ALTA/NSPS Question

Question:
It seems that I'm at odds with some on whether in performing either a boundary survey or an ALTA/NSPS survey one should find as many property corners or monuments as possible on the block in which the parcel is situated. Some say just locate the property corners of the site for an ALTA/NSPS survey, while if you are doing a boundary then you go outside your site. I believe you should do this for both in order to prove that the parcel is where it is supposed to be. Am I wrong in thinking this way? Is an ALTA/NSPS survey more like a supersized mortgage survey where you just find the property corners of that parcel or site, and then any additional items on Schedule A? I'm curious now.

Response:
Those who say that an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey is something less than a boundary survey are woefully misinformed and have apparently not read the Standards. A Land Title Survey is not just a supersized mortgage survey. Here is what Section 3.D. of the 2016 (and 2011) Standards say about this issue. "The boundary lines and corners of any property being surveyed as part of an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey shall be established and/or retraced in accordance with appropriate boundary law principles governed by the set of facts and evidence found in the course of performing the research and fieldwork." Clearly an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey is a boundary survey. It's a boundary survey to a higher set of standards than a "generic" boundary survey. Someone approaching a Land Title Survey as something less than a boundary survey would likely suffer a claim of malpractice or negligence if something goes wrong.

Why no "leaning towers"? Thank a surveyor!

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/why-we-don-t-have-a-leaning-tower-of-downtown/article_6c38e696-1081-11e6-9b9e-f7c6a4b1e8a2.html

Surveyors from the Downtown office of the engineering and consulting firm Psomas inspect the Wilshire Grand tower almost every day to make sure that the 73-story building is standing straight. Misplaced joints or angles that are off by a fraction of a degree can pose big problems as skyscrapers rise.

photo by Gary Leonard