Wisconsin Administrative Code chapter AE-7 details the minimum standards for property surveys conducted in the state of Wisconsin.  This chapter allows for certain requirements to be waived by the client.  Of the minimum standards, all items with the exception of a map of the work performed can be waived*.  Therefore, one of the exceptions allowed is that of the monumentation of the parcel of land surveyed.  It can be argued that the monumentation of the lot is the most important part of the survey performed and should only be waived in extraordinary circumstances.

I have stated that the map cannot be waived.  The map provided to the client will typically show the boundary lines of the lot with the exact length and bearings of those lines, any monuments found or set, the size and material the monuments are made of, a tie to the U.S. public land survey system, and a legal description.  Because the map shows the property, many clients believe that the value of the surveying services they have paid for is therefore the map.  So if that is the case, then why is monumentation so important?

A land owner who hires a Professional Surveyor to prepare a boundary survey of their property may only see a field crew for a few hours and assume that is the extent of the work being done.  There is however a significant amount of work performed beyond the brief time spent on the lot.  There is the researching of deeds and old surveys, calculating of the boundary, drafting of the map, the locating of monuments found on the lot and adjacent lots to tie into subdivision corners, or U.S. public land survey monuments, and the possibility for much more additional work depending on local requirements.  For many surveys, the time spent retracing the legal descriptions, boundaries, and everything else done to complete the boundary can easily exceed the actual time spent on the lot. 

It is now apparent that a significant amount of time can be invested in the retracement of a parcel of land.  Many monuments on the lot and on adjacent lots will be located.  Government section corners possibly a mile away may need to be located.  In order to prepare a survey a surveyor must have a preponderance of evidence to show where the lot corner is.  Case law states that legal descriptions, and a survey maps are only guides to the monuments.  Case law also confirms that found original monument locations hold over the bearings and distances found in the legal descriptions and shown on other survey maps.  Artificial monuments are second only to natural monuments as evidence.  A survey that is prepared where missing monuments are not placed in the ground opens the door for misinterpretation of the map in the future.  A misintrepretation of the map would then render all of the above listed work a waste of time except for the time to draft the map.  A survey map without monuments is simply a pretty picture. 

In my next article, I will discuss the reasons for waiving lot corner monumentation.

 

 

*A U.S. public land survey monument record, if required, may not be waived either.  This record generally benefits the surveying community, and the general public more than it does the client paying for the survey.