Land Surveying: Ethics of a Land Surveyor
Not many people realize that land surveying is actually a fusion of art and science. Yes, different equipment is available for the surveyor’s use, but the land surveyor still has the last say on the results. Despite this, though, a land surveyor still has several guidelines to follow. If you’ve had an experience with a dishonest surveyor, or are wary about hiring one, this article should help you out. Here are some key rules that all good surveyors should follow.
A surveyor should always start a project with fairness in mind. The client, as well as every party involved in the project, is expecting the surveyor to be fair and just; so the surveyor must make the best possible assessment with the evidence handed to him or her.
Before a project commences, the surveyor assigned to the project should come forward if there’s a possibility of conflict of interest. This is very important to preserve the relationship with the client. A surveyor should avoid professional impropriety by declaring involvement or any prior affiliations with any of the involved parties. It is also the surveyor’s responsibility to keep any information regarding the project, as well as the client, confidential even after the project is done.
Several cases have been reported where the surveyor overcharged the client. This usually happens when the client doesn’t know anything about land surveying. A land surveyor running his business with ethics will never do this. Fortunately, there are more honest land surveyors than dishonest ones.
The cost that a surveyor charges for a project should be based on both the technical complexity of the project and the amount of time needed to complete it. For the surveyor’s sake, as well as that of the client, the surveyor should never sign plans, certificates or reports unless these are personally supervised by him. Not only is this unfair to the client, but doing so could put the surveyor’s reputation in danger, should the results be disputed and he doesn’t know anything about them.
Just as in other industries, a land surveyor should never denigrate the capability of other surveyors or the people from the land surveying industry.
New technologies come up for land surveying all the time. When a surveyor knows that a project is beyond his skills, he should tell the client. There’s no sense accepting a project only to come up with a subpar result. It will only hurt the surveyor’s business and reputation.
Surveyors should also be responsible enough to study, thoroughly research, practice and utilize new techniques before offering clients a new service. If a surveyor is new to flood determination, for instance, then he needs to make sure that he knows how to perform it before offering it to his clients.
Surveyors do not work alone. They usually have a staff to support them. The land surveyor needs to be responsible for all actions or work carried out by his staff as well as his own.