California Surveyors Forums

Ad can be found here: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/egr/3266208874.html

"Looking to hire Land Surveyors who resides in the San Jose / San Francisco area. Looking for Chainman/ Instrument Operator and Registered Land Surveyors with the state of California.
Candidate must have it's own equipment (prefereably Robotic Total Station) . Candidates must be able to complete jobs from start to finish including research, fieldwork, drafting and stamping final survey. Please send your resume to mike@texasboundarysurvey.com"

I'm not sure if what this person is doing is legal or not, others can opine.

This person has been jumped on by several boards, one of them was Texas. He has modified somethings because of these proceedings. He may be just barely legal, Maybe. But I think he should be checked out by the CA board under their rules. He may not make the grade.


This was put through the wringer over at Survey Connect/Beer Leg a while back. I forwarded much of what we discovered then to the CA board along with links to the ad your posted and a link to this company's website.

I also forwarded info to Arizona as this bunch is trying the same thing there.

Interesting how payments for Texas Boundary Surveys are sent to a PO Box in Denver...

And it's the same PO Box as what is shown at http://www.californiabundarysurvey.com, which also...

has contact info that directs you to Illinois Boundary Services...

Stephen Johnson wrote:This person has been jumped on by several boards, one of them was Texas. He has modified somethings because of these proceedings. He may be just barely legal, Maybe. But I think he should be checked out by the CA board under their rules. He may not make the grade.


This was put through the wringer over at Survey Connect/Beer Leg a while back. I forwarded much of what we discovered then to the CA board along with links to the ad your posted and a link to this company's website.

I also forwarded info to Arizona as this bunch is trying the same thing there.

So I think what this guy is doing is just running an ad on line for survey services and then just farming it out, back to whatever Calif. LS is hungry enough to do it ?

Well, other trades do this all the time. I think most ads in the yellow pages simply connect you to a call center and they decided who to send your job to. I don't think it's illegal in CA, that's how they do it. It's called referral.

For Engineering Services, I don't agree with it, or approve of it, but if the client is some corporation only thinking about the bottom line, they are going to go for the cheapest solution no matter what.

At least there is some comfort knowing that they (whoever they are) cannot farm out to India the job of instrument man and rod man....

So this guy gets survey jobs or "refers" work to a Cal. LS that he (or she) would not have gotten otherwise. What's wrong with that? It's not illegal. Isn't more work a good thing to a Cal. LS? There are a lot of LS's in Cal. (your peers) that are "hungry for work" myself included. Being "hungry for work" should not be considered a negative reflection of the surveyor

Aside from the fact that it is against the law, there is not much of a problem. You must be licensed in California to solict or offer surveying services and your name and license number must be on the orginization registration form or the name and number of an employee of your firm.

Clearly these folks are offereing services and they do not have a license in the state because they are seeking to employ one. So it appears that they are in violation.

The other problem that I have is that the website of these unlicensed practices crowd out legitimate local surveyors' website because the out of state websites have better search statistics. I do not believe that this is in the best interest of the public.

I wonder how many doctor's and attornies market their services as THE FASTES AND THE CHEAPEST.

Which law says that if a person in need of a survey wishes to have a third party obtain the survey on their behalf, that the third party need a LS? None I know of. The services being offered do not fall under the Cal. definition of Land Surveying, therefore no LS needed. The offer is to get/provide/obtain a survey. not do the survey. A "legitimate local surveyor" will be needed to do the survey, providing him/her with work.
It's no secret that "fast and cheap" is REALLY important to a lot of people. Being a good, competent "legitimate local surveyor" that is also cheapest or fastest is OK. IMO

Which law says that if a person in need of a survey wishes to have a third party obtain the survey on their behalf, that the third party need a LS? None I know of.

Time to review §8726:

"8726. A person...practices land surveying within the meaning of this chapter who, either in a public or private capacity, does or offers to do any one or more of the following:

(i) Procures or offers to procure land surveying work for himself, herself, or others.
(j) Manages, or conducts as manager, proprietor, or agent, any place of business from which land surveying work is solicited, performed, or practiced.
(k) Coordinates the work of professional, technical, or special consultants in connection with the activities authorized by this chapter."

There are exceptions for other licensed professionals, but lay persons aren't allowed to do any of the above.

.

Upon further review........I guess I should have read the rules again and more carefully before opening my big mouth. 8726(i) is pretty clear.
I stand corrected and admit defeat.
Thanks for the lesson Jim!
TIB

I do not see how the overall profession is well served by ads touting "fast and cheap" . I do not see how this serves the public well either. This type of marketing is actually misleading to the public. It helps foster the notions that what the client ought to value is that surveying services can be cheap and fast. This advertising leads tbe public to think that all surveying services are the same and that the only thing that separates one surveyor's practice from another's is that one is cheaper and faster. This is in fact a horrible disservice to the public. this is MHO.