How do you add a property outline to a picture?

[BigAl07]

FYI, see attached PA Society of Land Surveyors Statement on Mapping and Positioning Services.

The legal teams of the folks who lost their disputes relying on your drawings didn’t do their jobs. Municipal GIS databases don’t include actual property lines and one typically has no idea of the source of the information in the database. Municipal GIS property info is usually for tax purposes only and is most often based on available information including satellite image indications of property boundaries (visible fence lines and the like) - not boundary surveys.

Even deed descriptions of the properties involved in a dispute often have errors, so property lines can only be established by a licensed surveyor via field survey.

You and your clients would be better served if you 1) indicate the source of the information shown on your drawings, 2) that property lines must be established by a licensed surveyor, 3) you are not a licensed surveyor, and 4) that you are not responsible for the misuse of the information shown on you drawings. This would help lay people (such as property owners, lawyers, judges, and juries) understand what they are looking at.

Boundary survey drawings need to be signed and sealed by a licensed surveyor in most states.

My work has been evaluated and approved by (2) NC Attorneys and a local Judge and all (3) gave a thumbs-up. With all due respect, I'm going to go with the attorneys and the Judge on this one since they are the ones I'll be calling if it comes into question.

 

[adm_geomatics]

My work has been evaluated and approved by (2) NC Attorneys and a local Judge and all (3) gave a thumbs-up. With all due respect, I'm going to go with the attorneys and the Judge on this one since they are the ones I'll be calling if it comes into question.

Except for when you run into a PLS that is an attorney and believe me there's more of them than you think there are.

 

[Earthman]

My work has been evaluated and approved by (2) NC Attorneys and a local Judge and all (3) gave a thumbs-up. With all due respect, I'm going to go with the attorneys and the Judge on this one since they are the ones I'll be calling if it comes into question.

No problem BigAI07. However, keep in mind that attorneys and judges rely on expert witnesses to advise them on issues that are outside their legal training and experience - at least the good ones do. Also, attorneys and judges make mistakes all the time, which is why there are higher courts.

I’m not suggesting you stop what you are doing. Im just saying that it is prudent to include a few appropriate words to protect yourself and those who rely on you from expensive legal action.

Good luck!

 

[MapMaker53]

All one needs to do is use the word "approximate" when labeling a property line on a map or aerial. "Approximate" in any language translates to "You should assume this is not accurate." If a lawyer, judge, or jury assume otherwise, that isn't a problem for the person who drew and labeled that line "approximate", it becomes the problem for those who didn't inderstand what the word "approximate" means. I've prepared hundreds of litigation exhibits and thousands of environmental reports for government agencies as a professional cartographer and can report that no one in my many decades of experience has ever not understood what the word "approximate" meant. Property disputes rely on surveys, not an aerial photo that has a line labeled as being approximate. No other legal wording beyond that word "approximate" has ever been needed on the legal documents or exhibits I have ever prepared in any state.

 

[Earthman]

One of my clients does this. He sends me a KML he’s already done and I load it into GE on my iPad. Onsite I pull it up for an overhead with the boundaries clearly marked, and in some cases specific points they want focused on and even shot angles. Pretty cool!

Fred, be careful with Google Earth and the like. I don’t know how they georeference the satellite images, but more often than not, the georeferencing is off between historical images. So, a line you draw relative to an image taken one year, ends up in a significantly different location on images taken in other years. Consequently, when using GE and the like (including satellite images in GIS), I don’t think you can conclude or assume that the line’s coordinates are accurate with respect to the real world since its coordinates depend on which historical satellite image you are use to draw the line.

KMZ files created in GE would suffer from this.

I’ll add some screen shots to illustrate when I get to my PC.

 

[adm_geomatics]

Fred, be careful with Google Earth and the like. I don’t know how they georeference the satellite images, but more often than not, the georeferencing is off between historical images. So, a line you draw relative to an image taken one year, ends up in a significantly different location on images taken in other years. Consequently, when using GE and the like (including satellite images in GIS), I don’t think you can conclude or assume that the line’s coordinates are accurate with respect to the real world since its coordinates depend on which historical satellite image you are use to draw the line.

KMZ files created in GE would suffer from this.

I’ll add some screen shots to illustrate when I get to my PC.

I partially agree because on the fact that if something is drawn in Google Earth it is only relevant to that map, but if you bring the data into CAD or professional GIS software the imagery is geolocated much more accurately. There are specific scripts built in that allow you to pull a determined envelope in directly from Google Earth Pro to compare the CAD linework from surveying and it is plenty good for this application depending upon the reasoning for locating the property line. If you are looking for possible encroachment of something better than a tolerance of 2-3ft then you need to get it surveyed. If something is over more than that then you have something to start a discussion with that will most likely be verified in the field. Also, if you are just trying to give approximate lines on a large or oddly shaped tract then this is a fine workflow.

All that said it doesn't seem like the OP has anything to do with UAV's or drone mapping so I am not sure how someone with this little of experience would even be put in a position of doing something of this nature that could easily go sideways.

 

[Fred Garvin]

Thanks, I appreciate the heads-up. For my uses, I really don't need an exacting property outline. Just get me there and give me a good idea and I'm fine. The properties my Clients send me to are usually clearly defined: Residential property, commercial business property, and even rural acreage have visible fencing as most typically graze cattle in open pastures and wooded areas are fenced off. Even if the exact property line is vague, the captures are simply to help a prospective buyer decide if they want to visit the property or disqualify it from consideration and move on. I doubt someone will buy a property based solely on my images/videos.

I always spend the first battery with an extended warm-up (acquire Home Point, Satellites and download, format card, RTH altitude/Mode, etc)) then an orientation flight where I fly the entire property, get my bearings, identify features, angles, and video segments I wish to capture. By the time I start imaging, I'm well aware of the boundaries and know how to shoot it so that the entire property is represented.