The construction industry includes many moving parts requiring a cohesive team of contractors and subcontractors working together to complete the project. But before the first trades step onsite, engineers and land surveyors have already been hard at work.
In fact, engineers and land surveyors work together on every facet of the project.
While they work in unison, their roles are quite different—land surveyors collect and disseminate the data on a project such as terrain features and elevations, while professional engineers design and implement the project.
Land surveyors and engineers begin collaborating on land development, infrastructure, and development long before construction begins to finish after final occupancy is received. The two serve as checks and balances onsite.
The Role of Land Surveyors
What land surveyors do is collect data on the site, including geological features above and below ground, as well as property boundaries, and important environmental considerations. The information is used to determine how the structure will sit on the property.
Land surveyors will perform:
- Property surveys to confirm or establish the legal boundaries of the site.
- Geological surveys to determine the physical features of the property and topography.
- Construction surveys to establish a layout for the structures, including reference points, dimensions, and elevations.
- Deformation surveys to evaluate land changes over time from geographical or human-made features and how the impact of those on the safety of the structure and land improvements.
- Right-of-way surveys to establish egress and ingress.
- Topographical surveys to provide elevation information for geographical and human-constructed features such as below and above ground utilities and neighboring structures.
Collectively, these surveys work together to determine the placement of all structures on the site and the earth work involved to reach final grade while avoiding above and below ground utilities and other structures and minimizing environmental impact.
Data is collected using conventional and modern or digital equipment including levels, prisms, theodolites, electronic distance measurement (EDM), drones, and light detection and ranging systems (LiDAR) to perform their job.
The Role of Engineers
Once the initial surveying is complete, the civil or construction engineer will begin pre-construction planning to create blueprints from the data. This process begins with analyzing and cleaning up the data to eliminate duplicate information, fill in missing values, make corrections, reformate data for analysis, and consolidate or separate data sets.
Data preparation is a key step to ensure reliable results which can directly transfer to cost savings and improved safety of design.
Engineers are often responsible for the project beyond the design phase. Their work includes overseeing construction, preparing project budgets, selecting and precuring project materials, providing technical feedback to construction managers, and ensuring site safety.
Depending on the size, scope, and geography of the site, specialty engineers also play an integral role in design and construction. Several types of engineers may work on a single project.
- Civil Engineers are responsible for the project from beginning to end and work primarily with functionality and structural integrity of buildings and infrastructure.
- Construction Engineers are hired to work on large-scale building projects and are also responsible for project budgeting and oversight.
- Geotechnical Engineers work with the geographical components, such as soil and rock behavior, slope stability, and risk from geological and geographical features. They are integral in designing the foundations of the structures to be built.
- Structural Engineers ensure structural strength and integrity of structures such as bridges, dams, and buildings.
- Transportation Engineers focus on all aspects of transportation systems such as road construction and integration into existing city streets and highways.
To effectively perform their jobs, engineers use computer software such as computer-aided design (CAD) software and project management software. Adobe Acrobat and Bluebeam Revu are also used to markup and edit PDFs for project submittal and in-field use.
How Engineers and Land Surveyors Collaborate
Land surveyors and engineers collaborate from beginning to end—even on the simplest projects like a single-family home. The more complex or large a project is in scope, the more integrated the partnership between land surveyors and engineers becomes.
Here are the various stages of collaboration between the two professions:
Pre-Construction Planning
Surveyors provide critical data on land conditions, boundaries, and zoning laws. The data collected is used for feasibility studies and site design. Land surveyors help engineers is identifying and minimizing site impact on the environment and reducing the construction costs by delineated man-made and geographical features on site—above and below grade.
This helps to do the following:
- Mitigate the risk of regulatory action,
- Minimize project delays, and
- Improve project scope, site, and pre-construction planning.
Project Development & Design
Surveyors provide input during the design phase to improve regulatory approval and project success. Engineers and land surveyors coordinate to ensure designs align with land conditions and address potential environmental mitigation measures and site restrictions.
Construction & Quality Assurance
Engineers are largely responsible for project management; however, land surveyors are responsible for setting benchmarks and reference points used during construction. Surveyors also conduct regular as-built surveys used by engineers to track progress and ensure structures align with design specifications.
Post-Construction & Maintenance
Post-construction, a final as-built survey may be required. Additionally, land surveyors and engineers work together to ensure the overall integrity and longevity of a project.
Deformation surveys may be conducted to evaluate the changes the construction project will have on the land over time based on the interaction of the man-made and geographical features on the site. Structural engineers may be required to assess structural integrity.
The Value of Continuing Education & Additional Certifications
The field of land surveying and engineering is continuously evolving. New technologies change the way surveys are conducted. Tools like Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Building Information Modeling (BIM), 3D laser scanning, and drones are making it easier to conduct thorough and accurate surveys.
Emerging trends, such as green building techniques, change the design and construction of structures.
Continuing education (CE) provides the necessary certifications, education, and tools engineers and surveyors need to stay current and competitive. McKissock Learning offers the mandatory CE land surveying courses and engineering classes needed to renew states licenses along with a wide range of elective courses designed to set you apart from the competition and grow in your respective fields.
Trust McKissock with your continuing education today!
