A common question from new clients is ‘why there is not standardized pricing for surveys?’ or ‘why can’t you just tell me how much it costs?’ The short answer to this is that every piece of property is unique, with a unique history. Generally speaking, larger parcels take more time than smaller parcels and the more detailed the survey needed, the more time it takes. Here is a list of some of the considerations given to a cost estimate for a simple boundary survey.
This list of factors is not exhaustive. When surveyors get together and ‘talk shop’ we sometimes have fun talking about all the strange things that have slowed us down and caused us to go over our quick estimates. Some of my favorites have included bears, shotguns, wasps, trucks stuck in mud, closed roads, tornadoes and floods. After all, unless you have visited the site before, it always looks flat and open on the screen.
- Every parcel is unique. A simple urban lot in one subdivision can take significantly longer to survey than its neighbor across the street because of the era when the subdivision was created, title difficulties and easements, among other factors.
- The larger a parcel is, the longer it takes to get from point to point.
- The more man-made objects on the parcel, the longer it takes, generally.
- Time of year – The weather and the amount of leaves on trees can have a significant effect on the time it takes to perform a field survey. Excessively hot, cold or wet can slow the people down, while the amount of leaves on the trees and bushes prevents us from seeing long distances.
- Terrain can help or hinder you. The steeper or hillier the site, the more difficult it is to survey it.
- The more work that was done in the area previously, the better. It usually means that recorded surveys can be used to fill in details, instead of having to do additional research and fields work. It is even better when the land survey company worked in the area previously, providing personal knowledge and good field records.
- That particular surveyor may be very busy and unable to get to your work without paying overtime to their employees or they may be low on work and need to keep busy, even if it is at a reduced rate. This is often noticeable in the middle of winter. (Beware that it is not because the surveyor is taking improper shortcuts in the quality of their work.)
- The surveyor may have a very low overhead, such as working out of their home instead of renting an office.
- The surveyor may be set up to do that kind of work, having the optimal equipment for the task and creating efficiencies. A topographic survey of a busy highway is usually done with a scanner instead of with a total station, saving and being safer for the crew (providing that the surveyor can afford the expense of a scanner)
- The surveyor may have a lot of experience doing that kind of work, reducing the amount of time and effort it takes to get the work done.
- The distance from the office can help or hinder you. The farther the site is from the office, the more time is spent driving, instead of surveying.
This list of factors is not exhaustive. When surveyors get together and ‘talk shop’ we sometimes have fun talking about all the strange things that have slowed us down and caused us to go over our quick estimates. Some of my favorites have included bears, shotguns, wasps, trucks stuck in mud, closed roads, tornadoes and floods. After all, unless you have visited the site before, it always looks flat and open on the screen.
