When do I need the services of a Professional Land Surveyor?

When preparing to:

Buy or sell land.
Erect fencing or buildings near property lines.
Subdividing Land
Flood Elevation Certification
Determining Area or Boundaries
Divide an Estate.

I hired my surveyor to survey my property. Why is he working down the road on my neighbor's land?

It is often absolutely necessary for a surveyor to obtain information and evidence from adjoining tracts when determining boundaries. If your deed calls specifically for the adjoining owner's bounds and does not otherwise describe the bounds then the only way to determine the boundary is to survey the adjoining tract. When dealing with original land lot lines the surveyor may be faced with establishing nearly a mile of boundary to obtain a few hundred feet of your boundary. It should be remembered that a survey reflects not only your bounds but those of your adjoins.

My land is cleared and has no brush on it. This should drastically lower the cost of my survey shouldn't it?

Maybe, often roughness of terrain can affect the final fee for a survey. Heavy vegetation and swamp areas may impede or slow the pace of a survey thereby creating more billable hours. However, the surveyor's fees are not based entirely on labor. There are many factors involved in determining final fees. Some of these are:

Legal issues: Poor descriptions, lack of recent surveys, disputed bounds, research hours, etc. are all a part of your survey. What appears simple is often very complex.

Lack of monumentation: If your bounds are not described properly and little/no physical evidence is available the surveyor may have a very complex job ahead.

Liability: A surveyor has limited liability in his or her actions therefore the more valuable the property often the more liability extended to the client and his or her assigns.

I only wanted one corner marked. Why did it cost so much to have this performed?

The surveyor must, in professional capacity, assume liability for his/her actions. Finding the physical monument is only a part of the process. Verification of the monument is the final step. The surveyor must treat each measurement with care, research all available legal documents, analyze all the evidence and then form an opinion before placing or accepting a monument. Quite often the surveyor will spend as much time verifying one monument as he/she would in verifying the entire boundary.

If my deed states acreage or distance in more or less terms this is limited to only a small fraction in difference of the total value given doesn't it?

No, absolutely not.
Acreage is determined by the bounds only. Acreage holds the absolute lowest value in order of importance when determining bounds. Fifty acres "more or less" can theoretically be one acre or one thousand acres. "More or Less" is a red flag term used in deed descriptions. One thought comes to mind in its use: "Buyer Beware"

"Courses and distances occupy the lowest, instead of the highest grade, in the scale of evidence as to the identification of land." Chief Justice Lumpkin - Riley v. Griffin, 16 Ga. 141, (1854)

The Courts will hold void for uncertainty of terms any description that, without otherwise fixing the boundaries, designates the distances as "about" or as "more or less", and or gives directions such as "northerly", "westerly", or "southeasterly".
Smith v. Ga. Ind. Rlty. Co., 215 Ga. 431 Rogers v. Manning, 203 Ga. 771 (1948)

If your deed calls for distances to a physical monument, that monument is the corner regardless of how far or short the called for course. This may be a few feet or even a few hundred feet depending on the situation.

If your deed calls for more or less and does not affix the boundaries by further descriptive terms your deed may be held invalid. More or less is the red flag of descriptive terms and should be used carefully and rarely.

Can I survey my own property?

Yes. Under Illinois law a landowner is entitled to the right of surveying his/her own boundaries. This right however is much like being able to represent oneself in court - legal but not very advisable.

A forester flagged my property lines to harvest timber by. Is this a survey?

Absolutely not. A forester may flag approximate lines for harvesting timber but the forester is not a Professional Land Surveyor. If a forester is found in neglect from not hiring a surveyor to mark boundary lines he/she may be held responsible for any damages.

To settle a boundary dispute can my neighbor and I agree on the location legally?

Sometimes, quite often agreed property lines are the best solution for settling disputed boundaries. This action may settle long term disputes, keep the peace in the community, and allow you to live in harmony. A formal boundary agreement should be described, witnessed, signed, and recorded. Having a surveyor draft a plat depicting this agreement is the simplest solution. It may also be necessary to exchange quit claim deeds to clarify title along agreed boundaries.

Once a surveyor marks my boundaries no one can dispute those locations right?

Wrong, though the courts hold the surveyor to be an expert in matters of boundaries and will hold the testimony and opinions of the surveyor in high regards, the surveyor is not the final word in the case of disputed boundaries. A surveyor provides an opinion as to where the location of the bounds lie and accepts liability for this opinion but the surveyor is not the final word in boundaries nor is the surveyor a hired gun to force boundaries upon other parties. Any person has the right to contest any matter before the courts. The final word in boundary matters falls to the courts and their assigns.

The person who sold me my property signed a survey affidavit declaring the property void of encroachments. Is this legal?

Sadly Yes.
This action is currently held to be legal from an Attorney General's opinion. Some States have declared this as surveying without a license and illegal. The question then becomes as to whether or not it is advisable to accept this affidavit. The answer is a clear no. Think about it. Did you accept a termite inspection performed by the owner or a certified pest control agent, did you accept a letter of clear title from the owner or from a qualified attorney, did you accept a home inspection from the owner or from a bonded home inspector. If you have closed on your investment without a current survey you truly have no idea as to where your bounds lie nor if there are looming legal problems accepted without your knowledge.

Before I bought my property my realtor pointed out my boundaries. Now I have hired a surveyor and he disagrees with those locations. Why?

