How accurate are surveyors?
Surveyors are accurate to 3 significant digits on area, and 4 significant digits in individual dimensions. But, then we have a little bit of a problem when we describe where on earth it is. Many disputes arise because land is registered based on well defined reference points far from the land. But with any shifting of the defined reference point, even a few cm can effectively distort the whole property map of a municipality. From this we have to say that reference to well defined reference points will be fairly accurate at the time of a survey, but will not remain accurate forever. Seismic activity or even erosion can change not only well defined reference points, but surveyors stakes can move a bit. Our land was originally surveyed using magnetic compass bearings which means that with the shifting of the magnetic north pole, it is no longer close to accurate. A re-survey had to be done using only well defined reference points. But nobody lost land. All that happened was that our legal
