Professional Surveyor in Michigan and FAQs

The first step is to  complete a Bachelor’s Degree in the field of Land Surveying by an  accredited college or university. Michigan currently has two  universities that offer such programs, Michigan Technological University  and Ferris State University.
 

 Upon completion of a Bachelor’s Degree, the individual must pass the  eight hour fundamentals exam. The next step is to obtain four years of  experience under direct supervision of a Professional Surveyor. The  fourth step is to apply to the Board of Licensing for Professional  Surveyors to write the Professional Surveyor’s Exam

The Professional  Surveyor's exam is broken into two parts, part one is an eight hour  national exam and part two is a six hour state specific exam. The  candidate must pass all exams with a minimum of 70% to be considered for  licensure

Licensed as a Professional Surveyor in Michigan in 2000.
1996 Graduate of Michigan Tech. University, B.S. in Land Surveying.
Elected Mackinac County Surveyor in Nov. 2004 - present.
Past President of the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors.
Member of the National Society of Professional Surveyors.
Member of United County Officers Association.
Member of Lions Club International.
Member of the Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce.

Senior at Ferris State University (Surveying - Engineering Program).
Member of the Burt and Mullet Chapter of ACSM.
Member of the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors.

How come two different surveyors came up with different locations?
This is a common misconception of the general public. Surveyors are human and do make mistakes.
That being  said, most of the time this problem occurs because a discrepancy exists in legal descriptions.
 

 Many different people write legal descriptions for different reasons,  many of these descriptions are written without the benefit of a  Certificate of Survey and create a gap or overlap. In most cases, this  gap or overlap was created before the Professional Surveyor ever stepped  foot on your property. Should this problem exist with your property, a  Professional Surveyor can assist you with resolving these issues. Again,  the best insurance you can have is a Certificate of Survey before you buy.
 

Doesn't property have to be surveyed at the time of a real estate transaction?
Michigan does not have a law requiring a Certificate of Survey at the  point of sale. In fact, many transactions occur without the benefit of a  survey.
 

Doesn't title insurance protect me from boundary problems?
Title insurance protects you from any defects in title, not boundary  problems. Most title commitments have a schedule of exceptions, and  except out any issues that a Certificate of Survey would have shown,  i.e., encroachments, overlapping descriptions etc.
 

 Remember, when the title insurance policy is issued, they inspected chain of title, not the property itself.