Question for surveyors: "M" & "R" dimensions/ directions

beppington · Mar 14, 2012

I'm drawing a set of plans for permitting a new barn for my friend, & our county requires that a plot plan with certain details (boundaries, house locations, new structure location, well, septic, etc) be included. I have a copy of his survey.

I'm neither a surveyor nor a pro draftsman or designer, just a friend with enough "knowledge" and CAD skills to be dangerous, or should I say enough of those things to eventually get the job done for what he's paying me ($0

). I did this successfully in '08 for a sunroom addition for my sister's house.

My question: I've never seen the (M) and (R) notations showing two different dimensions and directions on the attached survey ... What are these? They weren't in my sister's survey. What's the difference? Which do I use? Thank you.

dodge man · Mar 14, 2012

Measured and recorded. In spite of advancements in equipment, its hard to measure the exact same distance and angle the same every time. The M and R just shows the differences between what the new survey had and what the old survey had.

beppington · Mar 14, 2012

Thank you!

Do you think I should use Measured then?

That would make sense, I think, since they're measuring off actual pins/ monuments/ markers ... assuming those were in the "right place" to start with and have never been moved :shocked: :confused2:

dodge man · Mar 14, 2012

Measure is whats current. The more you survey, the more you realize no corner monument is 100% stable. We show measurements to the nearest 0.01' (which is 1/8"), but the truth is on a normal job, we can't measure that accurate. Hence, you see the differences between surveys. I would say the differences on the survey you posted would be considered normal from what I can see.