Uncertainties in the surveying of the land

Hello everyone,

we are currently somewhat puzzled about the course of action in recent days regarding our house construction.

Brief background:

- House construction planning -> decision for complete construction with an architect through all service phases
- The architect carried out the entire design planning and, based on his suggestion, took the property boundaries from an online tool. We could save the surveying, only the later surveying of the house must be done by the surveyor.

Now the time had come, last week the surveyor was here and measured the house and set his nails. Suddenly, however, the surveyor reported that the right side of the property is unclear, as it apparently was not measured correctly. (Since the property is relatively narrow and the house relatively wide, an important fact, easements etc. which we naturally want to avoid as much as possible)

The surveyor’s suggestion is to request all documents from the cadastral office with all possible continuation plans, because according to a first inquiry with the cadastral office, the property might be 2 meters narrower than where the fences currently stand. With these documents, the surveyor will then measure the right side and check old boundary stones in the ground.

So far so good, today the surveyor was here and said that everything is turning out well and that the cadastral office probably only had a typo with the two meters less, the boundaries lie exactly where they should be according to our view, because exactly there the stones were also found. Of course, this is a relief that pleases me very much, otherwise there would naturally be frustration, what was all this about then?

The end of the story is that I could not start my construction project etc., canceled excavators etc., and the surveyor now presumably wants about 1000 euros for the measurement, I at least suspect that this is the case, because he had to carry out his work, typo or no typo.

Are there any experts here who can simply assess the whole thing from the outside? It does not seem right to me that the cadastral office would ultimately drive someone into an additional survey because of a typo? Can these costs, if they occur, be claimed against them? Because only for this reason did the surveyor say that he cannot guarantee that the house can/may be built as planned, due to the unclear boundary...

Many thanks in advance for your efforts

1000 euros for the surveying seems rather cheap to me. Your architect’s approach is somewhat careless. Did you also skip the [Bodengutachten]?

Possibly a misunderstanding. We are not talking about the amount of the costs nor about the surveying of the house, but about the surveying of a right boundary of the property; the other boundaries had already been correctly surveyed. Because if you had to survey 4 boundary lines (rectangular property), it would of course not be "only" 1000 euros. My question is rather, as described in my post: "In my opinion, it cannot be right that the cadastral office ultimately forces someone into an additional survey due to a typographical error? Can these costs, if they arise, be claimed against them? Because it is only for this reason that the surveyor stated that he cannot guarantee that the house can/may stand as is, with the unclear boundary..."

The question is, who commissioned what and when, and was this documented in writing? If you have commissioned a detailed staking out (setting out of the batter boards) and a binding price was given to you, it is the contractor’s responsibility to obtain the necessary documents. If there are actually contradictions in the cadastral evidence, the surveyor must clarify this with the cadastral office. However, there are so many possibilities as to who initiated which measures and why, ranging from a misunderstanding between the cadastral office and the surveying company to a boundary that has not yet been identified, that you should first wait for the surveyor’s invoice. This should contain a detailed breakdown of which work was carried out at what price. I consider claims for damages due to the postponed appointment to be excluded, however.

It is the task and responsibility of the architect to clearly determine all information regarding the property at the beginning that may be relevant for project processing (basic determination). Checking the cadastral documents is always part of this. A building application includes a simple or official site plan from a public surveyor authorized by [ö.b.u.v.], for which the property should be surveyed, unless such a plan already exists. Especially in cases where distances to boundaries are to be utilized down to the centimeter, exact knowledge of the boundaries is indispensable. Simply measuring them from the online cadastre is far too inaccurate and only sufficient for initial sketches. In addition, the architect needs terrain elevations for planning the outdoor area and drainage.

If the boundaries cannot be precisely located, a boundary verification or a (possibly official) boundary notification must be carried out. Surveying services also include fine staking and building surveying after completion. The architect must have this package offered. The costs are borne by the client. If the architect waives individual services of the surveyor, he assumes responsibility.

The reason for the confusion may have been given by the surveyor; the cadastral office may have expressed itself unclearly on this matter. I cannot say who has to bear which additional costs. The architect should also take care of this to decide with you how to proceed before these additional costs arise.