If you live within an incorporated municipality, it is best to contact municipal officials (City Engineer, Village Administrator, etc.) first to deal with drainage issues on your property. If you do not live within a municipality, we recommend contacting your county engineer. Your local municipal official or county engineer will then recommend if you need the assistance of a civil engineer. A topographical survey might be useful in some situations.

Our survey crew visits the site and take measurements to determine the elevations of the following: the building floor; the ground next to the building; and other features such as utilities and decks. The crew will need access to the building to document the type, number and location of existing flood vents and to take measurements. The flood zone is then indicated on the Flood Insurance Rate Map, and the information is compiled on a certificate (the exact information shown on the certificate varies depending on the type of building).

Please note: the elevations shown are based on a reference datum described by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Most older elevation certificates are based on NGVD29 (National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929), while most newer certificates are based on NAVD88 (North American Vertical Datum of 1988). The same point will have different numbers for elevation under the two systems. Other documents may be based on other reference elevations and may not be directly comparable.

An elevation certificate is a document that states the flood zone in which a building is located, and lists the relationship of the building to the Base Flood Elevation shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map. It is used as an aid in determining flood insurance rates, and also may used to support a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) to remove a building flood zone designation in certain circumstances.

The most common marker is an iron bar with a plastic cap. In asphalt pavement, a nail is typically set. Corners that fall in concrete or stone are usually marked with a chiseled cross or drill hole. In some instances, typically when required in a new subdivision, concrete monuments are set. When the markers are set they are indicated either by a wooden stake with colored ribbon if in a dirt area, or by brightly colored paint for marks that fall on hard surfaces.

Click here to watch a video about property corners.

When you have a survey done on your property, you receive a map showing the boundary of the lot and its relationship to physical features. It can be difficult to see the exact property lines on the ground without physical markers at each corner of the lot. Corner markers are used to show you where the boundaries of your property are, and are an aid for future work (such as installing fences).

New Jersey law requires setting corner markers when a survey is done. You can waive this right by filling out a corner waiver form (which must be signed and witnessed) prior to your survey. While this will save some expense for the initial survey, it may result in future expenses if additional work is required on the property where corners locations are needed, such as for the installation of a fence or other work.

Corner markers always require the surveyors to make a second trip to the property. When the field crew goes to the property the first time, they locate existing corner markers and site features, and collect data. This data is then sent back to our office where the survey is drawn and corner locations are precisely calculated. Then, the field crew will go back out with the calculated coordinates and actually set the corner markers.

Click here to watch a video about property corners.

The following links give some basic instruction to help you read a survey plat and/or legal description. Please note that the information provided in the links below is not maintained by Morgan Engineering, and therefore Morgan Engineering is not responsible for the information contained at these sites.

eHOW – How to Read Land Survey Plats 
Wikipedia – What is a Plat?

A right-of-way is a strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by certain transportation and public use facilities, such as roadways, railroads, and utility lines. The land is either owned outright or controlled by easement by the public agency.

An easement is a right acquired by one party to use or control property belonging to another party for a designated purpose.

Property can be split into multiple lots or into a subdivision as specified in your municipality’s, township’s, or county’s specifications. For further information, please contact our office at 732.270.9690.

The cost of a survey depends on several variables including the size of the property to be surveyed, the type of survey, and what sort of documents you require with the survey.