Current through March 20, 2024
(A) Preface
These Minimum Standards were duly adopted by the State Board
of Examiners for Land Surveyors and have been incorporated into the Rules and
Regulations. It is the intent of these Minimum Standards to provide the
professional land surveyors and the public with a realistic and prudent
standard necessary in the performance of a land survey.
These written standards are established to define the minimum
level of performance which is acceptable for land surveys in the State of
Nebraska.
(B) Scope
The Minimum Standards of this section are the guidelines which
shall apply to every land survey performed in the State of Nebraska, except
where higher standards for land surveys are prescribed by statute,
administrative rule or ordinance, then such higher standards shall
govern.
1. When a land survey involves
certain corners or lines of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) that are
covered under the most recent edition of the "Manual of Surveying Instructions
for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States" prepared by the United
States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Cadastral Survey,
then the most recent rules or instructions for these particular surveys shall
apply.
2. When a land survey
involves certain corners or lines covered by instructions issued by the State
Surveyor, then the rules or instructions for these particular surveys shall
apply.
3. When a professional land
surveyor is engaged by client contract under the current "Minimum Standard
Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys", then the rules or
instructions for these particular surveys shall apply.
4. professional land surveyor may be required
to perform land survey work at a higher standard by their client when agreed
upon by a written contract agreement.
(C) Definitions
Any term not specifically defined herein shall be as defined
in the most current publication of the "Definitions of Surveying and Associated
Terms" as published by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)
now merged with the National Society of Professional Surveyors. For the purpose
of this section, all the definitions listed that differ from any other source
are to be interpreted as written herein.
1. "Land Surveying" - Activities as defined
in The Land Surveyors Regulation Act, Nebraska Revised Statute, §
81-8,109,
as amended. Under this definition are included two general types of surveys.
a. An "Original Survey" is where a survey is
made and a new description is created from such survey. The Original Survey
establishes boundary lines within a tract of land which has previously existed
as one unit or parcel, and a line or lines of a parcel or tract is described
and monumented for the first time.
b. "Resurvey" or "Retracement Survey" is
where an existing recorded description is retraced. A Retracement Survey
follows the footsteps of the original professional land surveyor, locating the
boundary lines and corners which have been established by the Original Survey.
Appropriate procedures must be used in each
case.
2. "Control
Survey" - A survey that utilizes and/or establishes primary monuments that form
the basis of control, both horizontally and vertically, from which subordinate
surveys are referenced into and adjusted. These surveys may include, but are
not limited to, route alignments, photogrammetry, topographic mapping and
boundary surveys. The positions of the monuments within a control survey
provide the standard of accuracy from which subsequent and subordinate surveys
are governed.
3. "Responsible
Charge" - A position that requires initiative skill and independent judgment of
the observations, measurements, and descriptions involved in land surveying
work. This term excludes chainman, rodman, instrument person, ordinary drafter
and others doing routine work. Responsible Charge does not include the
obligation of financial liability.
4. "Direct Supervision" - Refer to Chapter 7,
Section 002. for the definition of Direct Supervision.
5. "Subordinate" - Any person directly
supervised or managed by a professional land surveyor and employed by the same
entity/employer who assists the professional land surveyor in the practice of
land surveying without assuming the legal responsibility for such
work.
6. "Plat" or "Survey Map"-
Any graphic representation of the survey.
7. "Minimum Standard" - The minimum level of
performance that is acceptable.
8.
"Public Land Survey System (PLSS)" - The surveying method developed and used in
Nebraska to subdivide land in the public domain into section, township, and
range, platted and approved by the General Land Office of the United States of
America.
9. "Linear Error of
Closure" - Computed as the square root of the sum of the squares of the error
in the north and east coordinates.
10. "Relative Error of Closure" - Computed as
the value of the total length of the perimeter of the survey divided by the
linear error of closure and expressed as a ratio of one (1) part in 'N'
parts.
11. "Client" - The person
with whom the contract for work is made. This may or may not be the title owner
of the property.
