PLSO The Oregon Surveyor May/June 2021

10 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 3 Featured Article Quality Assurance in Surveying and Mapping By Fred Henstridge, LS QA/QC PART 2 We must continue to improve our technical skills, quality, and client service. Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in The American Surveyor, www.TheAmericanSurveyor.com , May 2006, copyright 2006 Cheves Media. It is reprinted with permission. To view the original article and the original photos, visit https://amerisurv.com/2006/04/30/qa-qc-quality-assurance-in-surveying-mapping-part-1 . Access the original PDF: https://archive.amerisurv.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_Henstridge-QAQCPart1_May2006.pdf E ssential to client service and long- term professional and business success is your commitment to pro- ducing quality work that is in accordance with industry and client mandated stan- dards, on schedule, and within budget. It is also, in my opinion, a means to raise our surveying profession to the profes- sional and business status we constantly strive to achieve. In a recent edition of CNN Money, there was a report on the value of a proper boundary survey to a homeowner or buyer provided by a qualified licensed land surveyor. I was appalled at the CNN reporter’s comments and mention of the price to pay. The report stated that a proper boundary survey made under the direction of a qualified licensed land surveyor should be priced from $500 to $1,500. First of all, the reporter should not have stated any price, since boundary surveys—depending on locale, condi- tions, research, and field work required —cannot be priced across the board. This gives the public a false sense of expecta- tions of what the professional surveyor does. In today’s economic environment the cost to equip a field survey crew can run as high as $80,000. This is the case if you consider the cost of the vehicle, total station, digital level, GPS receivers, and miscellaneous survey equipment. When you consider your capital, labor, and overhead costs it would take an aw- ful lot of $500 boundary surveys to stay in business. This is why we must contin- ue to improve our technical skills, quality, and client service. As mentioned in my previous article (Part 1), I have formulated a five-point plan for Quality Assurance (QA) and client service for surveying and mapping profession- als. My approach to QA is based on the management of the processes rather than Quality control: When making a GPS control survey, make sure to record everything about the station in the field, including weather conditions.