over with so we never again have to repeat this task or cash outlay. One thing we found out, if you intend to do any grading/grubbing at all, the excavator we spoke to will not touch it unless you have an official survey. I think he's reasonable. We added some extras in addition to just marking the 4 corners. This sets us up for moving on to the next phase - plotting out the property and trying to get a roof over our heads. Best of luck! Susan
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quote:
Originally posted by ric
If anyone buys a lot ONLY because the seller/agent said it was the lot you were at, they are idiots. It's not that hard to get a tmk map, see what else is around you, use a little intuition, and navigate to the lot by yourself.
And if you are using a pinfinder with NO equipment, then maybe that's the wrong pinfinder. The one I suggested is well-equipped.
I had a agent (reputable) too ... Tell me that the lot I was showing him pictures of was NOT the LOT I was buying. This was in Hawaiian Beaches with a few homes around even across the street with address's. I studied the TMK maps and counted the lot from the nearest cross street. Even if you go to the county web page you can actually click on the map and see the address/owner information of the homes surrounding the lot.
Anyway, I quadruple verified TMK's, House Numbers, Google Maps, Street View, Cross streets, etc...etc... to make sure I was buying the right lot.
Moral of the story do your own investigating since even a well known realestate agents are wrong at times. We've all heard the stories where the guy builds a house on his neighbors lot! 
Good Luck!
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Short story: We began putting in fence posts and the neighbors disagree with their location. We took a deep breath and are poised to hire Island Boundaries to stake the property line. They are offering (for an additional fee)a "license stamp map". What is this stamp map? Do I need it for a fence line? Please weigh in!
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Rubber Stamping Plans or Surveys is illegal in most of the 48, but common practice here
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Joined: Sep 2012
quote:
Originally posted by Seeb
Rubber Stamping Plans or Surveys is illegal in most of the 48, but common practice here
Rubber stamping refers to the practice of a licensed professional NOT performing his mandated duty to insure the work he is certifying is correct. A rubber stamper just places his stamp on whatever is placed perform him. His only concern is collecting his fee. It is NOT common practice in Hawaii. I'm sure Hawaii's Regulated Industries Complaints Office would like to know of such violations of the law.
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We have a law that says only a licensed land surveyor can identify a boundary corner. The reason for the law is to protect you and your neighbors from the problems that were created by incompetent surveyors. We invest a lot of money in our land and it’s very expensive to go to court to resolve problems. We want our rights in our land protected as do the people on the other side of our boundary.
Measuring is not that difficult. We have tremendous tools today. Total stations and data collectors have simplified the work and reduced errors. Many surveyors work like doctors. When you visit the doctor’s office a nurse will measure your height, weight, temperature and blood pressure. It’s not necessary for a doctor to make those measurements. The data is then given to the doctor who begins to form an opinion based on those measurements. Likewise a surveyor will send his well-equipped and highly trained field crew to measure your boundaries. The hard part of boundary surveying is determining the following: What to do with the measurements. The original location of missing boundary corners. What rights do all parties to a boundary have and how to preserve everyone’s rights.
When you are determining who to hire, I suggest you ask the following:
What is the name and license number of the land surveyor overseeing the work?
The license number will start with the letters LS (land surveyor). Look them up on the states web site, (Google the words “ Hawaii license look up”, select the site labeled professional vocational licensing, pull down to LS for license type and enter the number)see if the license is active, see if there are any complaints on file.
Where is the land surveyor located? Is she here in Hawaii? Can you talk with her? Or is she always unavailable?
Rubber stampers like to hide out of state.
What training/certifications do your field crews have?
How much insurance do you carry?
Part of the beauty of being an unlicensed surveyor (pinfinder) is that there is nothing to lose. The total investment in the business is a cell phone some business cards and a 200 foot tape. (ok, some do have outdated survey equipment) If someone has a problem with a pinfinders work they just change their cell phone and the problem is gone. No need for insurance to pay for the correction of mistakes. (We are human, mistakes will happen in a land surveyor’s long career.) No need to worry about someone filing a complaint against your license. You don’t have one.
How many boundary surveys have you performed in my subdivision/area?
Boundary surveying is regional. A surveyor must be familiar with the type of pins (boundary corner monuments) used by the original surveyor. Your boundary corners are located at the place the original surveyor of your subdivision set them. Original pins rule, measurements are secondary. Your subdivision map gives directions to help find the original corner monuments (pins), but the measurements on the map are supposed to reflect what is on the earth. The pins were set on the earth before the map was drawn, so pins control. Pins are visible and permanent, measurements are not. When you purchase a lot it’s assumed you visited each corner, saw the pins and found the lot acceptable for purchase. You then build fence and rock walls and your home based on those pins. A land surveyor cannot come to your lot fifty years, or more, later and decide to move your corners, your corners, with few exceptions, remain where the original sub-divider set them. PRESERVE YOUR ORIGINAL MONUMENTS. Don’t let the dozer take them out.
When you have qualified the candidates, decide who seem best able to meet your needs. Everyone has different needs and priorities, such as cost, scheduling, deliverables. Deliverables can include points along the boundary line between the lot corners, locating setback lines, locating proposed buildings, GPS coordinates, photographs, maps and written reports.
Good Luck.
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Check with Dan Berg of dlb & Associates. He surveyed our property when we could not find the back pins. At our request he also placed a stake and pvc post on the left and right side every 200 ft. It wasn't that much more to do.
We were very happy with him and his crew.
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We use a local gal named Sara, she's probably done 25 properties for us and is prompt and effiecient. She has all the latest equipment to do the job right. We Highly recommend her.
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