The Friday Closing, the Carport, and the Cousin Next Door
A developer's agent hires you on Tuesday to survey Lot 9 for a Friday closing. Field work shows the neighbor's carport roof projecting 1.1 ft over the lot line and the neighbor's septic field lines crossing the rear 15 ft of Lot 9; there is no recorded easement. On Wednesday the agent calls: the buyer's lender 'doesn't need an ALTA,' so 'just leave the carport off - it's the neighbor's problem and it'll kill the deal.' He offers a $500 rush fee for delivery Thursday. You also learn the neighbor is your wife's cousin, and that the plat is being drafted by a survey technician in your office who has not yet passed the fundamentals exam.
1. What must appear on the plat and in your report regarding the carport and the septic lines, and can the client waive it?
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Both items must be shown and noted. A boundary survey plat depicts visible evidence of occupation and apparent encroachments - in both directions across the line - because the entire purpose of the deliverable is to disclose what is on the ground relative to the record line. The carport overhang at 1.1 ft gets dimensioned and labeled as an encroachment; the septic field gets shown, noted as unrecorded use of the rear 15 ft, and flagged as a possible prescriptive easement or prescriptive use claim (confirm the current Mississippi prescriptive period and elements before characterizing it).
The client cannot waive this by choosing a scope. The client can choose a different scope of work - for example a location survey that expressly disclaims boundary determination - but the resulting document must say so prominently and must still be truthful about what it shows. What is not available is a boundary survey with a known encroachment deleted because a lender's form does not ask the question. That is not a scope decision; it is a knowingly false instrument, relied on by a buyer, a lender, and a title insurer who were not in the room.
The narrow legitimate move: if the agent wants a product that does not address boundaries, offer one clearly labeled as such and make sure the buyer understands the difference. On these facts, the deal-killing information is real information, and the surveyor's job is to deliver it, not suppress it.
2. Identify the conflicts and obligations raised by the relationship with the neighbor and by the agent's request and rush fee.
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The relationship. A cousin by marriage is a modest relationship, but it is a relationship, and the survey will determine whether his carport and septic field are encroachments. Disclose it in writing to the client before completing the work, and document the disclosure. If the relationship would impair your objectivity, or would create a reasonable appearance of impairment to a buyer or a court, decline the assignment or obtain informed consent from the affected parties. The surveyor's obligation is not only to the person paying the fee - the public and third parties who rely on recorded plats are owed a straight answer.
The request to omit. Refuse, in writing, and document the instruction in the project file. Professional ethics rules and licensing statutes make it a violation to produce an instrument that misrepresents material facts, and a client's business objective never converts a false plat into a true one.
The rush fee. A premium for genuinely expedited service is fine and common. A fee conditioned on reaching a particular professional conclusion, or effectively contingent on the deal closing, is not. Here the fee is offered in the same breath as the request to delete the carport, so it is tainted even if it was not intended that way - decline the conditional element and state why. Also confirm in writing who the client is and who may rely on the plat; the agent is not the client and cannot direct the professional work.
3. What is your responsibility with respect to the technician's work, the seal, and responsible charge?
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The technician may perform drafting and computational tasks under your direction, but the surveying is yours. Before the seal and signature go on the plat you must have personally directed the work, reviewed the field notes and the raw data, checked the reductions and the closure, verified the boundary analysis and the monument decisions, and reviewed the plat against the field evidence. Signing and sealing work you have not controlled is the classic responsible-charge violation and exposes both you and the public to the consequences of a plat nobody actually checked.
In practical terms for this file: the technician's draft cannot be treated as finished work simply because a deadline looms. The encroachment notes, the septic field depiction, the basis of bearings statement, and the area tabulation all need your review against the field data, and any correction needs to happen before delivery - not after the closing. If the schedule genuinely does not permit adequate review, the professional answer is to move the closing date, not to seal unreviewed work.
Also use the seal only on work you are authorized to perform, keep the seal under your control, and make sure the project record shows who did what. Maintain your own continuing-education and license status as required by the Mississippi board.