ROLE OF SURVEYING

IN ARCHITECTURE
AND ITS
REPERCUSSIONS

-ZORAWAR SINGH BASUR

3-A

Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of

determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the
distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is
called a land surveyor. These points are usually on the surface of the
Earth, and they are often used to establish land maps and boundaries
for ownership, locations like building corners or the surface location of
subsurface features, or other purposes required by government or civil
law, such as property sales.

Broad groups are:

As-built survey: a survey that documents the location of recently
constructed elements of a construction project. Asbuilt surveys are done
for record, completion evaluation and payment purposes. An as-built
survey is also known as a 'works as executed survey'. As built surveys are
often presented in red or redline and laid over existing plans for
comparison with design information.
Cadastral or boundary surveying: a survey that establishes or reestablishes boundaries of a parcel using a legal description. It involves the
setting or restoration of monuments or markers at the corners or along
the lines of the parcel. These take the form of iron rods, pipes,
or concrete monuments in the ground, or nails set in concrete or asphalt.
The ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey is a standard proposed by theAmerican
Land Title Association and the American Congress on Surveying and
Mapping. It incorporates elements of the boundary survey, mortgage
survey, and topographic survey.
Control surveying: Control surveys establish reference points to use as
starting positions for future surveys. Most other forms of surveying will
contain elements of control surveying.
Construction surveying
Deformation survey: a survey to determine if a structure or object is
changing shape or moving. First the positions of points on an object are
found. A period of time is allowed to pass and the positions are then remeasured and calculated. Then a comparison between the two sets of
positions is made.
Dimensional control survey: This is a type of survey conducted in or on an
non-level surface. Common in the oil and gas industry to replace old or
damaged pipes on a like-for-like basis. The advantage of dimensional
control survey is that the instrument used to conduct the survey does not

need to be level. This is useful in the off-shore industry, as not all

platforms are fixed and are thus subject to movement.
Engineering surveying: topographic, layout, and as-built surveys
associated with engineering design. They often need geodetic
computations beyond normal civil engineering practice.
Foundation survey: a survey done to collect the positional data on a
foundation that has been poured and is cured. This is done to ensure that
the foundation was constructed in the location, and at the elevation,
authorized in the plot plan, site plan, or subdivision plan.
Hydrographic survey: a survey conducted with the purpose of mapping
the shoreline and bed of a body of water. Used for navigation,
engineering, or resource management purposes.
Leveling: either finds the elevation of a given point or establish a point at
a given elevation.
LOMA survey: Survey to change base flood line, removing property from
a SFHA special flood hazard area.
Measured survey : a building survey to produce plans of the building. such
a survey may be conducted before renovation works, for commercial
purpose, or at end of the construction process.
Mining surveying: Mining surveying includes directing the digging of mine
shafts and galleries and the calculation of volume of rock. It uses
specialised techniques due to the restraints to survey geometry such as
vertical shafts and narrow passages.
Mortgage survey: A mortgage survey or physical survey is a simple survey
that delineates land boundaries and building locations. It checks
for encroachment, building setback restrictions and shows nearby flood
zones. In many places a mortgage survey is a precondition for a mortgage
loan.
Photographic control survey: A survey that creates reference marks visible
from the air to allow aerial photographs to be rectified.
Stakeout, Layout or Setout: an element of many other surveys where the
calculated or proposed position of an object is marked on the ground. This
can be temporary or permanent. This is an important component of
engineering and cadastral surveying.

Structural survey: a detailed inspection to report upon the physical

condition and structural stability of a building or structure. It highlights
any work needed to maintain it in good repair.
Subdivision: A boundary survey that splits a property into two or more
smaller properties.
Topographic survey: a survey that measures the elevation of points on a
particular piece of land, and presents them as contour lines on a plot.

Surveyors work with elements

of mathematics (geometry and trigonometry), physics, engineering and
the law. They use equipment like total stations, robotic total stations, GPS

receivers, prisms, 3D scanners, radios, handheld tablets, digital levels,

and surveying software.
Surveying has been an element in the development of the human
environment since the beginning of recorded history. The planning and
execution of most forms of construction require it. It is also used
in transport, communications, mapping, and the definition of legal
boundaries for land ownership.

Land surveyors work in the office and in the field from suits to boots. Out
in the field, they use the latest technology such as high order GPS, Robotic
Total Stations (Theodolites), and aerial and terrestrial scanners to map an
area, making computations and taking photos as evidence.
In the office, Surveyors then use sophisticated software, such as Auto-cad
to draft plans and map the onsite measurements. Surveyors work on a
diverse variety of projects from land subdivision and mining exploration,
to tunnel building and major construction, which means no two days are
the same. They are experts in determining land size and measurement.
They also give advice and provide information to guide the work of
engineers, architects and developers.

