Many of us make assumptions. We assume our shoe is still tied. We assume that the gas left in our car’s tank will get us home. But whether it’s tripping over your shoelace or getting stranded on the side of the road, through trial and error, we have all probably learned that we might not always be right. With that in mind, why is it that we assume we know where our property line ends and our neighbors’ begins? It’s extremely difficult to tell, and yet we assume we know, and blindly follow that assumption. Sometimes to our own detriment.
For hundreds of years, land surveyors across New York have serviced this need, and many more, by providing consumers with a vital resource: a map surveying their current or future property. These maps present pertinent details to the consumer, such as where your property lines are located, the history and perceived future of the land, where on your property it is safe to build, and more.
Typically, your house and land represent one of your largest assets. Do you really want to assume you know their worth?
Our professional organization, The New York State Association of Professional Land Surveyors (NYSAPLS), was founded in 1963 and today is comprised of more than 1,200 licensed land surveyors across the State. Our mission is to foster the establishment and maintenance of uniform high professional standards of work and ethics in the practice of the profession of land surveying; to promote and enhance the profession through its government affairs program; to educate the public about the role and responsibilities of the professional surveyor; and to provide quality professional development opportunities to the land surveying community, ultimately ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
Ultimately, we want to ensure that the public has access to reliable, trustworthy surveyors that can be hired to assess their investments. We achieve this by providing consumers with an online listing of member licensed land surveyors, as well as informational pages on our website detailing services that may be provided by them.
It is vitally important to understand that hiring an unlicensed surveyor will be of no use to the consumer, as the maps and information gathered during that survey will not be recognized as evidence in the event of a land dispute.
On top of that, there is simply no replacement for a professional and licensed land surveyor visiting your property and assessing the land. Effectively, licensed professional land surveyors are the stewards of your property ownership in New York State. This is why land surveying is one of the oldest professions in the country and several of our nation’s founders were land surveyors, too.
This week, our organization, along with hundreds of others across the country, are celebrating the impact our profession makes on the community with National Surveyors Week.
So what are you waiting for? Go to www.nysapls.org to learn more!
Greg de Bruin is President of the New York State Association of Professional Land Surveyors and Vice President of Gayron de Bruin Land Surveying and Engineering, PC, a woman-owned business based in Long Island. He is licensed as both a Land Surveyor and a Professional Engineer but has spent much of his career developing software and methodologies to attempt to change both professions. Greg is a former president of: NSCE, Nassau County Chapter of the NYSSPE, and Long Island Branch of the ASCE.