7 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Featured Article What is Find and Flag? F&F is when a PLS, or PLS’s representative, visits a property, finds apparent property corner monumentation, flags that apparent property corner monument for the property owner, and then ceases further activity and departs the site. Board Rule 6.5.1(c) reads, “The determination of the position of any monument, reference point, or any other mark, when such monument or mark controls the location of boundaries or rights of ownership in or use of real property.” How much more clear can it be stated? A F&F is exactly this. Now some may be thinking that “determination of the position” should be interpreted to mean measurements were taken, but that’s not the case because measurements are clearly considered in 6.5.1(e). Others may be thinking that the phrase “controls the location of boundaries...” can be sidestepped by telling the property owner that the PLS is not taking the responsibility that any of the monuments found are correctly marking a corner. But the whole point of a F&F is so the property owner will know their property boundaries and likely use the found monuments to accomplish some task on their property. The property owner is certainly going to use those found monuments to “control the location of boundaries or rights of ownership” for their property. And the F&F PLS just pointed the monuments out to the property owner, thereby taking on that responsibility and liability. Clearly then, F&F falls within the definition of a Land Survey. A Land Survey is defined under 38-51-102(11). A Monumented Land Survey under 38-51102(13) is defined as a Land Survey with monuments “either found or set.” And 38-51-107 requires a plat to be prepared and deposited when performing a Monumented Land Survey. So a F&F does not prevent the PLS from having to prepare and deposit a plat. Seems like clear logic to me. But I’ve found that common sense is often better than logic. First, as Professional Land Surveyors, it is our responsibility to protect and serve the public. That includes protecting your client from themselves sometimes but also protecting all their surrounding neighbors. How can a F&F possibly protect, or in any way serve any of these property owners? Second, let’s hypothetically suppose you happen to know a PLS that performs F&F operations as a routine part of their business. It’s my opinion that it’s likely that at some point during this “fictional” PLS’s career there will be a monument found and flagged that does not represent the correct corner location for a particular property. But the property owner relies on that location because it was found by a “professional” (although I hate using that word in this case). Later it turns out their neighbor gets a Monumented Land Survey and determines that the F&F property owner has encroached upon their property with some improvement, or worse yet, possibly one party or the other has established a fence and now has an adverse possession case worthy of merit. Once the truth comes out, who do you think is going to be in front of the judge, and then the Board, trying to explain the merits of the F&F “service” they provided? And how much insurance do you think that particular PLS carries? Or a better question may be, what is that PLS’s house worth? Be safe out there. And please also be responsible. Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2015 issue of Side Shots, the member publication of the Professional Land Surveyors of Colorado, and is reprinted with permission.
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