Geospatial Information Professionals and Surveyors
Plan, direct and conduct survey work to determine and delineate boundaries and features of tracts of land, construction projects, marine floors and underground works, prepare and revise maps, charts and other geographic products, and analyse, present and maintain geographical information about locations in space and time.
A boundary, a peg and a deadline
You are a registered land surveyor, out in the field to mark the boundaries of a block that is about to be sold and subdivided. It is a hot morning on the edge of town. Your assistant is setting up the equipment, the owner is watching, and the neighbours have noticed you at the fence line.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
That fence has been there for forty years and everybody knows it is the boundary. I have mowed up to it all that time. If your measurements say otherwise, then your measurements are wrong.
Tell him the fence is not the boundary and that the plans decide, not custom
Your answer is correct but it lands like a verdict. Mr Dimitri becomes defensive and refuses to let you onto his side. You may be right, but he now feels attacked, not informed.
Show him the survey marks and the old plan, explain what you are measuring and why, and tell him what happens next
He is still unhappy that the fence is off, but he understands the evidence and the process. He lets you continue and says he will speak to his own adviser. You have been honest and fair to both owners.
Mark the boundary along the fence to avoid a row
The peace lasts until the buyer's own surveyor checks months later. Now two owners have a dispute and your plan is part of it, because you marked what was easy and not what was true.
The readings from the second control point do not agree with the first. It is a small difference, but it is there. We have only half an hour before the owner wants to leave. Do we use the first or carry on?
Pick the first point and carry on, because it is probably only the heat haze
You finish on time with some measurements you cannot trust. When the numbers do not close back at the office, you will need another day on site and an uncomfortable call.
Take both sets of readings and sort out which one is right at the desk later in the week
You have the data, but the office cannot tell which set is correct without another visit. You lose the next afternoon returning, though you are honest about it.
Stop and find the reason before going on, and tell the owner the finish may slip
You find that one of the marks was knocked by a vehicle. You re-establish it, record what happened and finish later than planned. The owner is a bit cross, but the result is something you can sign.
We have buyers waiting on this subdivision. I need the plan signed today so we can start selling. You have a day's work left, but can you not just release what you have and finish the rest later?
Explain what is complete and what is not, give her a firm date and an update for buyers
Ms Okonkwo is not thrilled, but she has a date and something honest to say to her buyers. Surveyors sign their names to facts, so they cannot sign something unfinished.
Sign what you have now and trust that the rest of it will probably work out all right in the end
The plan is out, buyers sign contracts, and a month later a lot is found to be smaller than shown. Your name is on the plan, and the developer now blames the surveyor.
Refuse to speak about it until all the work is done, however long that takes
You protect the work, but Ms Okonkwo is left guessing and complains to your manager. Being firm is easier to hear when you also tell people what is possible.
How it went
By evening the marks are set, the problem point is documented and the developer has a date. Surveying is precise outdoor work, mixed with disputes where people are sure they are right. You are the one who has to be accurate and also fair. Would you like being trusted to say where the line is?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The footing that was out by a hand
A fictional case set in a surveying team working in paddocks, streets and construction sites.
The situation
Dina was an engineering surveyor on a new apartment building in Port Merrin. Her team marked out the positions of the concrete footings before the pour. The night before the concrete trucks were booked, she was reviewing the data and noticed that one corner reading did not quite agree with the others. It was only a small difference, and the site manager was already under pressure. Everyone else on site thought the marks looked fine.
What they did
Dina told the site manager that she wanted to re-measure that corner before any concrete went in. She went back at dawn, checked her equipment and found that one control point had been bumped by a machine the previous afternoon. She re-set it, re-measured the whole line and showed the manager the corrected positions on her tablet. The concrete trucks were moved back two hours.
How it turned out
One footing was out by a small amount and was corrected before it was poured. The delay cost the site a morning, and the manager was short with her. A few weeks later, when other trades checked their work against her marks, everything fitted and no one had to be told why.
What would you do?
- Would you have spoken up about a small difference when no one else saw it?
- How would you tell a stressed manager that the concrete trucks must wait?
- What does this story tell you about why accuracy matters in construction?