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Types of Land Surveying Jobs | Corona, CA

Besides surveying land for property owners and developers, surveyors also may do construction surveying. This is helpful in the planning of roads and buildings since the slope and grade of the land can affect the level of difficulty — or even possibility — of some construction projects. They also take into account any underground portions of the project that might be influenced by the geography of the property, such as the type of soil or presence of bedrock or streams.

Engineer using surveying equipment at a construction site with a backhoe in the background.

Construction surveyors are often needed throughout a project.

Forensic. Forensic surveyors work in tandem with the legal system. Using their particular skills and techniques, they can help reconstruct a crime or accident scene. They can also provide critical information relative to storm damage and evaluate the potential threat of environmental factors. These professionals provide reports to law enforcement, insurance companies, government agencies, or other involved agents.

Hydrographic. A hydrographic surveyor surveys land in and around bodies of water. This includes mapping coastlines, riverbeds, and sea floors. This information is helpful to the Navy and other seamen, but also to developers planning waterfront projects or governmental bodies that are building bridges or other structures near the shore. In the case of bridges especially, the makeup of the land under the water can be critical (i.e., whether it is sand, clay, mud, etc.) These surveyors measure water depth, mark the patterns of erosion and assess navigational risks as well.

Environmental. Environmental surveyors map undeveloped land, often pinpointing areas populated by an endangered species. They may also survey areas contaminated with hazardous materials or those affected by storm, flood or fire damage.

To find out more, click here.

To find out more about a career in land surveying, please contact us at (800) CALVADA or visit www.calvada.com.

Calvada proudly serves Corona and all surrounding areas.

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Is Technology Taking Out the Land Surveyor? | Corona, CA

Traditionally the land surveyor had a job that the typical layman couldn’t do – use fancy equipment to survey a particular piece of land and report back any data needed. It was complicated and very necessary to the function of America. It was the backbone of progress.

Today, things have changed due to the continued progression of technological advances. There is now much more sophisticated equipment developed that is now accessible to the public. People have learned to use equipment used by the land surveyor. Perhaps not for land surveying purposes, but they use it for other purposes. They can use the scanners, they can fly drones. They may not have the knowledge that land surveyors do, but with all this technology at their fingertips, is there life after technology for the land surveyor?

Curtis Sumner of the National Society of Professional Land Surveyors spoke about the future of land surveying amidst the development of COVID-19 and technology, and how we can save the future of land surveying.

To read more about his speech, click here.

To find out more about the future of land surveying, please contact us at (800) CALVADA or visit www.calvada.com.

Calvada proudly serves Corona and all surrounding areas.

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Information Regarding NSPS and COVID-19 | Corona, CA

Recognizing that federal legislation addressing the COVID-19 pandemic won’t be final until the Senate and House reach agreement, National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) wants to share with members the information that is known from time to time. Below is a summary of the current situation provided by American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). 

Business Tax Relief

  • Deferral of payment of the employer portion of the Social Security tax, with half due by December 31, 2021 and the other half due by December 31, 2022.
  • Allows net operating losses arising in 2018, 2019 and 2020 to be carried back for five years.
  • Modifies the loss limitation applicable to passthroughs and sole proprietors so they can utilize excess business losses and access cash flow.
  • Increases business interest deductibility from 30 to 50 percent for 2019 and 2020.
  • Provides a refundable payroll tax credit for employers whose operations are partially or fully suspended by a COVID-19 shutdown order or whose gross receipts declined by more than 50 percent compared to the same quarter in the prior year.
  • Provides a technical fix for the qualified leasehold improvement provision in the TCJA.