12. "Legal
Description" - A written description usually contained in an act of conveyance,
judgment of possession, or recognized by law as to the definite location of a
property by metes and bounds or by reference to government surveys, aliquot
parts, government lots, coordinate systems or recorded maps; a description
which is sufficient to locate the property without oral testimony.
13. "Metes and Bounds Description" - A
description of a parcel of land by reference to course and distances around the
tract, and/or by reference to natural and/or artificial monuments.
14. "Encroachment" - Any structure or
obstruction which intrudes upon, invades into the space of, or trespasses upon
the property of another.
15.
"Corner" - A point on a land boundary at which two or more boundary lines meet
or at the end of a single line. It is not the same as a monument, which refers
to the physical evidence at the corner's location on the ground.
16. "Monument" - A physical object or
structure which marks the location of a corner or other survey point. In public
land surveys, the term corner is employed to denote a point determined by the
surveying process, whereas the monument is the physical object installed, or
structure erected, to mark the corner point upon the earth's surface. Monument
and corner are not synonymous, although the two terms have often been used in
the same sense.
17. "Natural
Monuments" - Objects which are the work of nature, such as streams, rivers,
ponds, lakes, bays, trees, rock outcroppings, and other definitive topographic
features.
18. "Artificial
Monuments" - Relatively permanent objects used to identify the location of a
corner. These monuments shall retain a stable and distinctive location and
shall be of sufficient size and composition to resist the deteriorating forces
of nature, such as, roads, ditches, fences, buildings, power poles, or any
other man-made features.
19. "Bench
Mark" - An identified stable point, natural or artificial, for which there is a
known elevation referenced to an assumed, local, state or national datum
plane.
20. "Positional Accuracy" -
The difference between the actual position of a monument on the ground and the
position as reported by measurements on the plat or map.
21. "Positional Tolerance" - The distance
that any monument may be mis located in relation to any other monument cited in
the survey.
22. "Parol Evidence" -
Evidence gathered by testimony of witnesses. A witness who gives written or
verbal testimony concerning positive knowledge of the location of an original
monument prior to its destruction is said to give "parol evidence".
(D) Legal Description
A written description usually contained in an act of
conveyance, judgment of possession, or recognized by law as to the definite
location of a property by metes and bounds or by reference to government
surveys, aliquot parts, government lots, coordinate systems or recorded maps; a
description which is sufficient to locate the property without oral
testimony.
1. Public Land Survey System
(PLSS) descriptions shall contain government lot or quarter-quarter section
and/or quarter section along with section, township, range, principal meridian,
city (where applicable), county, and state.
2. Tax lots, irregular tracts, etcetera, with
a record description shall be referenced to the Public Land Survey System
(PLSS) as listed in "1" above.
3.
Subdivisions shall be referenced as in "1" or "2" above and shall contain such
further identifiers as lots and/or blocks, where applicable. A resurvey within
a recorded subdivision shall contain the lot and/or block number (where
applicable), subdivision name (as titled on original recorded plat), city,
county, and state, and where recorded (if necessary) and the term replat (where
applicable). The common term "Addition" is often a part of the name of a
subdivision and is often confused with the legal term "Subdivision".
4. Metes and Bounds surveys shall contain
sufficient identifiers and dimensions to enable the description to be plotted
and retraced and be referenced to corners of record as in "1", "2" or "3"
above.
5. Three dimensional
descriptions shall contain the items called for in "4" above and also contain
elevations referenced to a bench mark of a defined datum. The vertical datum
shall reference a defined national, state, or local datum and shall be clearly
identified on the plat.
6.
Condominium descriptions shall be as defined in the "Condominium Property Act",
set forth in Nebraska Revised Statutes, Sections
76-801
through
76-894,
as amended.
(E) Research
and Investigation
Research of background data shall be conducted prior to
beginning the survey. The professional land surveyor shall analyze the data and
determine the most logical procedure to follow in conducting the survey.
