Licensed Land Surveyor

A licensed land surveyor does the preparation of a property or topographic survey similar to the one shown in Figure 6.10. Landscape architects, civil engineers, and architects use the surveys prepared by the land surveyor as a base for their own work. A civil engineer or landscape architect will use a topographic survey to develop and prepare grading and drainage plans. All constructed site features, such as buildings and other structures, roads, walks, paved areas, pools, plazas, and other constructed elements, are located and referenced to the property lines and property corners drawn up by the land surveyor. The package of construction documents are considered legal documents prepared by licensed professionals who follow established conventions of plan preparation and geospatial referencing systems. The work of each professional is assumed to have followed the pertinent design health and safety standards, codes, and rules, including zoning, fire and safety, ADA access, and other regulations established to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

The landscape architect prepares a site-grading plan in order to provide the best and most accurate information for a contractor on how the existing site topography within project boundaries is to be modified to accommodate a desired end result. For a grading plan to be useful it should provide scale, precise location of project boundaries or property lines, accurate topographic information, and a system of horizontal and vertical control. Horizontal control has to do with having an established and clearly marked datum, such as the property corners, from which the contractor can accurately locate and establish dimensions for any point on the ground—including old and new structures and designed program elements (such as paved surfaces, walks) to be built—and their specific elevations. The designer or contractor often will establish a grid (25, 50, or 100 feet) and overlay that grid on the property. The grid would first be drawn in plan and then would be recreated on the ground with stakes placed at each grid intersection. The contractor uses the grid to provide horizontal control, which assists him or her to establish the locations of plan elements (structure, driveway, parking, landscape area, and other