Small Business Assistance

  • Provides $562 million for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to small businesses. 
  • The package also authorizes $350 billion worth of 100 percent guaranteed SBA loans, a portion of which SBA will forgive based on allowable expenses for the borrower.
  • This small business package also includes $10 billion in direct grants for businesses that do not qualify for the EIDL program, and $17 billion to have SBA step in and make six months of principle and interest payments for all SBA backed business loans.
  • Establishes the maximum 7(a) loan amount to $10 million through December 31, 2020 and provides a formula by which the loan amount is tied to payroll costs incurred by the business to determine the size of the loan.
  • Note that 501 c(3) non-profits qualify for small business assistance programs, not 501 c(6) entities; ACEC will work with ASAE and other associations to address in the next package.

Individual Assistance

  • The agreement provides direct payments to individuals with incomes up to $75,000 ($150,000 for couples), $1,200 for each adult ($2400 for couples), as well as $500 for each child.
  • The bill would add $600 per person per week onto the base maximum unemployment benefit for four months.
  • The bill enables employers to provide a student loan repayment benefit to employees on a tax-free basis, contributing up to $5,250 annually toward an employee’s student loans, and such payment would be excluded from the employee’s income. The $5,250 cap applies to both the new student loan repayment benefit as well as other educational assistance (e.g., tuition, fees, books) provided by the employer under current law. The provision applies to any student loan payments made by an employer on behalf of an employee after date of enactment and before January 1, 2021.  Note that this provision is based on legislation that ACEC has advocated for to Congress as part of the Council’s workforce agenda.

Transportation

  • $25 billion for mass transit systems
  • Available for operating expenses to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19, and reimbursement for lost revenue
  • Distributed under current transit program formulas
  • $10 billion for airports
  • $7.4 billion available for any purpose, distributed 50/50 by number of enplanements and ratio of overall debt service
  • $2 billion for AIP formula grants, available for any purpose
  • $500 million to cover the 100% federal cost share of FY20 programs
  • $1 billion for passenger rail
  • $492 million for Amtrak Northeast Corridor, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19

State Assistance – Provides $150 billion to States, Territories, and Tribal governments to use for expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19 in the face of revenue declines, allocated by population proportions, with a minimum of $1.25 billion for states with relatively small populations.

Community Development Block Grant – $5 billion is provided for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to enable nearly 1,240 states, counties, and cities to rapidly respond to COVID-19 and the economic and housing impacts caused by it, including the expansion of community health facilities, child care centers, food banks, and senior services.

Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund — Provides $500 billion for loans, loan guarantees, and other investments, distributed as follows:

$25 billion for passenger air carriers, eligible businesses that are certified under part 145 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, and approved to perform inspection, repair, replace, or overhaul services, and ticket agents

$4 billion for cargo air carriers

$17 billion for businesses important to maintaining national security

$454 billion, as well as any amounts available but not used for direct lending, for loans, loan guarantees, and investments in support of the Federal Reserve’s lending facilities to eligible businesses, states, and municipalities. Federal Reserve 13(3) lending is a critical tool that can be used in times of crisis to help mitigate extraordinary pressure in financial markets that would otherwise have severe adverse consequences for households, businesses, and the U.S. economy.

To find out more about COVID-19, please contact us at (800) CALVADA or visit www.calvada.com.

Calvada proudly serves Corona and all surrounding areas.

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On-the-Job Hazards for Land Surveyors | Corona, CA

Regardless of the industry, there are on-the-job hazards that everyone needs to be aware of. But there is something that feels a bit more dangerous than other jobs. After all, you are surveying land. Who knows what is out there in that land? These are the common injuries that can happen if you are a land surveyor on the job:

  • Moving equipment
  • Dropped objects
  • Slips, trips and falls
  • Hand injuries from stakes
  • Eye injuries from flying debris

We need everyone to stay safe, so we are taking a moment to give you some simple tips to keep in mind while you are on the job. Because it may not be dangerous to survey land, it is the hazardous construction sites that are really the cause for many injuries that occur.

When possible, have equipment stop when it is required to survey close to moving equipment. Plan out work tasks during times that the construction crews aren’t actively working.

