The process of presenting a residential development to a local governing body doesn’t often follow a smooth trajectory from proposal to approval. Sometimes…
Category: Column
Surveyors & Law: Actions to Quiet Title
After my long hiatus from writing for The American Surveyor, its publisher, Marc Cheves, has persuaded me to again start contributing articles to…
From the Editor: Licensure Mobility
Retracement surveyors are practitioners. Our education is ceaseless but measured at minimum competence through licensure. Let’s face it, geodesy, construction staking, and topographic…
The Myth of Mobility for Professional Land Surveyors
For a long time, I thought land surveyors enjoyed the same mobility as engineers and architects. After all, state licensing boards created NCEES…
The Business of Surveying: Strategic Planning for a Survey Firm
A strategic plan is a document that outlines the results of an organization’s (including a firm, a nonprofit organization, or any other form…
Vantage Point: Micro Countries, Macro Property Questions
I recently watched a movie called “Rose Island” that sparked my curiosity. The plot is based on the true story of an Italian…
From the Editor: Rules for Tools?
What and why are you measuring? Your answers define the offer of professional services. If you don’t own the “what” and the “why”…
The Business of Surveying: Creating Your Firm’s Business Plan
Last month, I wrote about business planning in general. This column is specifically about a business plan. Whether you are the principal, owner,…
Vantage Point: Getting “To” the Point
Author’s note: The following is a lightly—but only lightly!—fictionalized version of true events. It was a real argument, and my closing salvo was…
2021 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys Adopted
After two years of concentrated effort and the input of many interested persons including several hundred surveyors, the American Land Title Association and…