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“Most Surveyors Are Bad Boundary Surveyors”
Posted by jph on April 8, 2022 at 11:58 amjph replied 1 year, 8 months ago 22 Members · 54 Replies- 54 Replies
hmmmm
how about you stop making videos on bad boundary Surveyors, and you report them to the board….not doing that seems like you’re condoning it.
Maybe you should ask him for a job, you might learn something.
This video bothers me a lot. I guess that my problem is that he makes a pretty bold, and somewhat slanderous statement about most of the profession, but then in the video, giving his reasons, he never backs up the statement.
The underlying message here is that he’s not one of the bad ones.
I think if I were a California surveyor, I might consider submitting this video to the BOR/BOL and see what they think of it. In my opinion it’s a form of self-aggrandizing, and could be consider as boastful advertising. And I know that’s not allowed by most Boards
- Posted by: @half-bubble
Maybe you should ask him for a job, you might learn something.
????
- Posted by: @jph
This video bothers me a lot. I guess that my problem is that he makes a pretty bold, and somewhat slanderous statement about most of the profession, but then in the video, giving his reasons, he never backs up the statement.
The underlying message here is that he’s not one of the bad ones.
I think if I were a California surveyor, I might consider submitting this video to the BOR/BOL and see what they think of it. In my opinion it’s a form of self-aggrandizing, and could be consider as boastful advertising. And I know that’s not allowed by most Boards
first, Landon does try hard, and I believe his intentions are honorable.
…and I do also agree this video is more self promotion than anything else.
His experience, although he says it is spanning 20 odd years, is limited.
Limited to one small geographical region, and to attaining his personal goals in that area.Fortunately, I did experience the opposite in my first dozen or so years… as I worked Mainly in boundary and had great mentors.
Later in my carer working in Different Locations, I too saw the lack of knowledge and skill with surveyors attempting to perform boundary surveys. I’m claiming 0.153 hrs. of CEU’s towards my next renewal.
That is a bit hyperbolic but I??m not offended by it.
I wouldn??t put it in terms of good vs bad. Boundaries are a civil matter, moral judgments aren??t part of the equation. It??s more like the Judge says, right, wrong or indifferent what did the people involved do? If we don??t know what they did or they did nothing physically then read the deed and stake it.
Also the deed is a guide to the reasonableness of what they actually did but often reasonableness does not enter the court room. There is a California case where they were 500 feet off, the Court looked at the conduct of the 2 owners and said that??s where they put it so that is where it is.
Easier ways to make money?
Really?
Construction surveys?
I can’t make much if any money doing “construction surveys”. And that’s been so for 40 years, they’ve always been fill-in jobs.
Now with all the rules, regulations associated with construction, I’m out anyway.
He must work in a waaaayyyyy different environment than I do.
I’m glad I work where boundary surveys have been done mostly professionally for decades.
My big issue being is his condescending superior attitude, building himself up by putting others down.
As said, some Boards call this out specifically
Look like another case of what I call “Lucas Syndrome“.
When one takes a professional interest in expanding their knowledge of boundary common law beyond the standard texts they turn to reading case law. When you read a lot of case law you get exposed to a limit number of boundary surveys (compared to the tens or hundreds of thousands that don’t end up in court, or are settled in a lower court) where something was egregious enough to escalate to litigation.
Over time, you’re exposed to a body of previously performed boundary surveys where (at least) half of the surveyors did something wrong; and if you don’t acknowledge the biases this can create you start to believe that half the practicing surveyors don’t know what they are doing.
- Posted by: @james-fleming
Look like another case of what I call “Lucas Syndrome“.
When one takes a professional interest in expanding their knowledge of boundary common law beyond the standard texts they turn to reading case law. When you read a lot of case law you get exposed to a limit number of boundary surveys (compared to the tens or hundreds of thousands that don’t end up in court, or are settled in a lower court) where something was egregious enough to escalate to litigation.
Over time, you’re exposed to a body of previously performed boundary surveys where (at least) half of the surveyors did something wrong; and if you don’t acknowledge the biases this can create you start to believe that half the practicing surveyors don’t know what they are doing.
