Land surveyor recommendations

[MariaD]

Hi all,

I'm looking for recommendations for land surveyors in the Waterford City area. I need it for a site survey, for the final purpose of building a house.

I'd appreciate it if you could recommend/vouch for someone from your experience.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[saveasteading]

Anyone saying they do it and has a fancy computer linked theodolite will be OK. Give one or more a call and explain what you need.

 

What do you need? Is it a tight space and you need to check what fits? Is it on a slope? Trees?

 

They will provide a plan with levels. Do you want it on paper or digital or both? You will want a digital version to hand to any CAD designers. 

[MariaD]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

Anyone saying they do it and has a fancy computer linked theodolite will be OK. Give one or more a call and explain what you need.

 

What do you need? Is it a tight space and you need to check what fits? Is it on a slope? Trees?

 

They will provide a plan with levels. Do you want it on paper or digital or both? You will want a digital version to hand to any CAD designers. 

Thanks for the reply. the site is about 800sqm, my main concern is to find a possible water pipe underneath the ground so that I can build at 3m away from that. The site is on a small slope, so I also would like a topographic map to use for planning applications.

At the moment I do not have an engineer, therefore if you could point out, in the case you are aware of, all the needed documents that an engineer would ask land surveyors, so that I can ask them.

I think I will go with the digital version. Is that more expensive than the paper one?

Edited July 11 by MariaD

[Conor]

12 minutes ago, MariaD said:

Thanks for the reply. the site is about 800sqm, my main concern is to find a possible water pipe underneath the ground so that I can build at 3m away from that. The site is on a small slope, so I also would like a topographic map to use for planning applications.

At the moment I do not have an engineer, therefore if you could point out, in the case you are aware of, all the needed documents that an engineer would ask land surveyors.

I think I will go with the digital version. Is that more expensive than the paper one?

Topo survey won't locate a water pipe. Need to contact UE...  Unlikely they'll help and you might need to do some trial pits. 

 

Worth have a Topo anyway. But do things in right order. Speak to an architect first, then think about ground investigations.

Edited July 11 by Conor

[saveasteading]

If there are any manhole covers that are visible then their position then they will be shown. But a land surveyor will not lift covers or establish where drains run.

Digital is standard. Prints should be requested.

I would request a couple of large prints, say A2, bug perhaps A3 is big enough.?   But my daughter would scoff.

Also a file in printable form  eg pdf. Plus a CAD file.

[Alan Ambrose]

>>> the site is about 800sqm, my main concern is to find a possible water pipe underneath the ground so that I can build at 3m away from that

 

You'll probably get what you need straight from your local water authority - at least a rough approximation to the location. Sometimes the records are missing or not accurate though. That'll hopefully give you a rough idea for planning a house location. The doc might have already been obtained in the searches when you bought the plot. The authority should also be able to tell you what kind of pipe it is, which'll be useful so you know how fragile it is. If the pipe is going to provide your own supply, you'll make much progress by going through the 'apply for a new supply' application and get an actual bod on site. They often know stuff that's not on the plans.

 

That's probably all you need to kick off an architect.

 

To get it accurately though, which you'll want to do at some time, you might need to dig down to it at a few points to verify and to get the level. You might be able to locate it remotely if iron, otherwise some sleuth work and some digging.

 

Re a proper topo - yeah, dwg / dxf CAD file is key for people to draw on (computer-wise) using it as a base. Prints / pdfs are negligible extra cost.

 

You probably need to specify exactly what you want - here's my spec (below), but I probably missed a few things - some tree stumps, eave heights of neighbouring buildings, height of mid-point of LV line.

 

Local firm is good, as it's probably 1/2 day for a team of two. £400-500 + VAT maybe depending on how big the site is / how much it varies in height / how many 'features' there are / what grid size you want etc.

 

 

Boundaries with heights & description
Pick up the gates, driveway & the relationship to the highway
The position & invert level of the ditch culvert at the front of the plot and the
position and top level of the culvert pipe (now exposed) at the rear of the plot (one point at
each end) as marked on the plan provided. The top being ~70cm down from the surface.
This is behind the Ash tree.
A paint line indicates the approx line of the culvert, please pick up one other on the surface from that so we can establish the approximate track
The invert points of the culvert pipe in the ditch next to the highway have been highlighted
The location and height of the poles at each end of the LV line
All street furniture
All service covers
Overhead Cables
Buildings (Outlines)
All changes in surface
All water features
Trees;
Location of the four trees and, if possible, the approximate tree height & extent of the foliage.

Also pick up position & heights of 3 trees on the opposite side of the road
Trees fully detailed - surveyed trunk & 4 points on canopy
Road markings
Existing building outlines
Contours (interval)
Existing building heights and neighbouring buildings
The ridge height (only) of the 4 nearby barns (assuming these can easily be sited reflectorless from the plot).
Levels over the site - 10m grid
Floor Window and Door Heights of existing buildings
Visibility splays - include all nearside features with heights
(trees/hedges/fences etc.), with requested distance of splays in each direction from site access

[ProDave]

Go divining to locate the pipe.  Yes I AM being serious.

