Land Surveying Ethics is a discussion forum for issues involving ethics in the practice of Land Surveying.Ā Every Land Surveyor has faced or will face an ethical problem or concern.Ā This is where we air it out and compare notes.Ā What is or is not ethical is sometimes a matter of law, sometimes a matter of opinion, but always a matter of morality.
Proportioning, Profit, and other PLSS Problems
It is, indeed, my opinion that proportioning a PLSS section of land to restore the original location of the corner post should be the last resort. Unfortunately, and likely, in my opinion, that it be cost-prohibitive (for the surveyor's client) to conduct an exhaustive search, both on the ground and of public records, not to mention verbal testimonies of abutting land owners, surveyors tend to comfortably abuse the methods prescribed by, and in many cases, adopted by particular states andā¦
Read moreā¦
Thoughts
Hi, i have a question can hopefully you can answer me, am working on a project and we have a topographic map which was done by a survey consultant company 4 yrs ago, but one of our senior surveyor is saying that these points are not correct and we have to do topo of that area again because the coordinates are not matching with his, i thought is it possible that the prism constant might be different when topo was done 4 yrs ago than what prism we are using, that was my opinion. please tell me if am right or wrong and also please tell me what factors affect the points of topo or any survey.Ā
David C. Garcelon presents a very interesting set of questions related to ethics. Ā I have added my responses.
"Is Land Surveying ethics different than Civil Engineering ethics? ...or Political Ethics?" Ā The ethical professional, notwithstanding specialization, categorization, departmentalization, compartmentalization, or any other "ization", except realization, will conduct business in an ethical manner, and without prejudice. Ā As far as the oxymoron of political ethics is concerned, I do not consider politicians to be professionals, only public servants. Ā
"Can we separate out Ethics, Morality, Legality, Diplomacy, Professionalism, Decency, etc. from each other?" Ā We can make an attempt at pulling apart a matrix of interconnected doctrines and human behaviors, dissecting the very nature of the whole, but how difficult that must be.
"When a potential client asks us to survey their property lines and provide them with a plan..BUT..they do not want the plan recorded, how should we respond?" Ā In most jurisdictions, failure to record, file, or otherwise make express notice of the results of a land survey constitutes professional misconduct, however, land planning does not constitute land surveying.
"When we think "the law is a ass" as Bumberry said in Charles Dickens novel, do we tell the client and use it as an excuse to ignore the law?" Ā "The law can not be ignored, and the ethical professional should not be ignorant of the law.
"When we find what we think is an error by another surveyor do we tell our client, the board of registration, or the surveyor?" Ā In my professional opinion, the ethical course of action would be to first contact the surveyor as a professional courtesy, allowing the surveyor to correct or debunk that which may or may not be an error in the first place. Ā I do not believe that approaching a client without first consulting the originator of the apparent error is ethical behavior. Ā If another surveyor is, in fact, in error, and consistently and chronically in error, perhaps the board of registration should be petitioned for an investigation, but only as a last resort.
I look forward to reading other opinions.
Scott D. Warner, R.L.S.
Scott,
Land Surveying ethics is a great subject to discuss!
Is Land Surveying ethics different than Civil Engineering ethics? ...or Political Ethics?
Can we separate out Ethics, Morality, Legality, Diplomacy, Professionalism, Decency, etc. from each other?
When a potential client asks us to survey their property lines and provide them with a plan..BUT..they do not want the plan recorded, how should we respond?
When we think "the law is a ass" as Bumberry said in Charles Dickens novel, do we tell the client and use it as an excuse to ignore the law?
When we find what we think is an error by another surveyor do we tell our client, the board of registration, or the surveyor?
I hope you generate a lot of discussion with this forum!
David C. Garcelon