You can be involved in various situations in which you might need the services of a land surveyor in Colorado – you might have a legal dispute regarding the boundaries of your land or an encroachment, you might want to buy property and you want to make sure that the property limits are correctly registered, you might want to start a real estate development or construction project, you might want to break a larger property into smaller units, you might want to install property fences or septic tanks and many others. Whatever your reason for hiring a land surveyor, here is what to expect of the process.

Finding and Hiring a Land Surveyor

You need a land surveyor who is not only experienced in the processes involved, in the field of the requirements for the type of survey that you need and in using the tools and devices necessary for accurate measurements, but who is also licensed and properly insured. To find the right expert, you can turn to your title company or to your real estate agent for recommendations or you can search online for the right experts, entering a simple query into your browser and checking the websites that come up on the results pages one by one, to find out about the professional’s experience and credentials. When you have a few names on your list, it is important to check their reputation in various online resources, such as on review websites, forums and on the website of the Better Business Bureau.

The costs of land surveys depend on the type and the complexity of the survey. Simple boundary surveys are usually the cheapest and they take the shortest time, too, while the complex topographic surveys needed for large-scale real estate development projects are usually the most expensive and they take the longest to prepare, too.

Types of Surveys

Here are some of the most common types of surveys that you can order:

• Mortgage location surveys – these surveys are usually required with any mortgage application and they provide proof of the boundaries of the property that the mortgage is needed for and they reveal any differences between real measurements and features and the ones found in public records;
• Boundary surveys – these surveys are performed to identify property boundaries and will include a detailed map of the property. They are usually needed for building permits;
• Topographic surveys – these surveys include measurements to determine land elevations and they are usually needed before starting improvement projects, such as building additions or landscapes.

How Surveys Are Performed

After you discussed the details of your project and you hired one of the right survey companies for the job, the day of the survey is established and the surveyor will go to the property to do the job. During the process, the specialist might work alone or with a team and they will use various devices including GPS and other, sophisticated measurement tools. After the measurements are complete, the surveyor will prepare the survey with the information required and in the format needed, then you will receive the prepared document.