The land surveyor provides several valued services to the new home
construction process including boundary surveys, site design, layout, and
construction staking. From the top the most important aspect of the
surveyors role is one of quality control.
An accurate boundary survey discloses any defects of the parcel to be
developed such as encroachments, discrepancies in land area, missing
boundary corners or undeclared easements. The boundary survey also
quantifies the size, shape and dimension of the building envelope as
determined by building setbacks, home owner covenants, environmental
buffers and
utility easements. An accurate boundary survey ensures that the buyers
vision for their new home will work on the chosen parcel.
Well thought out site design serves as an aid to the client and the builder
as well. Placement on the lot, drive access, drainage, foundation exposure
and floor height above grade are important considerations for the client.
The surveyor will provide an initial site layout to the client based on input

from the client and the builder. The client and builder typically have
comments and suggestions that complete the final layout.
Once the building process is started the surveyor is responsible for the
house layout. There is no
margin for error in laying out the footings and foundation for the new
home within the building envelope and as per the clients vision and
architectural plans. A layout certified by the surveyor ensures that the
home is positioned on the lot correctly and will not encroach into any
setbacks,
across lot lines, or be constructed across any easements and will meet all
required covenants and community architectural guidelines.
The final as-built survey of the completed construction by the surveyor
certifies to the client, the lender and the community architectural review
board that the project has been completed as intended and that there are
no boundary issues or site issues.

Land surveyors work in the office and in the field. In the field, they use the
latest technology such as high order GPS, Robotic Total Stations
(Theodolites), and aerial and terrestrial scanners to map an area, making
computations and taking photos as evidence. In the office, Surveyors then
use sophisticated software, such as Auto-cad to draft plans and map the
onsite measurements. Surveyors work on a diverse variety of projects
from land subdivision and mining exploration, to tunnel building and major
construction, which means no two days are the same. They are experts in
determining land size and measurement. They also give advice and
provide information to guide the work of engineers, architects and
developers.
Importance of surveying
According to Renishaw plc, laser scanning is not only used in land
surveying but is being adopted in more and more industries, since it gives
detailed, accurate data, very quickly, and with fewer manpower
requirements, saving companies costs. Surveying is important and most of
us depend on it so as to ensure order in the physical world around us.
Surveyors play an integral role in land development, from the planning
and design of land subdivisions through to the final construction of roads,
utilities and landscaping. Surveyors are the first people on any

construction site, measuring and mapping the land. These primary

measurements are then used by architects to understand and make the
most of the unique landscape when designing and engineers to plan
structures accurately and safely, ensuring buildings not only fit with the
landscape but are able to be constructed.
According to Haglf Sweden AB, It is valuable for everyone to keep track
of assets to maintain control and healthy growth. Standardization,
calibration and control systems are used in all industries, and when
measuring, storing and processing data on-site, error sources are
efficiently minimized. Problem areas are detected in time and actions are
based on facts and figures.
It is necessary to mark the boundaries on the ground, so that they are
clear to observers standing on or near the property. Also surveying is
intended to provide the evidence needed by the title insurer to delete
certain standard exceptions to coverage and thereby provide extended
coverage against off-record title matters including matters that would be
revealed by an accurate survey.
Many properties have considerable problems in regard to improper
bounding, miscalculations in past surveys, titles, easements, and wildlife
crossings. Also many properties are created from multiple divisions of a
larger piece over the course of years, and with every additional division
the risk of miscalculation increases. The result can be abutting properties
not coinciding with adjacent parcels, resulting in gaps and overlaps.
Many times a surveyor must solve a puzzle using pieces that do not
exactly fit together. In these cases, the solution is based upon the
surveyors research and interpretation, along with established procedures
for resolving discrepancies. This essentially is a process of continual error
correction and update, where official recordation documents countermand
the previous and sometime erroneous survey documents recorded by
older monuments and older survey methods.
Mapping and information technologies have rapidly changed and
developed in the recent years, thus creating a new workflow in urban
design and planning. The traditional workflow which used to be graphic
and paper-maps directed has changed into a digital process. Planning
involves an adequate knowledge of engineering, the legal systems, and
significant local facts. These local facts include the characteristics of the
natural environment, such as relief and topography, and information
about the existing statutory conditions of land use, particularly as it
relates to the land rights. Hence, there is a need for systematic data
collection phase that includes topographic mapping at a proper scale, and

