Deed Distance Versus Found Monument with a Senior Adjoiner and a Long-Standing Fence
A retracement survey of Lot 7 follows a 1998 conveyance: from a concrete monument at the NE corner of Lot 6, thence S 45 deg 00 min E, 150.00 m to an iron pin; thence onward. The concrete monument is found intact and undisturbed in its original position. The iron pin is found at 149.62 m on the stated bearing, and the same pin is called for in a 1975 deed of adjoining Lot 8, which lies to the northeast. A wire fence built in 1996 stands 0.9 m beyond the pin, and the owner of Lot 7 has mowed and grazed up to that fence since. The deed area of Lot 7 computes to 2.418 ha; the area taken to the found pin is 2.412 ha.
1. Which line governs, the recorded 150.00 m or the found pin at 149.62 m? Justify using the hierarchy of boundary evidence and the position of the adjoining owner.
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The pin governs; the recorded distance yields to it.
- Hierarchy of evidence: natural monuments, then artificial monuments, then courses and distances, then area. A called-for monument that is found undisturbed and identified as the original corner is the best available evidence of the original survey. The 0.38 m difference is far inside the range of ordinary chaining error for a 1998 survey and does not impeach the pin.
- Call for the monument is explicit: the deed says the line runs to an iron pin, not merely 150.00 m. Where a deed both calls a monument and gives a distance, the monument controls.
- Seniority: Lot 8 was conveyed in 1975, before Lot 7 (1998). A junior conveyance cannot take land the senior deed already conveyed. Because the same pin is the senior deed's corner, Lot 7's 150.00 m call necessarily yields - the junior grantor had nothing beyond the pin to convey.
- Area is the weakest evidence of all and must never be used to move a corner; the 0.006 ha (60 m2) difference is simply a consequence of the pin location and is reported, not corrected.
Field practice: hold the found pin, record both the recorded and measured values, and do not silently massage the traverse to force 150.00 m.
2. The fence is 0.9 m beyond the pin and has been treated as the boundary for over 20 years. How should the surveyor treat it, and what can and cannot be concluded?
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Occupation is evidence, not title. It must be shown and reported, but it does not by itself relocate the legal boundary.
- Adverse possession / prescription: requires all statutory elements - open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, continuous and uninterrupted for the full statutory period - plus, in most jurisdictions, payment of taxes or colour of title. The facts here (a fence built in 1996, grazing and mowing) are consistent with possession but do not by themselves prove hostility; a fence built by mistake on the wrong line may not be hostile at all in some jurisdictions.
- Boundary by agreement or acquiescence: requires a genuine uncertainty or dispute about the line, an agreement to fix it, and performance; mere long toleration is generally not enough.
- Role limits: only a court (or, where the statute provides, a land registration authority) can declare a boundary moved by prescription. A licensed surveyor does not convey title and must not certify the fence as the boundary.
Correct output: monument the legal corner at the pin, plot the fence as an occupation line with its offset (0.9 m), annotate the discrepancy, disclose it to both owners, and advise the client to obtain legal advice before building to either line. Flag the issue on the plan so a later reader cannot be misled.
3. Describe how the discrepancy should be documented on the plan and in the field notes so the record is defensible.
Read the worked answer
The record must let a stranger reconstruct the reasoning without the surveyor present.
Field notes:
- Separate symbols and descriptions for the found concrete monument (with its condition and mark) and the found iron pin.
- The observed bearing and distance to each, with the observation method and the misclosure of the connecting traverse.
- The offset and bearing from the pin to the fence line, and the fence type/condition.
Plan:
- Show the found monuments with distinct symbols and label them as found and held.
- Show both the recorded (150.00 m) and measured (149.62 m) values, and the 0.38 m difference, rather than one number alone.
- Show the fence as an occupation line, dashed, with the 0.9 m offset dimensioned.
- Note the area by deed (2.418 ha) and area to the held monuments (2.412 ha), with the basis of each stated.
- A general note: boundaries shown are the result of a survey retracement; occupation lines do not necessarily define ownership; the matter of the fence is referred to legal counsel.
The principle: disclose, dimension, and attribute. Never overwrite the record by adjusting the traverse to the deed so that the conflict disappears from the drawing.