With prospective clients, architects, real estate agents and even engineers that I’m not affiliated with, I have this discussion more often than I wish to admit.

I tell them all the same thing: “I would be more than happy to mark that one line in question, but we are doing a full boundary survey, regardless.” Some understand when I explain why, and others I never hear from again, unless there's a future problem.

So, here are the reasons I will not do a partial survey. Most residential boundary surveys by Howell Surveying are priced between $850 and $900. I can assure anyone taking the time to read this newsletter, at that price, we’re not keeping the lights on!

This is an extremely general explanation, but we focus on the property in question as well as the immediate adjoining properties. And beyond, in many cases. We also typically locate the road, possession lines and any other piece of relevant information that can help us solve and determine a property’s boundary.

Very often, while conducting these surveys, we find erroneous or unexplained rebar, pipes, or whatever else can be construed as a property corner. These findings do not make sense and do not agree with other evidence our field crew finds. So, I am basically saying, we don’t agree with every corner we find, in fact far, far from it.

So, a "line only" request is asking us for a property visit to find the corners for a particular line, with no checks beyond maybe a distance between whatever is found, and call it a day! What could possibly go wrong?

Why any surveyor would take on a risk like that is beyond me, but it happens all the time. Do these "partial" boundary surveys ultimately prove correct? While many do, the errors eventually become apparent. And I assure you, the liability when a problem does occur far exceeds the cost of a full survey.

Homeowners and clients who might be reading this, I also feel bad for you in this instance. You are usually contacting different companies looking for a licensed professional (or so you assume) to establish a property line.

It’s no different than me calling around to get electrical or plumbing work done, since I am admittedly useless when it comes to all things home improvement (my wife will certainly validate this!). Personally, when I get 3 quotes within the same range and then a 4th at a quarter of the price, I can't help but question that estimate.

Not telling anyone how to conduct their business, not telling fellow surveyors how to conduct their business either! I certainly don't want this to come off as preaching, not the point. Just need to pass along why we at Howell Surveying will not be doing boundary surveys on one line any time soon.

We are more than happy to highlight the one particular line you need, but know we are doing a complete property boundary survey to establish it for you.