Background data shall consist of, but is not limited to, existing field notes,
plats, deeds and ownership records. The professional land surveyor shall list
upon the plat the background data used in determining the results of the survey
when the facts are questionable, debatable, complex, require additional
explanation or not easily understood.
(F) Conduct of Survey
The professional land surveyor shall, personally or under their
direct supervision, perform a survey consisting of, but not limited to, the
following items:
1. Search thoroughly
for necessary controlling monuments and other physical evidence. If recorded or
unrecorded monuments are not used, the professional land surveyor must indicate
the reason they were not used during the course of the survey.
2. Evaluate the evidence.
3. Investigate possible parol evidence that
could support the positions of obliterated monuments and record the necessary
statements (signed and dated if possible).
4. Cooperate with appropriate public
officials, such as officials of the state, county, city, natural resources
district, public power, etc.
5.
Take the necessary measurements to verify found evidence.
6. Make sufficient check measurements and
computations to satisfactorily verify that the work is correct as shown upon
the plat.
7. in the event of the
discovery of a relevant disagreement with the work of another professional land
surveyor, the present land surveyor shall contact the previous land surveyor,
if possible, and attempt to resolve the disagreement.
8. Apply the proper theory of reestablishment
of corners in accordance with the Nebraska State Statutes, the most recent
edition of the "Manual of Surveying Instructions for the Survey of the Public
Lands of the United States", instructions issued by the State Surveyor under
authority of the Board of Educational Lands and Funds, and legal
precedent.
9. Set all monuments as
required to complete the survey. The professional land surveyor must make a
thorough search for existing monuments, both recorded and unrecorded, before
establishing a new position for a corner. The professional land surveyor shall
accurately show all the data such as angles, bearings, and distances to
calculated points that are needed to show how the positions for the established
monuments were determined. These may include, but are not limited to, PLSS
corners, block corners, right-of-way lines, and meander lines. In situations
where construction activities make it impractical to set corners on a Plat or
Certificate of Survey at the time of recording said document, the professional
land surveyor shall set the monuments within 60 days from the end of
construction and/or in accordance with rules defined by local
jurisdictions.
10. Retain all
pertinent information, measurements and observations made in the field during
the course of the survey in an appropriate and retrievable form, and in a
manner that is intelligible to another professional land surveyor.
(G) Plat or Certificate of Survey
The client shall be furnished a record of the survey which
shall show and identify the following information:
1. Those items required by the Land Surveyors
Regulation Act, Nebraska Revised Statutes, Sections
81-8,108
through
81-8,127,
inclusive, as amended.
2. A
description and physical characteristics of all found and/or set monuments
shall be described accurately.
3.
North arrow and scale.
4. Basis of
bearing or assumed bearing. When the direction of a line is used to establish
any course on the boundary of a survey or used to compute the area, the
direction of the line shall be made a part of the plat of survey and shown by
angle or bearing or azimuth with a reference given for the bearing or azimuth
system.
5. Curved lines shall
include sufficient data necessary to compute and plot the curve.
6. When coordinates are shown on the drawing,
such as those relating to the Nebraska State Plane Grid Coordinates, Universal
Transverse Mercator, or any modified or local coordinate system, then the
following information shall be included:
a.
The datum on which the coordinates are based.
b. The zone(s) if applicable.
c. Modifications or adjustment factors, such
as scale factor, shift or transformation.
d. The source data of the
coordinates.
7. When
necessary, adjoining parcels may be identified by description or their
permanent filing record reference and any gaps or overlaps shall be identified
and dimensioned.
8. Easements of
record shall be accurately shown upon the plat and survey (where applicable)
and referenced by book and page, when requested by the client.
9. Data sufficient to indicate the theory
that was applied in finalizing the location of the corners and any data at
variance with this theory. Such data should be sufficient so a competent
professional land surveyor can make a straightforward retracement.
