What is Surveyor?
Definition of Surveyor in Construction
The engineering party that will establish the building lines, property lines, benchmarks, etc. on a construction project. This is a licensed entity that has legal responsibility for the project placement on the property. The surveyor is the professional party that has, in most cases, designed the site work portion of the project, and has provided all the legal and formal dimensions and elevations, required by the architect and engineers to design the project. In most instances, the surveyor is the entity that has developed the site documents and the site specifications. If this is the case, then the use of the same engineering firm as the site surveyor is highly recommended. A surveyor will set up batter boards or hub and pin locations, to allow the contractor on the site to check their layout, and ensure they are constructing the project in the correct location. It is the surveyors responsibility, if hired to perform the work, to develop the A2 survey which is normally required to obtain the final certificate of occupancy. This surveyor will survey all the points of the constructed project, verifying the setbacks, property lines, building locations, etc. that constitute the final project. The A2 survey is considered a legal document that certifies the final location of all the structures and important dimensional elements of the project.