Re: Survey Question

I say, let the neighbors spend their money.  You put up the fence, and your
fence company and their surveyor are taking the liability for it (though
unlikely they charged enough for that liability)so let it go at that.  If in
fact it is 1/2 inch, than the other surveyor has some pretty big balls to be
saying that his measurements are that much better; it is he who will be
stepping on them in court.

Acceptable tolerance is likely more than just 1/2 inch ( .0416' ).  In WA it
is 1 in 5000 but I am not sure if that would include distances in plat
surveys.  In survey terms that is a lot!  That is 1 foot for every 5000 feet
measured.  Todays realistic standards are more akin to 2-5 tenths of a foot
in 5000 feet though this does not mean we are accurate to .003 feet in 50.
My rule of thumb for found corners is 1/2 foot and (of course) this is
varied by circumstances.  Every surveyor (and even subsequent measurements
by a same surveyor) will likely come up with different results when
measuring a common line/angle/distance/offset/whatever.  That is just the
nature of the business.  this is due to error, temperature, instrument
calibration, setup, slopes, other equipment, proceedures, line obstructions,
moods, traffic, dogs near the tripod, and anything and everything else.

Now if you are talking 1/2 a foot, you need to keep in mind that you likely
have some legal stance allowing you to rely on said corners as they exist
and were staked; epecially if they have been existing for some time
(years-the more the merrier).

But all this is moot.  My (non-legal) advice is to leave the fence and go
about your life.  I hope that it is 6' so you dont have to see them when you
BBQ or mow.
By building the fence, you have effectively put the ball in their court.
Let them hire the attorney and spend the ($$$) money to defend their
property rights.  I cannot believe that there is an attorney worth his
degree that would take money to try and defend 1/2 inch. and if there is,
let the people spend the $ that attorney is going to require as a retainer
fee.
If it is a 1/2 foot, same advice applies.  Let them deal with it.  If push
comes to shove, then I say roll with it; tell them that if they want the
fence moved in the areas of concern, that they need to move it at their
expense.  This will simply force them to spend even more money to get you to
comply or to just repair the fence.  I would expect them to find little
value in the few extra blades of grass they will be mowing.  As a last
resort, move the fence and call it a day.  Or, if you really want to get
some blood boiling, you can choose to represent yourself against
litigation--take it as far as you can stand it--then simply concede leaving
the neighbors with the mounting attorney fees.  With the money you save, and
the time it will take to settle out the litigation, you will have saved
enough money and time to pay for your own law degree!



"David" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> About six months ago, we had a fence put up.  The fence company sent out a
> licensed surveyor who found the mounuments,  The fence company then put a
> string between the mounments to get the property line and then put the
fence
> 3" on our side of the property line.  Our neighbor then did a survey and
> their surveyor seemed to do something different and found part of our our
> fence is like .5" on their property.  Their surveyor placed about 10
sticks
> on his opinion of where the property line.  Six months later most of those
> sticks are still there.  Our fence guy (big company with a great
reputation)
> did come back, check the survey and told me there is no way his survey is
> mistaken.
>
> Unfortunately are neighbors have been very difficult from the time we
moved
> in, and having a productice conversation with them would be a challenge.
> So, before I try to talk to them, I would like to understand:
>
> 1.  The difference between the two types of survey's?
> 2.  Which type of survey is more accurate?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> David
>
>
>
>