Selecting a Surveyor

So I'm still waiting on the final plans, but that works out okay because there's another thing I'm waiting on before I can apply for the building permit. And that's the survey.

I have a copy of a survey from 2004 when previous owners of the property had it subdivided into two lots. It shows the four corners that were marked with rods in the ground, along with length and angle measurements. It also shows the location of the old raggedy chain link fence that I had torn down when the trees were removed.

What I need now is a surveyor to give me what's called a "builder's package". This is a series of visits to the site that includes:

1. First trip - the survey and staking of the four property corners and the "construct benchmark" (Okay, I don't know what a construct benchmark means). I assume this is what I bring with me to get the permit.
2. Second trip - the forms or piers location and elevation
3. Third trip - slab location and elevation
4. Fourth trip - final fema and final improvement location which would be the sidewalks and driveway

As an aside, I also found out today that I get my street address number assigned when I apply for the permit.

So on with the surveyor selection news! I started with the same company that did the original survey. After all, their name is stamped right on the page! And I figured that because they already did the work before, it would make it easier for them to lookup details of the property in the parish records. This company said they would do it for $1,150 and that they're backed up for 4-6 weeks with work right now.

Then I tried my usual method of googling for local providors. I called about a dozen of them. Some handle only marine work (when I said I needed a survey of some property, one guy aksed, "Does it float?"). Some are so busy, they aren't accepting any new work right now. About three or four asked me to fax them the legal description of the property. That's the legalese wording on the act of sale that begins with "A certain piece or portion of ground..." Some of these companies gave the impressions of being larger companies, and others appeared to be small operations where the guy answering the phone is also the one doing the work. Everyone except the the company on the original survey quoted a price of $1,200, and they predicted timeframes anywhere from one to six weeks.

I faxed the information to all these companies. One called me back to ask for more details about where the lot is located. They wanted the street address & such. I had thought the legal description was how the property was described in public records. I have yet to get a response back from this company. Another guy e-mailed me to say that that he couldn't find the info he needed on the property either. I gave him the same details I had given the other company.

Over the next couple of days, I heard from no one. So I decided to sign up with the original surveyor. They'd been around for a while, and apparently they were able to locate the information on the lot that they needed once before. Once I paid by credit card, I e-mailed scans of the legal description and also the original survey. So I expect their first visit between August 13 and 27.

The guy who had e-mailed me earlier did reply again today saying he had found more information and that he would visit the lot to determine if he could do the job. He would charge $1,300. I wrote back to thank him and let him know I've gone with someone else.