compilation of statuary and local maps and data of the project area. The
phase is critical to the success of the project since the planning team
depend upon these data to be of reasonable degree of exactness and
completeness. This article focuses on the role of the surveyor in the
development of an Urban Construction Plan in Israel starting at the initial
architectural sketch through the detailed engineering planning which will
leads smoothly to the construction phase. It describes the planning and
land rights registration procedures and the duties of the surveyor in these
interrelated processes.
Surveyors have always played a key role in urban planning, responsible
for data collection and for the management of different design and
engineering plans such as transportation, water system, and power
system plans using proper metric standards (e.g., coordinate system,
accuracy, drafting specifications, etc.). Technological advancements such
as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning
Systems (GPS) have created an even greater need for surveyors in urban
planning as spatial data administrators, organizing the different raster and
vector files from the project inception till the final step of As-Build
mapping and infrastructure maintenance using GIS.
Topographic mapping is performed according to the conditions of the
specific project area; namely, in a rural open area a 1:5000 scale map is
drawn with elevation points at low resolution to delineate major landforms
and patterns. In a densely populated urban area the mapping is
performed at a larger scale for example at a 1:500 scale and includes an
elevation point every 10 meters, transportation, structures, hydrology,
utilities, vegetation, and other layers of information. On the average most
mapping is performed at a scale of 1:1250 which presents a compromise
of the amount of detail and accuracy and cost. Surveying methods vary
but should be chosen to meet the accuracy requirement of the given map
scale
A complete compilation of all the available cadastral information is a key
for the success of urban planning process. In Israel, the cadastre system is
based on the Torrens principles of Titles Registration (Dale, 1976). This
system defines the cadastral blocks and parcels based on official
surveying and mapping which was performed by the state using various
surveying method since 1920 (the establishment of the system by the
British mandate in Palestine). About 21000 square km of the registered
area of the state of Israel (about 5% of the area is not registered yet) are
divided into about 15000 registration blocks, and about 750000 parcels
(Steinberg, 2001). Every block is drawn on a block map at sheet size of
6070 cm. These block maps vary in scale but most of them are drawn at

scales of 1:1,250 and 1:2,500. The accuracy in which the boundaries are
defined is quite heterogeneous as a result of the different survey methods
and equipment that were used over the years. Surveying field books exist
in many areas (during the Independence War of Israel some were lost),
these include the recorded surveying measurements of distances and
angles from a given set of control points. The surveyor should obtain all
the existing cadastre information from the Survey of Israel (cadastre block
maps, surveying field books, and list control points coordinates) and
analytically calculate the boundary of the project area (the blue-line) from
distances and angles and using the coordinates of the control points.
These analytical calculations should be adjusted to fit any physical
evidence (monument, fence line, corner etc.) which is found in the field.
Case 1, the Haifa University: In a mapping project the cadastral map was
digitized from a map at a 1:2500 scale. This map was used by the
architect for planning. The boundary was later calculated analytically and
a deviation of 1.5m was discovered. The entire plan had to be altered
according to the new and correct boundary. In addition to cadastral
information the surveyor should acquire all the existing Urban
Construction Plans (UPC) of the project area; these include detailed plans
at the local authority level, at the county level, and state wide plan for
national infrastructure. The compilation of maps shows the existing land
use status of the area and serves as the starting point for the planning.
Finally various engineering charts from communication, gas, and power
companies provide useful information about underground infrastructure
and should also be acquired. Case 2: The Shoni quarry in Binamina: as
part of a legal discussion we were asked to define the boundaries of the
Shoni quarry in Binamina. These boundaries were digitized from an Urban
Construction Plan (UCP) S/68A, nevertheless, topographic features from
the topographic mapping were used to position the map to the correct
coordinate system and determine the boundaries correctly
The planning phase, an intricate and time-consuming step, is performed
by a planning team that includes an architect, a civil engineer or a
number of civil engineers with different expertise (transportation, power,
water, structure, etc.), and of course the surveyor. In Israel the planning
process is even more complicated since 93% of the land is owned by the
government. Moreover the state has wide constitutional rights including
expropriation rights, the ability to divide land without the consent of the
owner and so on. This system was designed to assist the young but
rapidly growing country in controlling the various factors pushing for
urban sprawl, to protect open areas, and to achieve long term planning
goals The surveyor has a significance role in making sure that proper
metric measures are used in the planning process. We have described the

