Clift Land Surveying LLC

​​​​​​​​                                                                                                                                                           Cost of a Land Survey

Due to the many variable circumstances and situations that may exist for any particular land survey, prices will be governed by, but not limited to, the following:

1)      The size of the property.
2)      Relief or slope of the property.
3)      Type and density of vegetation on the property.
4)      The existence of wetlands on the property.
5)      What season the survey will take place.
6)      How accurate and descriptive the existing property deed may be.
7)      How available local survey monuments are (points to begin the survey).
8)      What type of a Survey Plan is required (i.e. boundary plan, site plan, proposed building plan, etc.).

Pricing a land survey project includes many variables and possible unknowns. The physical difficulty of traversing the property must be considered and is based on the property size, relief, vegetation, and access.  What time of the year the survey is performed is also a consideration, with leaves off the trees, the surveyor can see much easier to measure the property.

Sometimes a property survey may be hindered due to disputes with abutters, a hostile neighbor may be opposed to a surveyor walking anywhere close to where the property line might be.

Other considerations involve the quality of the existing property land records and their availability. In Rhode Island, the land evidence records are usually kept preserved in vaults at each of the 39 cities and towns. Not all deeds (legal property descriptions) are equal. Many deed descriptions are vague, approximate, or simply incorrect. Still other deed descriptions may not offer the land surveyor a point of beginning, or a place to begin measuring from. Land evidence records come in all sizes, types, and qualities. Some records have extensive and /or complicated geometry, others have not been preserved properly making them difficult to copy or read. Still some records may have been lost, destroyed, or the municipality may not offer methods to easily acquire the documents.

In summation, the estimated cost of a land survey is usually arrived at via preliminary research. A surveyor may be familiar with a particular geographical area or neighborhood in which the requested survey lies. In that case, the cost estimation may be easily derived. If the surveyor is not familiar with the area, he or she must review the deeds and possibly visit the site to arrive at an estimated cost. In my experience, most surveys when completed, have revealed some surprising circumstance unanticipated or foreseen. Hence, an accurate survey is an invaluable asset to any  property.