Latest Articles

Survey Do I Need One

Survey - do I need one?

 Survey—do I need one? The commonest mistake made by home buyers is not having a survey done prior to purchasing a property. Why is this a mistake? Without an ALTA (American Land Title Association) survey you have no recourse if at a later date it is found that your fences encroach on a neighbour’s land or that there are rights to easement by one of the service companies (this means that an electric, sewerage or water company has access rights to your property to carry out maintenance and repair).  Consider the examples where a property owner has built a garage over part of the access rights and these service companies...

Read More

Resources

Definition of an ALTA Survey

definition of an ALTA Survey

Definition of an ALTA Survey A land survey is made for the Title Company and/or Lender with the survey and location data needed for the issuing of title or mortgage insurance. For this purpose a map is drawn to “ALTA” specifications. "ALTA" stands for American Land Title Association. ALTA specifies the data to be shown on the survey and this includes...

Read More

Resources

Boundary Disputes

boundary disputes

In response to many requests for advice on boundary disputes we have compiled a set of guidelines but ultimately if the case is unresolved, due to the complexity of the law, you will need to contact a specialist lawyer. First and foremost with any boundary dispute you need to establish the facts before discussing these with a neighbor to try and resolve the issue...

Read More

Resources

Accuracy of Land Surveys

Accuracy of Land Surveys

Land surveyors have a very important role in establishing ownership of land and helping ensure the smooth running of new building developments. In today’s guide we shall look at the accuracy of land surveys and why it’s important. Importance of Accuracy in Land Surveys Accuracy is one of the most important factors of land surveys. The purpose of a...

Read More

resources

Land Surveying Measurement

Land surveying measurement - legal land descriptions and rectangular survey system

When reading legal land survey descriptions there are several things a land surveyor must keep in mind to conduct a proper survey. The following legal description is for a 42- acre parcel – T39N, R23W, Sec. 4, NW1/4 SE1/4. First, one must understand that punctuation is crucial in reading legal land surveys.  If a comma were included in between the “NW1/4”...

Read More

Resources

Land Surveying Units

Land surveying units - standards in u.s. and common units used

All measurements for Land surveying must be referenced to the Standard United States or metric measurements. Distance and Elevation must comply with the U.S. Survey Foot and/or metric units and sub units of the same.  Angles must be referenced in degrees, decimal degrees, radians, azimuths, or bearings.  If any other standards of measurement are used...

Read More

Resources

History of Land Surveying

History of Land Surveying

The history of land surveying is very interesting and diverse and it is in fact one of the oldest professions in the world. In today’s guide we shall look at the history of land surveying and how it has influenced modern land surveying. About Land Surveying Land surveying is the process by which land is surveyed and measured using mathematical means. The...

Read More

Resources

GIS Map Symbols

GIS - geographic information system

Geographic Information System (GIS) and Map Symbols All land information is stored in Geographic Information System (GIS) and can be easily recovered and used. GIS was developed to control any information that can be mapped and is related to a location. Big improvement in storing all land information was a development of the digital GIS. Anybody can use it and...

Read More

Texas Land Surveyors

Electromagnetic Distance Measurement

texas land surveyors - electromagnetic distance measurement

For many years, accurate distance measurement was the most challenging part of surveying. The introduction of electromagnetic distance measurement (EDM) has made the task of distance measuring a simple operation. Nowadays most Texas land surveyors and civil engineers will work with electronic microprocessor. These are controlled instruments that can measure long...

Read More