P.O. Box 5008, Cortland, NY 13045
The Survey Process
A typical survey consists of several parts: research, fieldwork, boundary analysis, drafting, and setting pins/line marking. This page will give you an explanation of each step so that you know what to expect when you order a survey.
Step One: Research
When we receive an order for a boundary survey, the first thing we must do is research the property. Using an online resource such as Imagemate, we will search by address or tax parcel ID to find information on the size, location, ownership, and current deed of the property. For some counties, there may be a direct link to the current deed and survey map (if there is one filed). In other counties, we may have to search on the county clerk’s website, or visit the clerk’s office.
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In addition to finding all current deeds and maps for the survey property, we also must find these documents for all of the adjoining properties. This is important because it helps us to identify any discrepancies between neighboring parcel descriptions and gives the field surveyor more evidence to look for. Some legal descriptions may even rely on neighboring deeds for the description of the property. For instance, it is not uncommon for a property to be described in the following form:
“All that land located in the Town of Cortlandville, County of Cortland, New York,
bounded on the north by lands of Johnson, on the east by lands of Smith,
on the South by lands of Jones, and on the west by lands of Miller.”
In this case, since there are no distances or bearings describing the property, we actually must survey all four of the adjoining properties in order to find the remainder. This situation is complicated even further if any of the adjoining properties are described in a similar way. This is one common reason for a survey of a small lot taking longer than anticipated.
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In instances where the boundary is difficult to determine, we may need to identify previous deeds and maps of the survey property and/or the adjoining properties. We may request an abstract, especially if there is evidence of a highway taking. All of these documents are part of the puzzle of reconstructing your property line. The amount of research needed and the difficulty of conducting research vary widely depending on the circumstances of the survey and may have some effect on the price and timeline of the survey.
Step Two: Field Work
The next step in the process is the field work. This is when the survey crew (usually 1-3 people) shows up at your property. Generally, they will start by walking around the edges of your property to look for the corner monuments (or pins). These may be iron pipes, rods, t-bars, etc. (Fig. 1). Occasionally, concrete monuments, trees, fenceposts, and other objects are used.
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The surveyor will conduct a thorough search at every corner of the property. If he finds a pin, he will tie orange or pink flagging around it, and place either a flag or wooden stake next to it for visibility. Otherwise, he will note that the pin is not found. It is not uncommon for pins to be a few inches underground, so you may see us digging around.
Figure 1: Corner monuments can take many forms. From left to right, a capped T-bar, an iron rebar, a concrete monument, and a capped rod from the Army Corps of Engineers
As he walks around the property, the surveyor may locate the pins with a GPS unit or total station. He will also shoot other boundary evidence, such as fences, hedgerows, rock walls, creeks and banks, as well as other significant features that will be shown on the map (e.g. driveways, wells, roads, utility poles, swimming pools, ponds, sidewalks, etc.). He will often also look for corner pins on neighboring properties. If you are subdividing, he will locate landmarks necessary to calculate the subdivision based on your intention.
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In the process of traversing, the surveyor will usually put nails in the ground at strategic points to set up the total station over. These are known as traverse points. It is important not to disturb these nails at least until you are sure that the surveyor is finished with your property.
Finally, before leaving the surveyor will make a sketch of the property and any buildings on it. This will help the draftsman to draw the property accurately.
Figure 2: Survey Equipment: From left to right, a total station, a GPS rover, and a GPS base setup
Step Three:
Boundary Determination & Drafting
Once all of the data has been collected in the field, it will be sent back to the office to be used by the surveyor for a boundary determination and a final map. All points will loaded into a computer program called Carlson Survey. Then, the draftsman will enter in bearings and distances from deeds and/or maps of the survey property and surrounding properties. This creates a “mosaic” of properties that shows how everything fits together and makes any discrepancies between neighboring lot descriptions obvious.
The draftsman then aligns the deed/map boundaries to the points to see how well the locations of actual pins in the ground match the record description of the property. If there are significant differences between what is shown on paper and what is actually on the ground, the surveyor will have to make a decision about what to hold. This can be a complicated process with many factors involved. For example, if there is good evidence that the pins in the ground are original monumentation, then they will most likely determine the location of the boundary. However, if there is not good evidence for this, then the bearings and distances in the deeds may control. All boundary decisions are reviewed by Jamie before a map is finalized.
If you have any questions about how we determine the boundary, ask us and we will be glad to explain it to you. Ultimately, the surveyor’s job is to show all evidence on a map and offer a professional opinion on the location of the boundary; however, complex legal issues and boundary disputes (such as those involving adverse possession) will be decided by a judge if taken to court.
The final survey map will show bearings and distances around your property, area of the property in acres, all monuments found and set, other evidence used, all buildings and other improvements on the property, offsets from buildings and improvements to the property line, ownership and deed information, a tie to a nearby intersection or other point of interest.
Step Four:
Pin Setting and Line Marking
After the boundary has been determined, the survey crew may return to your property to replace missing pins. We will never pull a pin out of the ground unless we set it ourselves, but we may place a second pin in the correct location. Moving or removing survey monuments is illegal and problematic. Our pins are iron rebars with yellow caps that read "Denkenberger Surveying".
In addition to placing pins at the corners of the property, we may mark the line with wood stakes and flagging if included in the order. This provides better clarity about the location of the line in cases where there is no direct line of sight between corners.
Pin setting is usually the last step in the process, and it may not occur until a few weeks after the maps have been delivered, unless requested earlier.
After the pins have set and the map delivered, the survey is finished.