Land Surveyor - Tasks and specialisations
Kairuri Whenua
Tasks & duties
Land surveyors may do some or all of the following:
- discuss surveying or land development projects with clients, local authorities, other professionals or local iwi
- advise on and manage land development projects
- ensure project proposals comply with council district plans and liaise with council to deal with any issues
- measure land features using survey equipment
- carry out land title surveys and set out boundaries
- legally certify land titles and boundaries
- prepare maps, plans and charts to give pictorial representations of the land
- prepare resource consent applications, including environmental impact assessments
- do engineering, mining and tunnelling surveys
- prepare engineering construction drawings
- use basic computer-aided design software to create designs
- map out location and design of structures such as new roads and pipelines
- check the accuracy of records and measurements
- write reports and letters to clients and council.
A land surveyor using a theodolite to conduct a site survey
Specialisations
Land surveyors may specialise in areas such as:
- planning, design and project management
- survey law
- research
- the use of computer technology such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Information Systems (SIS)
- cadastral surveying (defining and marking boundaries)
- land development and subdivision
- engineering surveying (setting out large buildings, roads and bridges)
- oil exploration
- surveying using Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
Updated
September 2009
