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Field Note Fundamentals: How To Prepare Them &

What To Include An abstract of The Geoholics Podcast

Prepared by Trent J. Keenan, PLS & Kristina Poulter Episode #72 from March 7, 2021

Field notes: love them or hate them? Paper or electronic? Clear-cut process or wild west?
Professional land surveyors recognize that field notes are a critical part of the surveying process.

In a nutshell, field notes serve to record all pertinent information, measurements, calculations, sketches, and observations made by the
surveyor during the course of their duty. These notes become the permanent record of the survey.

The bigger the project or business, the more critical field notes arguably become. And because the individual preparing the field notes
may not be the same person who reviews them in the future, their legibility and meaning must be clear.

Three professionals share their field note expertise

On a recent episode of The Geoholics podcast, hosts Kent Groh and Ryan Kelly interviewed three experienced surveyors on exactly how
they take field notes and what they include.

The three surveyors in attendance were:

Philip Adams, PLS: President and CEO of Adams Surveying Company in Dallas, Texas, Adams specializes in large construction projects.
Adams founded his firm 12 years ago and has been in the surveying business for 40 years.
Ryan Swingley, PLS: Geospatial Manager for ESP Associates, Swingley is based in Indianapolis and specializes in LIDAR and UAV. He has
been surveying for 24 years.
Phil Fedor, RLS: A surveyor for Bowman Consulting, Fedor is a project manager based in Tempe, Arizona. A long-time field veteran, he
will celebrate 30 years of surveying in July 2021.

Why are field notes important?

Imagine you work for a big surveying company with ten crews. Your company takes on a big
construction staking project, and five separate crews have a role on the site.

In this scenario, the importance of being able to follow the surveyor who came before you takes
on both a short-term and a long-term significance.

“Following in the footsteps of the surveyor before you - that’s what we all been doing. And it’s
one of the fundamentals. And on the construction side of it is a microcosm of that,” said Phil
Fedor.
Essentials like where control is and how it was established, and what the line of sight was are critical paper trail. If the surveyor or party
chief responsible for the original field notes moves out of town, the new chief needs to pick up the project quickly.

“The new guy coming in has to be able to move in smoothly and seamlessly
and take care of his contractor who’s jumping up and down and barking at them
because things aren’t getting laid out, so they can get this stuff built and meet
their timeline. Those field notes help make that a seamless transition,” he said.

While field notes are an essential piece of the puzzle at every level, they are of
particular importance to the crew chief.

If you want to jump into an ongoing project and quickly understand where a
project stands, you need access to good field notes.
“The crew chief is the eyes and ears of any office personnel. And in today’s day
and age, not many of our techs and PLS’s go out to the field on a regular basis. So
obviously, we’re relying on that party chief to be those eyes and ears and relay any
important pertinent information to the team back to the office,” said Ryan Swingley.

12 The Nevada Traverse Vol.48, No.2, 2021