10. The date of the completion of the survey.
a. Nebraska Revised Statute
81-8,122.01
requires that "The record of survey shall be filed within ninety days after the
completion of the survey", therefore; the date of the completion of the survey
shall be defined as such in the following situations:
i. New Subdivision - The date of the
completion of the survey shall be defined as being the date the final plat is
filed with the Register of Deeds of the county.
ii. ALTA Land Title Survey - The date of the
completion of the survey shall be defined as being the date the final survey
plat is printed, signed and delivered to the client.
iii. For all other surveys including but not
limited to, easements, platted lot retracements, metes and bounds, section
subdivision, or any other survey of land or property, the date of the
completion of the survey shall be the date signed and sealed by the
professional land surveyor.
11. Surveyor's Certificate. A certification
by the professional land surveyor shall contain:
a. A statement of the professional land
surveyor's authority to perform the survey.
b. That the professional land surveyor
personally or under the professional land surveyor's direct supervision
performed the land survey.
c. A
statement that the survey was made in accordance with the "laws applying to
land surveying within the State of Nebraska" in effect at the time of the
survey.
A sample of a Surveyor's Certificate is located in Appendix
II.
12. The
professional land surveyor's signature, official seal issued by the State Board
of Examiners for Land Surveyors, and the date signed.
(H) Monumentation
1. The professional land surveyor shall
establish, reestablish, or confirm the location of found permanent monuments at
each corner or end point on the boundary lines of the parcel or line(s) being
surveyed.
2. The professional land
surveyor should avoid placing another monument near the same location of a
previously established existing monument marking the same corner if the
previous monument is believed to be in its original location. The present
professional land surveyor must use good judgment to analyze the procedure of
the previous professional land surveyor and consider the era and methods in
which the previous monument was placed. The distance and direction between
corner locations should be considered when attempting to establish another
monument at the same location. If the present professional land surveyor places
another monument near the location of an existing monument, the professional
land surveyor must clearly identify and reference on the plat the discrepancy
by angle and/or distance and indicate the reason for not accepting a previously
placed monument.
3. Monuments shall
be solidly placed and substantially free from movement. In such cases where the
placement of a permanent monument at the true corner is impractical because of
circumstances such as instability or likelihood to be destroyed, the
professional land surveyor shall set a corner accessory monument and show its
relationship by dimension to the true corner on the plat.
a. Witness Corner (WC): Is a monument used
where the boundary corner position cannot be permanently established. This
monumented survey point is set on the surveyed boundary line, or a prolongation
thereof, and it may be stamped and shall be identified as "WC" on the
plat.
b. Reference Monument (RM): Is
a monument used where a corner position is impractical to monument directly, or
a witness corner cannot be set as described above. The professional land
surveyor shall set at least two Reference Monuments. These monuments are not
set on the boundary lines or prolongation thereof, and they may be stamped and
shall be identified as "RM" on the plat.
4. Any monument set shall be constructed of
material capable of being detected by commonly used magnetic locators.
a. These monuments shall consist of a
minimum:
i. Iron pipe with a minimal inside
diameter of one-half (1/2) inch, and minimum length of twenty-four (24)
inches.
ii. Steel rod or steel
reinforcing rod with a minimal outside diameter of one-half (1/2) inch and
minimum length of twenty-four (24) inches.
b. An identification accessory, such as a
cap, tag, washer, etc., bearing the registration number of the professional
land surveyor responsible for the establishment of the monument, shall be
affixed securely to the top of each monument. The professional land surveyor
shall not place an identification accessory upon a found monument or remove the
identification accessory of another professional land surveyor.
c. When extenuating circumstances dictate,
the professional land surveyor may use such monuments as an embossed nail or a
nail with an embossed washer or tag which has a probability of permanence. All
monuments shall bear the registration number of the professional land surveyor
responsible for the establishment or perpetuation of the monument, including
perpetuated government corners.
d.
Where a corner or a line falls on or within a wall, column line or other
physical feature and the placement of a monument is not feasible, the wall,
column line or other physical feature shall become the monument by reference
thereto, or a Witness Corner may be set as described in Section H.3(a)
hereof.
