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It depends on the laws in your specific area and the contract you have with your client.
Here is Texas the law states:
"(1) Shall not agree to perform services for a client, employer, or the public if there exists
any significant financial or other interest that may be in conflict with the obligation to
render a faithful discharge of such services, except with the full knowledge, approval, and
consent of the client or employer and all other parties involved;"
"(2) Shall not continue to render such services without informing the client or employer,
and all other parties involved, of any and all circumstances involved which may in any
way affect the performance of such services, and then only with the full approval of the
client or employer;"
"(6) Shall keep inviolate the confidences of his/her client or employer, except as otherwise
required in the rules of conduct.
In my mind, this language suggests that as a Professional Land Surveyor you owe a certain confidentiality to your client. For example If I receive a request from a 3rd party for a copy of a survey or report I have produced then our policy is to contact our original client and seek their permission to release it.
That being said, our contract states that the material is ours exclusively and that by providing our client a copy of it we are not granting them a license to that material or giving permission to them to reproduce and distribute it to 3rd parties other than what is necessary for the purpose of the original transaction with our client.
It is prudent to engage in this type of practice for all the services and products you render to your clients. It limits your liability and greatly reduces the amount of misunderstandings that can occur between you, your client and 3rd parties.
Any how I think we are liable to the society to produce any evidence of our work as we do somting not only To CLIENT!
Views appriciated.....
Regarding contractual work,it depends on the legality of the thing you do,
For an example you establish control points to a road project,once the project is completed nothing left behind except the finished road.
So our liabilities will end after the contract.of course if you preserve the data you can make use of it then There is No CLIENT......
Stephen,
There is a fairly clear difference between a client paying you for a service you perform and having ownership of your data that made it possible to perform that service. You own the data; and in that sense are no different than a lawyer, doctor, etc.
You have the right to give copies of your data to the client, but you do not have to. I have found that the client that receives your complicated data usually uses it to second guess you or to pass on to another surveyor because he doesn't like what you did and wants to get another surveyor to say you are wrong!
HOWEVER, if someone other than your client should ask for copies of plans , etc. that you provided your client, you should only do so with permission from the client and with the clearly stated caveat that you are not responsible for the use of the plans, etc. by that person, it must be in writing, and a Document signed by the person requesting the plans.....it can be a very dangerous situation and should be avoided! My response to a request like that is: Why don't you get that information from my client?
I have always felt that copyrighting data you collected for a specific clients job is subject to being contested legally and gives you a false sense of security.
Why would you want to SELL the data to anyone? You could USE the data to do an abuttors or nearby survey, and in that sense it has a monetary value to you.
David C. Garcelon
I agree with David on this. I place a copyright notice on my survey drawing and there is a paragraph in my contract that addresses ownership of the "work". But, sometimes I also will call the client, especially if I think there might be some sensitivity to what I am giving out. I have also used this to keep from giving my work away to a third party.
Keith
Pure experience