necessity of determining the project boundary (blue-line) analytically from

surveying and cadastral data and using topographic data. The surveyor
should also verify that Right-of-Way (ROW) lengths are maintained
properly. Information about right-of-way is obtained from existing UCPs
where the ROW is described in a special symbol termed rosette, and local
authoritys regulations.
Case 3, the city of Ramla: The planning of a new neighborhood was
conducted along highways 40, in the city of Ramla. The planning team did
not verify the Right-of-Way length and as a result the first line of building
encroached into the right of way area. The planning had to be modified
resulting in loss of time and money. Water boundaries determination,
specifically the Mediterranean shoreline in the state of Israel which
constitutes the west border of the country, is an important surveying task.
According to the Israeli Act for shoreline preservation of 2004, the
shoreline is defined by the Survey of Israel using coordinates at an
elevation of 0.75 meters above the mean sea level. A 100 meter wide
zone measured in perpendicular direction from the shoreline is defined as
coastal area where any construction is forbidden. A 300 meter wide zone
is considered as coastal environment area on which various planning and
zoning limitation are imposed. To summarize this section, using various
geometrical calculations and software tools the surveyor should work with
the planning team in verifying the following: Road Number Distance from
rightmost edge of road to buildings-line Distance from leftmost edge of
road to buildings-line Road Width PS 7 Commission 7 Posters Orit
Shwarts and Moshe Felus The surveyor's role in the development of an
Urban Construction Plan in Israel Shaping the Change XXIII FIG Congress
Munich, Germany, October 8-13, 2006 7/8 1. Accurate determination of
the project boundary 2. Working with the road designer and make sure the
Right of Way lengths are maintained. 3. Proportioning parcel frontages in
equal and symmetrical manner and according to the local regulation with
the project architect. 4. Accurate calculation of parcel areas and verifying
that these areas conform with the local authority zoning and land-use
regulations.
When the UPC is approved by the local authorities, it should be submitted
for approval as a map for registration purposes to the Survey of Israel
(Ministry of construction and zoning) and then be registered (ministry of
interior). The first task can only be performed by a licensed surveyor while
the second task can be performed by a surveyor or by a lawyer (often by
as a joined collaboration of both). According to the Surveying regulations
of 1998, every map submitted for registration purposes should follow the
relevant Urban Construction Plan (UCP) as close as possible. Specifically
the following criteria were defined: Regulation 53A: (1) "The area of every

parcel in the registration map will not be different than the area in the UCP
by more than 3% of the are or 10 m2 (the largest of both). As long as the
parcel area is greater than the minimum area as defined in the zoning
regulations of the specific area. (2) The ratio of the sum of all parcel areas
which are designated for public use and the sum of all the parcels in the
map will not be smaller than 2% (3) The difference between frontage
length in the UPC and in the registration map shell not be smaller than 1%
of the total frontage length. (4) The shape of the parcel in the map
submitted for registration shell be maintained as best as possible to the
UCP." In addition to the above regulation strict drafting and formatting
guidelines should be adhered to in order to obtain approval from the
Survey of Israel. Following the registration, the construction phase can
begin with the surveyor stacking put the corners of every parcel. At the
end of the construction all the information is integrated in a Geographical
Information System which is being used for maintenance and further
development. These steps will not be described here but can be found in
standard textbooks such as Wolf and Ghilani (2005).
The role of the surveyor in Urban Planning is becoming more important
than ever since there is an ever increasing need to expedite the planning
process. The collaboration between the surveyor, the architect, and the
civil engineer is crucial for a successful and efficient planning process,
with the surveyor overseeing the quantitative, metric aspects of the
design. It is important that these basic principles be common knowledge
shared in the architecture, urban planning, engineering, and obviouslysurveying communities. In the future it is expected that Geographical
Information Systems Technologies will be part of the urban planning
process with new software tools designed to facilitate the process and
with spatial decision support system technologies. Application of GIS in
the planning process will necessitate proper and accurate spatial data
bases formatted specifically for GIS use; this will call for an even greater
involvements of surveyors in the urban planning process.

However, the day-to-day practice regularly demands two-dimensional

maps of existing building remains. That would appear contradictory to the
standard three-dimensional measurement methods. They are generally
commissioned for renovation and restoration projects. The parties
involved are accustomed to read the spatial and construction context of
the building and the historic and fitting features from layout plans,
sections, elevations and projections. Compared with 3D models,
exchanging data in 2D is more practical and easier to bring to the
construction site. The results of an architectural survey form the basis for
the documentation of further studies (damage mapping); they are the
basis for planning and are used for precise calculations of quantities for
invitations to tender. Let us first consider depictions of architecture in
this case real pictures. For the purposes of architectural surveys, this
refers of course to scale orthophotos, drawings or simple rectified
mapping photographs, or equally to all results of 3D scans. Of course,
photographs also make statements, depending on the aspect for which
they were made, as photography always assumes a goal. In spite of this, a
distinction must be made. Images are only the basis for further evaluation
and analyses, not the result of an interpretation. As the creation of these
products is not simple in most cases, specialists with the photogrammetric
and geodesic expertise and the necessary technology are required. The
abovementioned evaluation and interpretation are performed by other
specialists this is a clearly defined division of labour. One orthophoto of a
ceiling elevation with rich stucco ornamentation and haunches will serve

as an example of the possibilities of photogrammetry and its

competitiveness with 3D scans.