5. All corners
of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) shall be monumented and perpetuated in
accordance with Nebraska Revised Statutes
23-1907
and
23-1908.
6. All Section, Quarter, and Quarter-Quarter
corners of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), established and perpetuated as
necessary for the completion of the survey, shall have a minimum of three (3)
reference ties, with a horizontally measured distance, recorded to 0.01 foot
and accurate to 0.10 foot. If using the minimum three (3) reference ties, each
shall be in different 90° quadrants. The purpose of reference ties is to
reestablish the corner if lost or obliterated. In situations where physical
objects are not readily available upon which to place ties, the professional
land surveyor should establish reference monument ties of a suitable, stable,
and identifiable material of a different physical characteristic from the
monument at the corner point. The professional land surveyor should refer to
the instructions issued by the State Surveyor under the authority of the Board
of Educational Lands and Funds. Additional references to any substantial
natural or man-made features within the vicinity of the perpetuated corner
should be called for in addition to the three (3) reference ties
required.
7. The maximum allowable
reference tie distances should be 200 feet. Measurements taken by EDM total
station or GPS may also include the interior angle measured between all the
recorded reference ties. GPS measurements should only be used when both the
corner monument and the reference tie can be physically occupied.
(I) Priority of Calls
The "Priority of Calls" is a standard set of guidelines to be
followed by professional land surveyors. When considered or applied they can
assist the professional land surveyor in creating new parcels of land or in
retracing previously created parcels of land. They can assist the attorney in
litigating disputes as to the title and boundaries of land.
1. Lines actually run on the ground by the
creating professional land surveyor.
a.
Includes comers established, monuments set and lines marked at the time of the
survey. This assumes the professional land surveyor placed the original line
where the parties intended it.
2. Calls for Natural Monuments.
a. These monuments are the least likely to be
moved. Regardless of distance or angle called for in the deed, when the deed
calls to this monument it is interpreted that the intent of the parties was to
go to this monument and it is controlling.
3. Calls for Artificial Monuments.
a. These are calls to monuments that have
been set by someone or created by man-made means. Artificial monuments may be
concrete, rebar, iron pipes, fence corners, etc. For example, iron pins found
are controlling, not the distance.
4. Calls for adjoining parcels that are
senior in title.
a. These are calls that
identify adjoiners in the survey and called for in the descriptions. These are
bounds descriptions. These lines were previously established and control,
regardless of the bearings and distances.
5. Calls for Bearings and Distances.
a. If no monuments are called for or found
and if there are no calls for adjoining owners, the bearings and distances will
control. In Nebraska, distances control before bearings.
6. Calls for Area.
a. This has historically been the last
priority for a call in a deed. Typically, the area is a calculation based upon
the measured lines and therefore it is a derivative of a higher priority
feature within the legal description.
(J) Perpetuation of the Land Survey Plat
1. The professional land surveyor shall file
a record of all land surveys in accordance with the Land Surveyors Regulation
Act.
2. Copies of the records of the
survey and other plats provided to the client along with field notes and
pertinent data shall be retained and maintained in a retrievable manner by the
professional land surveyor and/or their employer/entity for a period of not
less than 10 years.
(K)
Technical Minimums
1. The professional land
surveyor shall determine the appropriate accuracy and make the required
measurements necessary to adequately relate the positions of all apparent
evidence pertinent to the boundary of the property. In no case shall the
accuracy standard have a relative positional tolerance of more than 0.25 feet,
plus 100 parts per million (PPM) with the accuracy given at the 95 percent
confidence level. The closure and accuracy chart is located in Appendix
I.
2. Positional Accuracy
Specification and Positional Tolerances.
If radial survey methods, global positioning systems (GPS) or
other acceptable technologies or procedures are used to locate or establish
points on the boundary survey, the professional land surveyor shall apply
acceptable surveying procedures in order to assure that the allowable
positional accuracy and/or positional tolerance of such points are not
exceeded.