What does a land surveyor do?

I have often pondered this question and watched surveyors and mapping professionals struggle with a proper answer. But look at doctors and ask, “What does a doctor do?”. The answer you often hear is, “They save lives”. But how often are most doctors saving lives? The importance of doctors and visiting health professionals is to stay healthy, if we only wait for life saving measures, we are missing the point.

So back to Surveyors, what do they do? I thought I would ask the Chatbot on www.chat.openai.com and here is the answer I received...

"A land surveyor is a professional who measures, analyzes and maps out land features, boundaries, and other physical and legal aspects of a particular area of land. Their main role is to determine the precise location and measurement of land for various purposes, such as property ownership, construction, engineering, and mapping. Some of the tasks that a land surveyor typically performs include:

1. Conducting field surveys: Surveyors use a variety of equipment and techniques, such as GPS, lasers, and total stations, to measure the boundaries and features of a piece of land.

2. Creating maps and plans: Surveyors use the data they collect in the field to create detailed maps, plans, and legal descriptions of the land they survey.

3. Determining property boundaries: Surveyors identify and mark property boundaries and prepare legal descriptions of the land for property owners, developers, and other interested parties.

4. Providing advice and consultation: Surveyors may provide advice and consultation to property owners, developers, and government agencies on land use, zoning, and other related issues.

Overall, the work of a land surveyor is critical in ensuring that land is properly and accurately mapped, measured, and managed." -chatGPT

I just love the last part, the work is critical to properly and accurately map, measure, and manage land. Of course we do so many more things in the field with our fancy equipment and muddy boots, but those means have an end.

I encourage you to contact your local surveyor and just as we do with doctors, don’t wait until there is a dispute with a neighbor or municipality, don’t wait until you need the survey done on Tuesday for the fence install on Wednesday, don’t put it off and hope they built the garage within your boundary. Build a relationship with your surveyor, get the boundary marked, so when anything comes up, the Surveyor can quickly respond and defend your property rights.

In order to safeguard life, health or property, the Land Surveyor is the only professional that can work on “the location, relocation, establishment, reestablishment or retracement of any property line or boundary of any parcel of land or any road right-of-way, easement or alignment” Engineer, Land Surveyor And Geologist Registration Law Act of May 23, 1945, P.L. 913, No. 367 Cl. 63 Act of May 23, 1945, P.L. 913, No. 367 Cl. 63.

Join as a Basic Member today, only $75 a year, at https://www.pasurveyor.net/plans-pricing to have a proper land consultation with a Pennsylvania Licensed Professional Land Surveyor. Walk the lines, review the recorded documents, and make decisions on the needed work to be done and the deliverables desired. With this knowledge in hand, you will always feel certain about the location of your land and be able to properly defend your rights.

What does a Surveyor do? Surveyors defend and protect your property rights.