The time to have your property surveyed is before you buy not after.
A realtor, banker, attorney, or any professional other than a Professional Land Surveyor should not point out where boundaries lie. They have neither training nor expertise in determining the physical locations of your boundaries. Assumptions are one of the main causes of boundary disputes and can cost thousands of dollars in litigation fees. Any professional that the public relies upon should be very careful when making statements regarding boundaries or when pointing out boundaries. This action can be construed, as unlicensed practice of surveying which is both unethical and illegal.

My attorney provided me with a certificate of clear title and title insurance. These certificates ensure me that my property is free and clear of any encumbrances and guarantees my boundaries don't they?

No, absolutely not.
Certificates of clear title and title insurance do ensure you that there are no written encumbrances of record, such as owed taxes, bank notes, written easements, or liens affecting the property.
Read Schedule "B" of your title insurance policy very carefully. If statements such as "warranted to matters excluding those that may be discovered through a survey of the property" or other statements that exclude discoveries made by a survey exist in the policy you may be in trouble.

Without a current survey of the property you are purchasing there is no guarantee to matters of unwritten rights such as, possession or prescriptive rights. Overlapping fences, drives, walkways, and utility lines can present rights of possession and prescription.

Other matters that cannot be derived from the attorney's office are physical encroachments, overlapping deed descriptions, overlapping monumentation, and illegal zoning uses.

And last but not least, a deed description or older plat becomes a mere piece of paper that only lends clues as to where your boundaries lie if they are not clearly identified on the ground by physical monuments.

My realtor and attorney have advised me to forgo the expense of a current survey by closing the transaction using an older survey of the property. Is this truly advisable?

Buyer beware!

Read the date of the original survey you are using. If the survey is older than six years there is no liability extended. Under current statutes in Illinois law a surveyor's liability only extends for a period of six years from the date of the survey. If there are errors and omissions in this survey then you have absolutely no recourse against the surveyor.

Read over the plat of survey carefully. Many surveyors are now using copyrights that only extend to fair use doctrine for boundary determination. If the original surveyor has issued and filed a copyright of this plat its use and mere copying of this plat for financial transactions may land you, your attorney, and your realtor in a very dangerous legal situation.

Do you know in fact that there have been no changes to the property in the last several years? Have structures or fences been built near or across the property lines? Have adjoining owners bought or sold their lands recently? Do their deed descriptions and plats overlap into your bounds?

Having your property surveyed and certified to you in name is the only way to be assured that the above problems do not exist and to know where your bounds physically lie.

How much will my survey cost?

The better question is how much will not having my property surveyed cost?

Yes, money will exchange hands this amount may be several hundred dollars or several thousand dollars depending on the scope of services and time involved. The purchase of a home, a farm, or development property is often the largest investment one will make in a lifetime. The only way to be assured that what you have been presented with actually exists is to have the property surveyed. A Professional Land Surveyor must accept limited liability for his or her actions thereby creating a pseudo-insurance policy guaranteeing your boundaries and the peace of mind that there are no problems affecting the boundaries.

If you must question cost think of it this way: Will you spend less now by having your property surveyed thereby fully exposing potential legal issues or will it cost more later to resolve these issues in court after you have already purchased the problem?

I hired an unlicensed individual who advertises to provide surveying. He works in his own office but has a licensed surveyor in another town stamp and certifies his work without actually supervising the services. Is this legal?

No, absolutely not. Report this situation immediately to the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors through the Secretary of State's office. If you do not want to report this offense directly you should contact a reputable surveyor or surveying society to assist you in filing the complaint. In the State of Illinois each office that offers surveying must have a resident Professional Land Surveyor. This Professional Land Surveyor must not only be present during normal operating hours but must be personally involved in the process of performing the surveying services.

Individuals involved in practices such as above are bottom feeders and frauds who are interesting in only making money at your expense. When obtaining the services of a Professional Land Surveyor always ask to meet the licensed individual and ask for his/her registration number.

Even offering surveying services verbally is considered to be practicing surveying. Practicing surveying without a license is not, and should not, be taken lightly.

A local Land Surveyor is employed by the Department of Transportation and runs a private business out of his home. His fees appear to be substantially less than the full time surveyors in the area. Does his employment with DOT make him more experienced and why should I pay more for the full time surveyor?

First, Department of Transportation surveyors do very little, if any, boundary surveying, therefore they tend to be the least experience surveyors available to you.

Second, just as inexperienced Doctors, Lawyers, and other professionals tend to have lower fees than their experience counterparts, inexperience Land Surveyors tend to have fees that are lower than other, more experienced practitioners. You should choose any Professional based on the faith and trust that you will receive the highest quality service with the least chance for problems and not solely on what it will cost initially. The final cost of inexperience will be much more that retaining the services of and experienced, full-time professional.

A Land Surveyor is surveying my neighbor's property. He has asked permission to traverse across my land to access monuments on my property. Why does he need to survey on my property?

Above you will see a question related to this action. Further explained many deed descriptions and recorded surveys are referenced to monuments found in remote locations and on adjoining lands. The surveyor must often access adjoining lands to verify monuments to be assured of his or her findings. Many States have recognized this action as a necessity in maintaining legal boundaries and to have provision of evidence to the courts. The States, which have recognized the need for surveyors to gain access to adjoining lands during the course of a survey, have written laws allowing surveyors rights to access. The State of Illinois does not currently have a right of access for Professional Land Surveyors, but Professional Land Surveyors may only be held liable for damage to the property and cannot be arrested for trespass. Please remember to keep an open mind when asked for permission from a surveyor to traverse across your land. This is a very important action and may actually benefit you in years to come. Be polite, ask the surveyor for a clear reason for permission, ask for his or her business contacts if you have questions, and always remember the surveyor is just doing his or her duty as a professional.