the knowledge, experience, and judgment to select the
best evidence when the existing situation is
conflicting.
There are no specific rules that can be
consistently followed. In the case mentioned, the
decision as to the best evidence might be influenced
by a number of considerations. The pipe is pretty
close to the deed location of the end of the boundary.
This might, everything else being equal, be a point in
favor of considering the pipe bearing and distance,
rather than the deed bearing and distance, to be
correct. If the pipe were a considerable distance away,
it might even be presumed that it was not originally
intended to serve as a boundary marker. Additionally,
the land surveyor would consider the fact that, if the
previous survey was a comparatively recent one done
with modern equipment, it would be unlikely that the
measured bearing to the pipe would be off by much
more than a minute or the distance to the pipe off by
much more than a tenth of a foot. However, if the
previous survey was an ancient one, done perhaps
with compass and chain, larger discrepancies than
these would be probable,
Further considerations would have to be weighed
as well. If the deed said, “From [point of beginning]
along the line of Smith N26°15’E, 216.52 feet,” and
you found the remains of an ancient fence on a line
bearing N26°15’E, these remains would tend to vouch
for the accuracy of the deed bearing regardless of a
discrepancy in the actual bearing of the pipe or other
marker found.
To sum up, in any case of conflicting evidence,
you should (1) find out as much as you can about all
the evidential circumstances and conditions, using all
feasible means, including questioning of neighboring
owners and local inhabitants and examination of
deeds and other documents describing adjacent
property, and (2) select the best evidence on the basis
of all the circumstances and conditions.
As in many other professions, the primary—in
this case, the surveyor—may be held liable for
incompetent services rendered. For example, if the
surveyor has been given, in advance, the nature of the
structure to be erected on a lot, he may be held liable
for all damages or additional costs incurred as a result
of an erroneous survey; and pleading in his defense
that the survey is not guaranteed will not stand up in
court. Since a civilian professional surveyor must be
licensed before he can practice his profession, he must
show that degree of prudence, judgment, and skill
reasonably expected of a member of his profession.
LAND SURVEY GENERAL
PROCEDURE
As there are no universal rules for the weighing of
evidence, so there are no universal, unvarying rules
for land-survey procedures. The typical problem,
however, usually breaks down into the following
major action phases:
1. The location, study, and (when necessary)
interpretation of all the available deeds, contracts,
maps, wills, or other documents that contain a
description of the boundaries. The principal repository
for most of these instruments is usually the files in a city
or county records office. The mere deciphering of
ancient, handwritten documents is an art in itself. And
here again it is not unusual to encounter conflicting
evidence in the shape of documents that purport to
describe the same property but that describe it
differently. Or you may find a document in which some
of the languages may bear more than one interpretation.
In this last case you apply, as well as you can, a legal
maxim to the effect that an ambiguous document should
be given the sense that the maker of the document may
be reasonably presumed to have intended.
2. The determination, after study of all the
documents and related evidence, of what the true
property description may be presumed to be, and from
this a determination of what physical evidence of the
boundary location exists in the field. Physical evidence
means for the most part monuments. In land-surveying
speech, a monument is any identifiable object that
occupies a permanent location in the field and serves as
a reference point or marker for a boundary. A monument
may be a natural monument, such as a rock, a tree, or
the edge of a stream; or it may be an artificial
monument, such as a pipe or a concrete monument. Do
not use perishable markers for monuments, such as a
wooden marker that decays easily.
3. The location, in the field, of the existing
physical evidence of the boundaries.
4. The establishment of the boundary. That
involves those decisions previously mentioned as to the
best evidence. It also involves the setting, referencing,
and marking of points that should have been marked in
previous surveys but were not or that were marked with
markers that have since disappeared.
5. The preparation of the property description.
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