That’s a valuable perspective, one that I had not considered before.
in all publications the leed is powerful, it sets the tone of the rest of the story… the part that is often not read or considered.
the 10 minute tirade is often ignored, and the nuggets within are lost
- Posted by: @james-fleming
Over time, you’re exposed to a body of previously performed boundary surveys where (at least) half of the surveyors did something wrong; and if you don’t acknowledge the biases this can create you start to believe that half the practicing surveyors don’t know what they are doing
It is possible that neither surveyor did anything wrong in a boundary dispute. It is entirely possible that they don’t even disagree. The court case is not caused by a surveyor, in most cases.
Also, it is possible for two surveyors to disagree and still not have either of them doing anything incorrectly in terms of professional care.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. - Posted by: @jph
This video bothers me a lot. I guess that my problem is that he makes a pretty bold, and somewhat slanderous statement about most of the profession, but then in the video, giving his reasons, he never backs up the statement.
The underlying message here is that he’s not one of the bad ones.
I think if I were a California surveyor, I might consider submitting this video to the BOR/BOL and see what they think of it. In my opinion it’s a form of self-aggrandizing, and could be consider as boastful advertising. And I know that’s not allowed by most Boards
I don’t know the guy, and while I applaud his attempt to explain why choosing the cheapest may not be the best, it is my opinion that denigrating your profession is not a good idea.
And, FWIW, I know more good boundary surveyors than I do good construction surveyors. A good construction surveyor that can correctly and efficiently survey for commercial, residential, heavy civil, vertical construction, monitoring, etc is worth their weight in gold because they are difficult to find and harder to hire away from wherever they are at. More likely you find someone that knows one or two of those. Even then, they can be hard to find.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. - Posted by: @dougiePosted by: @dmyhill
it is possible for two surveyors to disagree and still not have either of them doing anything incorrectly in terms of professional care.
This seems to happen a lot up here…
LOL, that is how I know it is possible. I have seen surveys where two well respected surveyors come to two different conclusions and I can follow how both got there, and without any obvious flaws. Sometimes in this profession you have to make a decision and explain what and why. BUT, we are also supposed to reveal when there is ambiguity. Generally speaking that happens when the other was unaware of the the other’s work.
I once found another guy’s corners and no record of survey and when I called he had just set them. I disagreed with their location, and was able to explain why, and he explained why he disagreed with me. I think we were seeing eye to eye by the time were were done, but that could easily have been two different surveys that had different answers for very good reasons.
We all try to decide like a judge would, but we are not trained jurists for the most part.
-All thoughts my own, except my typos and when I am wrong. ????
I wholeheartedly agree that most surveyors are bad boundary surveyors, but I wouldn’t try to sell myself to the public with that statement.
Except for me. LMAO
Sometimes when surveying a boundary I may disagree with what my predecessor did but IT??S NOT ABOUT ME!
If more Land Surveyors understood this we would have a lot fewer problems. If something was done a long time ago EVEN IF INCORRECTLY then leave it alone. It is not about me and my ego.
There was a conflict between two surveyors here 15 years ago. 20 years before that surveyor 1 found some evidence in an old area and monumented his client??s lot (call it A) and filed the required documents. Then he surveyed another lot in the block at the time of the conflict, call it B. Surveyor 2 enters the scene to survey the neighbor of B and disagrees on whether to use the split of improvements on an intermediate street (admittedly Surveyor 1 treated 2 blocks as one but in my opinion he had good reasons to do so). Surveyor 1 says the curbs are different physically and of different vintages. Surveyor 2 doesn??t care. This results in about a 1 foot conflict.
If surveyor 2 could stop being an overly rigid technocrat for 5 minutes he could see there is no need to disturb the peace of the neighborhood like that.
The appellate courts call this ??The Substantial Evidence Rule.? If substantial evidence supports a judgment, even if substantial evidence supports the opposite conclusion they will not disturb the judgment unless there is no evidence supporting the judgment. ??Good? boundary surveyors can apply the wisdom of this to their decisions.
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