The Client Wants the Fence Line Shown as the Boundary
An Ohio-licensed surveyor is retained to survey Lot 14 in a subdivision platted in 1925. The deed calls for an iron pin at the northwest corner, thence N 00°12' E 150.00 ft to an iron pin, thence S 89°48' E 200.00 ft to an iron pin. In the field, the northwest pin is found, but the northeast pin is missing. A 24-inch oak with an old blaze stands 0.4 ft east of the record position. The adjoining owner's fence is 7.6 ft west of the record line, and the neighbor claims the fence as the boundary based on 40 years of use. The client asks the surveyor to 'just show the fence as the lot line' and to leave the oak off the plat because it will confuse the title company. The client also asks the surveyor to backdate the survey six months so it matches the closing date. The surveyor's seal is requested on the plat.
1. Identify the professional and legal problems in the client's instructions and explain how the surveyor should respond.
Read the worked answer
The surveyor must refuse both requests. A boundary survey is a professional opinion based on evidence, not a document tailored to a closing date. Ohio law and Board rules require the surveyor to sign and seal only work actually performed and to avoid misrepresentation. Backdating is falsification. Omitting the oak is also misrepresentation: the oak may be an original bearing tree or monument, and the plat must show monuments found or set, measured versus record lines, and any occupation line. The fence can be shown as a line of occupation and the neighbor's claim noted, but labeling it the boundary would be a legal conclusion. The surveyor should explain the difference between a boundary survey and a title determination, deliver a plat that discloses the record line, the fence, and the oak, and advise the client and neighbor to consult counsel about adverse possession or boundary by acquiescence.
2. What retracement hierarchy and field steps should the surveyor use to reestablish the missing northeast corner?
Read the worked answer
Start with the recorded plat and deeds, then search for original monuments. Artificial monuments set at the original survey control over courses and distances; the oak with the blaze is strong original evidence if its age and markings are consistent. The missing pin is an extinct corner. Reestablish it by proportioning between the found northwest pin and other original corners along the block, using the plat distances, and check against the oak. Do not hold the 7.6-ft fence as control unless a court has established it. Compare the 0.4-ft oak offset to the record and to the proportioned position; if the oak is the original bearing tree, its position may control over a computed pin position. Document all evidence, measurements, and reasoning on the plat and in field notes. If the evidence is conflicting, show the alternatives rather than inventing certainty.
3. The title company asks for a clean plat showing only the record boundary and no field notes. How should the surveyor handle that?
Read the worked answer
The surveyor should decline to create a misleading plat. A record-only drawing can be prepared as an exhibit if it is clearly labeled as a record-line exhibit, but it cannot be substituted for the boundary survey or sealed as the survey. Ohio standards require disclosure of monuments and the relationship between record and measured lines. The surveyor can provide the full plat plus a separate record-line diagram for title use, with a note that it does not show field evidence. If the title company needs an assurance, the surveyor can certify the full survey. The seal should go on the complete document, not on a partial exhibit that hides the oak and fence.