[saveasteading]

I used to do it with bent welding rods but the gift has passed.

Now I use logic and look at pipe directions.  Maybe I always did.

 

For your project I would measure with a long tape, and lift the manholes and put dye (or flush toilet paper) to work out the drains.  But it's my job. You must do as you wish and your skills allow.

[MariaD]

22 hours ago, Conor said:

Topo survey won't locate a water pipe. Need to contact UE...  Unlikely they'll help and you might need to do some trial pits. 

 

Worth have a Topo anyway. But do things in right order. Speak to an architect first, then think about ground investigations.

I did that, they gave me the map, but at the same time they were not sure of the position. That is why, before going to an engineer, I wanted to locate the pipe.

Can the land surveyor locate it though as an additional service?

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, MariaD said:

Can the land surveyor locate it though as an additional service?

Probably not. But you can walk every inch and look for manhole covers. There may be none.

[Conor]

2 hours ago, MariaD said:

I did that, they gave me the map, but at the same time they were not sure of the position. That is why, before going to an engineer, I wanted to locate the pipe.

Can the land surveyor locate it though as an additional service?

Pm me the map and I'll see what could be found on site.

[MariaD]

3 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Probably not. But you can walk every inch and look for manhole covers. There may be none.

There is a manhole just outside of the border of the site.

I have used welding rods to locate the pipe, but I am not very convinced it works.

[joe90]

3 minutes ago, MariaD said:

I have used welding rods to locate the pipe, but I am not very convinced it works.

The water board used rods to locate their water main for my site 🤷‍♂️

[ProDave]

22 minutes ago, joe90 said:

The water board used rods to locate their water main for my site 🤷‍♂️

I had the opposite.  Scottish water subcontracted our water connection.  The plan said the water was in the verge the other side of the road.  The subbies dug for it and could not find it.  They dug deeper and further from the road into the field, still no sign.  They were on the verge of packing up and going home when I got my rods out.  You could see them sniggering as I slowly walked further into the field and my rods reacted, so I said "here it is".  Just to humour me they dug a bit further and there it was.

[joe90]

20 minutes ago, ProDave said:

and there it was.

Ta da…. Yes the plan for mine said in the verge but was found 20 ft into the field opposite.

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, MariaD said:

but I am not very convinced it works.

I think you need to believe.  I used to do it 2 directions then half way between was often accurate.   But sometimes not.

 

Now you have a manhole, buy lifting keys and look in. Where do the branches point?

Edited July 12 by saveasteading

[ETC]

On 11/07/2024 at 15:13, saveasteading said:

If there are any manhole covers that are visible then their position then they will be shown. But a land surveyor will not lift covers or establish where drains run.

Digital is standard. Prints should be requested.

I would request a couple of large prints, say A2, bug perhaps A3 is big enough.?   But my daughter would scoff.

Also a file in printable form  eg pdf. Plus a CAD file.

Errr…..yes they will if you pay them.

[Alan Ambrose]

What kind of pipe has it got labelled on the map? Would it make sense that the manhole you have found is on the route? How big is the manhole cover?

 

Want to post some of this up, we”re kind of working in the dark here.

[MariaD]

12 hours ago, Alan Ambrose said:

What kind of pipe has it got labelled on the map? Would it make sense that the manhole you have found is on the route? How big is the manhole cover?

 

Want to post some of this up, we”re kind of working in the dark here.

I will post one pic of the manhole and the map from Irish Water.

 

The green dot on the map is approximately the position of the manhole. The red boundaries is my site. The blue lines the pipes.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 13 by MariaD

[saveasteading]

Where the blue pipe changes direction there have to be chambers.

So the question is whether the plan is wrong, and the pipes are on the green manhole line, or there are more.

Also, that is a big, and probably very deep chamber.

Edited July 13 by saveasteading

[ProDave]

You need the lid off that chamber.  There are no drainage pipes shown on the plan, but there must be some, somewhere.  So perhaps that chamber is for the drains.

 

I still say all would be answered in 5 minutes with the divining rods, then you know where to carefully dig for confirmation.

[saveasteading]

8 minutes ago, ProDave said:

There are no drainage pipes shown on the plan, 

 

The 'blue ' pipes are 200mm dia. 

[ProDave]

3 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

 

The 'blue ' pipes are 200mm dia. 

I assumed they are supply pipes, but we just don't know do we.  Surely the water co should at least be able to tell you if they are supply or drainage pipes?

 

Of course there will be both in the vicinity, but if only one is on the map it still begs the question, where?

[ETC]

Storm drainage.

[Alan Ambrose]

I'm guessing the nearest blue dot (to your green dot) is meant to be the chamber. As everyone has said - take the lid off and you'll figure everything out including depth. May only take you a few minutes.

 

Actually the map shows two inspection chambers either side of you plot and one in the middle (the latter unlikely but worth looking for). Any two points located with depths etc and you're probably home and dry (so to speak).

 

A topo at a later date will give you the respective invert levels and positions accurately on the map.

 

A bit weird that they didn't just run it along the side of the road and not through your plot. You could ask them how much to move it to give you maximum flexibility.

 

Edited July 13 by Alan Ambrose