The Class I Survey Standard, as defined in the Procedural and Technical Standards for the Practice of Land Surveying in the State of Rhode Island, is for RI Land Surveyors conducting high accuracy property surveys and preparing a property survey and plans.
Class I – High Accuracy Surveys
The Procedural and Technical Standards for the Practice of Land Surveying in the State of Rhode Island defines Class I Survey as:
Surveys of developed (or soon to be developed) commercial and residential property, performed to a high degree of positional accuracy. Most urban and suburban boundary surveys, large-scale construction projects, title surveys. and subdivisions of land should be performed to this standard.
These RI Class I Survey Standards outline acceptable precision and accuracy Measurement Standards for boundary field surveys and requirements for preparing boundary survey plans.
The RI Class I Survey Standard Nominal Positional Accuracy, expressed as ratio, is 1:10,000. This means that there is as much as 1′ of error for 10,000′ (1.894 miles) of survey. For a square piece of property, this would allow for 1′ of error in an about 150 acre parcel of land.
You should know that these Standards were written and adopted in the early 1990’s, and since then the surveying equipment and techniques we now use results in much less measurement error. As such, most of the time now our RI Class I Surveys result in 5 to 10 times greater Nominal Positional Accuracy than is minimally acceptable.
How The RI Class I Survey Is Different from the Other RI Survey Standards:
- RI Class II Surveys – Moderate Accuracy Surveys. Surveys of undeveloped or less developed property, such as rural parcels, farmland, marshlands, and sow-density residential areas performed to a moderate degree of accuracy. With a minimally acceptable Nominal Positional Accuracy of only 1:5000, the RI Class II Survey Standard is in the Standards for RI those land surveyors using older, less accurate surveying equipment.
- RI CLASS III Surveys – Data Accumulation Surveys. Surveys designed to collect and report data, typically for evaluation of existing conditions and/or design of future improvements. These are not boundary surveys, but may show boundary information.
- RI Class IV Surveys – Compilation Maps. Types of plan or report compiled from other maps. deeds, and.or other sources of information. Such a plan may or may not be a product of limited field investigations, but in any case is subject to such changes as an accurate field survey may disclose. Such a map is never suitable as a boundary survey, but may be used for the purposes of compilation maps, conceptual and preliminary plans, feasibility studies, tax maps. overlay maps, mortgage loan inspections, etc.
- RI Class V – Control Surveys. Surveys of extremely high order accuracy, typically required by Federal, State or municipal agencies for the purposes of large-scale geodetic control, or extremely high accuracy construction projects, such as bridges and tunnels. The complexity of such surveys, their high cost, and the likelihood that they will be of only marginal additional value to a property owner, are all factors which make them generally unsuitable for ordinary boundary surveys.
For most property surveys in Rhode Island the Class I Survey Standard is the right choice for property surveys or property survey and plans.
If you have any questions about surveying your land and which is the correct RI Survey Standard for your property survey, please give me a call at 401-647-9240 extension 11, Ask the Pro or use our contact us form.
About Foster Survey Company
Foster Survey Company is a Rhode Island Professional Land Surveying Company established in March of 1993. We are Registered Licensed RI Professional Land Surveyors serving all Rhode Island. Because Trust and Experience Matter, our core beliefs are to give superior professional land surveying services that will benefit you with: Value, Experience, and Quality!
