The Code and Rules of the Arizona State Board of Technical Registration effective May 1, 1995 state the "Minimum Standards
for Arizona Land Boundary Surveys". It is the responsibility of the Professional Land Surveyor to adhere to good and
accepted practices when providing land survey services in the City of Scottsdale.
Land boundary surveys and legal descriptions are prerequisite to the division of any land parcel. Observance of these minimum
standards should be considered whenever the work is subject to the City review. The minimum standards section of the
Code and Rules is reproduced hereon for the benefit of the public.
Minimum standards for Arizona Land Boundary Surveys
The following statements of standards for surveying practice are promulgated as minimum standards governing the creation,
establishment, retracement or resurvey of land boundaries within the State of Arizona. Applicable statues and regulation
are to be observed in addition to these minimum standards of practice.
Responsibility for adherence to the minimum standards rests with the registered land surveyor in responsible charge of work.
Procedure
- The land surveyor must make a diligent search for pertinent record documents. Copies of applicable deeds, maps, title
report or title opinions may be necessary. If the subject property is referenced to or described as an aliquot part
of the U.S. Public Land Survey System, or a fraction thereof, relevant U.S. Government plats, field notes, appropriate
Manual of Surveying Instructions and special instructions should additionally be consulted, when appropriate.
- The land surveyor must thoroughly examine the information and data required.
- The land surveyor must diligently search for and identify monuments and other physical evidence which could affect the
location of the subject property's boundaries. A reasonable attempt must be made to recover controlling monuments
for references thereto. The positions of controlling monuments which have been obliterated should be recovered or
reestablished using the best available evidence. Physical evidence of apparent use and possible rights in the subject
property by others should be evaluated. Lines of possession and occupation must be located, described, and where
practical, an age determination made.
- The land surveyor must conduct field measurements necessary to adequately relate the position of all apparent evidence
pertinent to the boundaries of the property. All findings resulting from the field investigation must be accurately
and completely recorded and retained permanently.
- The land surveyor must make computations to verify the correctness of field data acquired and to confirm that measurement
results are within acceptable tolerance limitations. Computations must be made to determine the relative positions
of all found evidence.
- In the event of a material discrepancy or disagreement with the measurements or monumented corner positions of another
land surveyor, the land surveyor must make a reasonable attempt to contact the other land surveyor and attempt to
resolve the disagreement.
- The land surveyor must make an analysis, reach a final conclusion and set monuments so as to represent the location consistent
with the best evidence available of corner positions and boundary lines. The land surveyor must advise the client
of discrepancies which raise doubts concerning the boundary lines of the subject property and he should provide the
client with a copy of the survey report.
- All monuments, whether set or found, must be described and specifically identified as set or found, whenever shown on
maps or referred to in documents prepared by the land surveyor. Descriptions of monuments must be sufficient in detail
to readily facilitate future recovery and to enable positive identification, including map references. Monuments
required by this section shall be metal, magnetically detectable, not less than one-half inch in diameter, not less
than sixteen inches in length, and shall bear the land surveyor's registration number affixed, except however, the
monument for a corner which falls upon solid rock or concrete shall be metal, magnetically detectable, firmly embedded,
and stamped with the land surveyor's registration number.
- The land surveyor shall prepare a scaled drawing of the results of survey for presentation to the client unless adequate
existing information is available. In cases where a certification is required by state or local ordinance, the land
surveyor must certify only those matters personally known to be absolutely true and must declare all other items
only to the limit of the land surveyor's knowledge and belief.
- The land surveyor must prepare and cause to be recorded corner records and record of survey documents if a material discrepancy
exits in angular and/or lineal calls as compared with new survey values as defined under Measurement Specifications
paragraph 2 of these standards of practice
Legal Descriptions
When a land surveyor is called upon to prepare a legal description of real property, the land surveyor must include the following:
- Sufficient caption, body and, where applicable, qualifying clauses.
- Clearly stated relationship between the real property being described and the survey control or basis of unique location.
- Clearly stated basis of bearings or language which otherwise makes definite the method of direction and orientation for
the lines of the subject property being described and the survey control related thereto when applicable.
- Full and complete citations to maps, plats, documents, and other matters of record, fact or pertinence, which are intended
to be incorporated into and made a part of the legal description by reference thereto.
- When called out, complete and detailed descriptions of physical monuments, both natural and artificial, such as to facilitate
future recovery and to enable positive identification.
- When appropriate, incorporated either directly or by citation, sufficient data to enable a check of mathematical closure
for the subject property being described.
- The land surveyor's validated Arizona seal.
Measurement Specifications
Measurements for the performance of land surveys as defined in A.R.S. *32-101(B)(19)(a)(b) & (c) (Land Surveying Practice
shall comply with the following required.
- In order to properly apply the specifications herein to achieve the required accuracy the land surveyor must first classify
the survey relative to the "Class of Survey" listed in Table 1. The land surveyor shall then apply at least the minimum
specifications as listed in the appropriate column in Table 2. An error of measurement which is less than 0.03 feet
between sequential monuments shall not by itself constitute a material discrepancy in any class of survey.
- The significance of a discrepancy between the angular and lineal calls of record versus that resulting from the use of
these specifications may only be determined from an analysis predicted on the law of random error propagation. If
such a material discrepancy is found to exist, appropriate action as outlined in these standards of practice shall
be applied by the land surveyor.
TABLE NO. 1
Class A. Urban Surveys:
Surveys of land lying within or adjoining a city or town. This would also include the surveys of commercial and industrial
properties, condominiums, townhouses, apartments, and other multi-unit developments, regardless of geographic location.
Class B. Suburban Surveys:
Surveys of land lying outside urban areas. This land is used almost exclusively for single family residential use or residential
subdivisions.
Class C. Rural Surveys:
Surveys of land such as farms and other undeveloped land outside the suburban areas which may have a potential for future
development.
Class D. Mountain and Marshland Surveys:
Surveys of land which normally lies in remote areas with difficult terrain and which usually has limited potential for development.
TABLES 1 AND 2 Extracted from "Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys as adopted by American
Land Title Association and American Congress on Surveying & Mapping," 1986.
