Unsettling when it happens, and more common than you would expect. It usually does not mean somebody
is incompetent.
When two surveys disagree the fix is retracement: going back to the same evidence on the ground.
The usual explanations
They were not the same product
A mortgage inspection is not a boundary survey. An old plat is not a survey at all. A great many
apparent conflicts turn out to be a comparison between things that were never trying to answer the
same question. Check what each document actually is before assuming a conflict.
Different evidence was available
A survey from 1985 was done with the monuments and records available in 1985. Corners may have been
found then that are gone now, or gone then and recovered since. Missouri's ongoing corner
remonumentation means later surveys sometimes have better control than earlier ones.
Professional judgment differed
This is the real one. Boundary determination is interpretation of conflicting evidence. Two competent
surveyors can weigh an old fence against a recited distance differently and reach different
conclusions in good faith. That is why it is a licensed profession rather than a measurement task.
One was simply wrong
It happens. Errors, insufficient research, a corner accepted that should not have been.
What to do about a real conflict
Get both drawings and read them properly. Confirm they are both sealed boundary
surveys of the same parcel, and note their dates.
Ask each surveyor to explain their reasoning. A professional will tell you what
evidence they relied on and why. This resolves a fair number of disagreements on its own.
Have them talk to each other. Surveyors do this routinely and it is often the
fastest path. One frequently has evidence the other did not see.
Consider a third opinion if the two cannot reconcile, ideally from someone with
strong local record experience.
Bring in an attorney if money or a transaction is riding on it. Ultimately only a
court can determine a disputed boundary, though it rarely comes to that.
How to avoid it. Tell your surveyor about any existing survey before they start,
and give them a copy. Knowing what a previous surveyor concluded and why is genuinely useful, and it
costs nothing to hand over.
Springfield Land Surveyor is a referral service. We are not a surveying
firm, we hold no Missouri land surveying license or corporate certificate of authority, and we do not
perform survey work. We connect property owners with Missouri-licensed Professional Land Surveyors.
