When something goes wrong
Two surveys, two answers
It happens more than you would expect, and there is usually a rational explanation.
People assume surveying is measurement, and measurement is objective, so two surveyors should always agree. Measurement is the easy part. The hard part is deciding which evidence controls, and that is professional judgment.
The usual explanations
They found different evidence
One surveyor found an old pin buried eight inches down. The other did not, and reestablished the corner by calculation. Both worked competently. The one who found the monument is probably closer to right, because found monuments generally control. More on why.
They weighted evidence differently
A fence line, an old pin, a road monument and a deed distance can all point in slightly different directions. There is a recognised order of priority for resolving that, but applying it to a messy real parcel involves judgment about which evidence is original and which is not.
One of them did less work
Deed research is invisible and expensive. A surveyor who read only your deed can reach a different answer from one who read yours plus all the adjoining deeds and the chain behind them. This is often what a large price difference between two quotes actually represents.
The description does not close
Older metes and bounds descriptions frequently contain internal inconsistencies. When the document contradicts itself, somebody has to decide what the writer meant, and reasonable professionals can differ.
One was not a boundary survey at all
Worth checking before assuming a conflict exists. A mortgage inspection report is not a boundary survey and does not resolve lines. The difference is here.
Small differences are normal. Two surveys agreeing within a couple of tenths of a foot on a rural tract is a good result, not a conflict. A difference measured in feet is a different matter.
What to do about a real conflict
- Get both drawings and read them. A sealed survey should show what monuments were found and what was set. That alone often explains the difference.
- Ask each surveyor to explain their reasoning. A professional should be willing to walk you through what they found and why they weighed it as they did.
- Let them talk to each other. Surveyors resolve conflicts between themselves routinely, and often one will adopt the other’s position once they see the evidence.
- Consider a third opinion if the money at stake justifies it, ideally from someone with deep experience in that county.
- Bring in an attorney if it cannot be resolved professionally and something valuable turns on it.
How to avoid the situation
If a boundary might be contested, hire for competence rather than price, and hire somebody who works that county regularly. Give the surveyor everything you have: old surveys, the deed, prior correspondence. And if there is a neighbor involved, consider agreeing on one surveyor together rather than each hiring your own and starting from opposing positions.