Always communicate about the plans for surveying that day. Communication allows for planning, as well as awareness between work groups of other people entering a work area. Make contact with operators when entering a work area.

Objects on higher work levels need to be secured and proper guardrail systems with toe boards need put into place to protect personnel below.

To prevent slip, trip, fall injuries practice good housekeeping.

Eliminate dust by using water to suppress it. Avoid working downwind from moving equipment to avoid eye injuries. Wear proper safety glasses with side shields. Never rub your eye if you get dust in it. Notify a supervisor and rinse the eye with the proper eyewash solution.

To find out more about land surveying job hazards, please contact us at (800) CALVADA or visit www.calvada.com.

Calvada proudly serves Corona and all surrounding areas.

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What Exactly Constitutes Land Surveying? | Corona, CA

Any department or agency of the state or any city, county, or city and county that has an unregistered person in responsible charge of land surveying work on January 1, 1986, shall be exempt from the requirement that the person be licensed as a land surveyor until such time as the person currently in responsible charge is replaced.

The review, approval, or examination by a governmental entity of documents prepared or performed pursuant to this section shall be done by, or under the direct supervision of, a person authorized to practice land surveying.

An excerpt [2] from Section §8771 of the State of California Business & Professions Code (Land Surveyors Act): 8726. Land surveying defined

A person, including any person employed by the state or by a city, county, or city and county within the state, practices land surveying within the meaning of this chapter who, either in a public or private capacity, does or offers to do any one or more of the following:

(a) Locates, relocates, establishes, reestablishes, or retraces the alignment or elevation for any of the fixed works embraced within the practice of civil engineering, as described in Section 6731.

(b) Determines the configuration or contour of the earth’s surface, or the position of fixed objects above, on, or below the surface of the earth by applying the principles of mathematics or photogrammetry.

(c) Locates, relocates, establishes, reestablishes, or retraces any property line or boundary of any parcel of land, right-of-way, easement, or alignment of those lines or boundaries.

(d) Makes any survey for the subdivision or resubdivision of any tract of land. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term “subdivision” or “resubdivision” shall be defined to include, but not limited to, the definition in the Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the Government Code) or the Subdivided Lands Law (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 11000) of Part 2 of Division 4 of this Code).

(e) By the use of the principles of land surveying determines the position for any monument or reference point which marks a property line, boundary, or corner, or sets, resets, or replaces any such monument or reference point.

(f) Geodetic or cadastral surveying. As used in this chapter, geodetic surveying means performing surveys, in which account is taken of the figure and size of the earth to determine or predetermine the horizontal or vertical positions of fixed objects thereon or related thereto, geodetic control points, monuments, or stations for use in the practice of land surveying or for stating the position of fixed objects, geodetic control points, monuments, or stations by California Coordinate System coordinates.

(g) Determines the information shown or to be shown on any map or document prepared or furnished in connection with any one or more of the functions described in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f).

(h) Indicates, in any capacity or in any manner, by the use of the title “land surveyor” or by any other title or by any other representation that he or she practices or offers to practice land surveying in any of its branches.

(i) Procures or offers to procure land surveying work for himself, herself, or others.

(j) Manages, or conducts as manager, proprietor, or agent, any place of business from which land surveying work is solicited, performed or practiced.

(k) Coordinates the work of professional, technical, or special consultants in connection with the activities authorized by this chapter.

(l) Determines the information shown or to be shown within the description of any deed, trust deed, or other title document prepared for the purpose of describing the limit of real property in connection with any one or more of the functions described in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive.

(m) Creates, prepares, or modifies electronic or computerized data in the performance of the activities described in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (k) and (l).

(n) Renders a statement regarding the accuracy of maps or measured survey data.

 [2] This excerpt from California law may have been edited to provide relevant portions in a limited space. Refer to the complete text of the statutes and laws for full meaning and context.

To find out more about land surveying, please contact us at (800) CALVADA or visit www.calvada.com.

Calvada proudly serves Corona and all surrounding areas.