Surveying 250 acres and producing 1-foot contours in a single day? Sure! Mapping power lines and wire sags across a swamp without getting your feet wet? You betcha! ALTA surveys without planimetrics? Yep!

Unmanned aerial systems (more commonly known as drones) can be a boon to any surveying business, but they are not without risks. This course will examine the specialized knowledge and challenges one must consider before providing drone-based surveying services. We will explore what is possible with real-world data.

Following the class, join us for a live flying demonstration (weather depending) at 5:30pm at the north parking lot of the Steve Catlett Recreational Complex (Lambert Park), 283 Woodbury Avenue, Martinsburg, WV 25404.

Practitioners often encounter situations where the client’s possession boundary does not coincide with the record boundaries. Depending upon the circumstances, the possession boundary may become the ownership boundary. In other cases, acts of the party(ies) and surrounding circumstances may locate the boundary that the record alone fails to fix with clarity. The workshop will explain and discuss estoppel, acquiescence, practical location, agreement, adverse possession, and dedication. In addition to a basic understanding of these doctrines, the practitioner will learn what their role and responsibilities are in these cases.

This program will discuss sources for surveyor liability. The workshop will cover what constitutes liability and what the surveyor can do to avoid and prevent liability. The workshop will also discuss what the surveyor can and should do when the surveyor is made a defendant in a civil lawsuit. The surveyor will understand what actions to take to prevent liability or defend themselves against a liability claim.

Litigation is:
"A machine which you go into as a pig and come out as a sausage." Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary, 1906
"A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bone." Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary, 1906
"A form of hell whereby money is transferred from the pockets of the proletariat to that of lawyers." Frank McKinney Hubbard, 1868-1930.

If you have considered adding laser scanning to your services portfolio join us as we ask the big questions and dive into the business side of the equation: 

What is the initial investment (hardware, software, training, computers, etc.)?
What are the maintenance costs?
How long does it take to become proficient?
How does the utilization and overhead rate compare to traditional surveying?
What are the risks or benefits?
How much laser scanning work is out there?