Land Surveyor Responsibilities

A land surveyor is a professional who is assigned with a wide range of land surveyor responsibilities like creating maps, plotting the boundaries for a particular piece of land, preparing, writing, and drafting all the legal descriptions that will help in better planning and development. To carry out these duties efficiently, he/she makes effective use of various tools, mapping systems, computers, etc., compiles the relevant information and interprets it in the final work. If you are aspiring to become a land surveyor, it is essential that you are well aware of the various duties that need to be carried out by this professional and the relevant educational background and skills that are required to make a successful career. For this, provided here is a detailed description of the above mentioned points that will offer you better guidance on how to embark upon this career option.

Key Responsibilities of a Land Surveyor

The land surveyor is responsible for gathering all the information related to land, its position, dimensions, and shape that is used by the planners, engineers and other related specialists for the purpose of mapping. The primary responsibility of the land surveyor is to identify the boundaries and to measure the distances between the man made or natural features, create maps, schedulde the surveying activities, write reports and supervise and oversee the work of the subordinate staff members. Listed below are some of the typical duties that need to carried out by this professional:

1. To understand the clients' motive behind doing the survey and to carry it out for determining the boundary lines, retracing the government survey lines by carrying out a thorough research work of that area and gathering all the information about the previous boundary lines and surveys
2. To use Global Positioning Systems equipment as it utilizes the data from the satellite, thus ensuring better accuracy to determine the boundaries and record the relevant findings
3. To assemble all the pertinent information and data, make all the relevant survey calculations and reduce the field notes
4. To plot the data of field by making effective use of various computer programs, to construct maps and to prepare the relevant work reports
5. To determine the elevations for various surfaces of the land and to make vertical control surveys for aerial surveys
6. To maintain and update findings and records in appropriate reports and to classify all the essential and non-essential functions that need to be carried out

The land surveyor in addition to the above listed responsibilities is accountable for overseeing the work of the professional staff by reviewing their work, assisting them in prioritizing their work, resolving the discrepancies or any other issues, and coordinating the relevant work activities. He/she is involved in researching about the legal boundaries and traveling to the sites to measure the elevations, contours, etc. He/she is responsible for investigating any encroachments or easements and reports them to the concerned personnel, thereby assisting in settling the boundary disputes. He/she also plays a crucial role wherein there is no supporting legal documentation available. In such cases, he/she make use of various legal laws, evidences and mapping tools to determine the boundaries for that particular land and may be required to present their findings during the testimony. Thus, he/she needs to handle a wide array of duties that should be carried out with a complete sense of responsibility.

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

If you are aspiring to become a land surveyor, you must have at least some of the following skills, abilities and knowledge:

• He/she should have the ability to make arithmetic computations speedily and accurately as well as record them properly.
• He/she should have in depth knowledge of land surveying, state laws, etc., and should to able to apply them effectively.
• He/she should be able to handle various surveying equipment and should have the ability to read and interpret the engineering specifications and plans.
• He/she should be able to maintain favorable working conditions and communicate effectively with the subordinates.
• He/she should be able to prioritize, organize, and coordinate the work of others and should keep himself/herself updated with the knowledge of various principles and practices that need to be used in land surveying.

Educational Requirements

The basic educational requirement to make an entry in this profession is a bachelor's degree in surveying, engineering, or any other related field from an accredited university or college.

Work Environment

This professional may either work in the office or may need to work on the field. His/her duty hours normally last up to forty to forty five hours per week, with some occasional overtime.

Salary Details

The average salary offered for this position is in the range close to $41,000. However, this is only a general idea based on a survey conducted recently and may change according to varying locations, the type of the organization and its size. The difference in remuneration will also depend upon the relevant skills, experience and academic background that the candidate has.

Career Prospects

The employment rate of hiring these professionals is steadily expected to rise in the coming years by about fifteen to seventeen percent according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most of the land owners are now keen to hire these professionals who use the latest mapping techniques to gather and compile the relevant data and integrate it in appropriate systems.

Thus, if you are able to shoulder the land surveyor responsibilities and execute them in an effective and professional way, you can be assured of a lucrative career ahead.