Land Surveying: Estimating the Cost
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Land surveying, in a nutshell, is the art and science of establishing or re-establishing property corners, property lines and/or boundaries.
There are different reasons why someone needs a piece of land surveyed. The most common would be to evaluate if a piece of land is prone to flooding, to subdivide a property to sell or deed to members of the family as well as to determine if there are any encroachments.
This could happen when a neighbour disputes that you’re using a part of his lot or vice versa (for more on this, read this page).
The Cost of Land Surveying
If you need to have a chunk of property surveyed, the first thing that will come to mind is “how much will it cost?”There are lots of factors determining exactly how much land surveying on your land would cost.
The fact that this kind of service has to be accomplished by an expert contributes a lot to the total cost of the service, but choosing a non-professional to survey your land is dangerous, and possibly illegal for the non-professional. Because of this it is best to take a good look around before settling with a surveying company.
If you must work within a particular budget, discuss this with the surveyor up-front. Many times he might be able to offer cost saving steps to get the work you need done within these cost limits.
The shape of the land also needs to be considered. A square or a rectangle piece of land is somewhat quicker to survey than an odd shaped parcel, or one with many different sides. With the latter, the surveyor would have to take more time in surveying the curves as well as the bends which means the cost of the service would increase.
The overall size of the land is also an important factor here. Bear in mind that the cost of land surveying is usually proportionate to the time and effort that the land surveyor would spend on the project. If the land that you’re having surveyed is not accessible, or has thick vegetation, then the total price of the survey might go higher.
This is true of the varying weather conditions that might impact the work. Surveying in hot weather is sort of slower to keep from putting the crew members at risk. Also, most surveying can’t be done during the rain.
When requesting a quote, keep in mind that surveyors base the estimate on expected conditions at the site. These conditions could change, leading to additional costs. Always ask about these potential additional cost scenarios.
All that being said, competitive prices are also to be expected, this is why we recommend deciding on a surveyor according to his experience and reputation rather than on the price he writes on a piece of paper.
Mostly it is better to shell out a good amount of money on a survey that’s well-done rather than choose a company with a very “affordable” price but have the survey repeated because the results were wrong. In conclusion, it is best to discuss the costs of the survey before you ask the surveyor to get started on his work.
You should also obtain a contract that lets you know what is expected of the land surveyor. This is one of the most important steps in getting your land surveyed.