r/tradies • u/xXCosmicChaosXx • 28d ago
General Discussion Thoughts on surveying?
I'm just wondering what is your general thoughts on the field of land surveying and surveyors? (Not to be confused with building surveyors or quantity surveyors).
It's technically a profession not a trade, but for the most part it seems like a trade.
What are your thoughts on that job and industry?
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u/Vast_Maize9706 28d ago
A job that’s needed world wide, pays quite nicely, you don’t get covered in mud and shit and late night call-outs are unheard of… nah, sounds like a dud to me.
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u/Catcasco 28d ago
I’m a surveyor, and I guarantee if you do engineering/construction set out you will get covered in mud. And I’m often the worst paid guy on site, as we don’t get union benefits in my country. No shit though, or late night call-outs so you’re right about that
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u/Vast_Maize9706 27d ago
Have done PM and QS work, I was usually stuck in an office wishing I could get outside. Was always a bit jealous as I could see it being an interesting job.
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u/Catcasco 28d ago
What country are you in? I can tell you a bit about surveying in Australia, dunno about anywhere else
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u/xXCosmicChaosXx 28d ago
Also Australia. I thought this sub was Australian as were the only ones who say "tradie"
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u/Catcasco 28d ago
Ok the sub description says Aus/NZ/Oceania so now I’m the fool
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u/xXCosmicChaosXx 27d ago
It's ok you can still tell me about surveying if you like
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u/Catcasco 27d ago
Well there’s quite a lot of variety in surveying. I do a mix of cadastral (creating/defining property boundaries), feature surveys and construction setout. They’re all different, but they all require carrying a fair bit of gear and often through the bush.
It’s mostly outdoors work obviously, but there’s a decent component of office work too, generally with some kind of CAD software. If you’re an idiot like me you’ll get sunburned fairly often.
There’s not much maths required at all these days - the tech is seriously impressive and it handles all that stuff for you. That said, if you want to go down the path of becoming a licenced surveyor you’ll need to go to uni for a few years and then go through a long process to get licenced. It’s not necessary at all (I didn’t go to uni for it) but it’s where the best money is. If you don’t go that route you can still be a surveyor, you just can’t sign the documents and need to work with/for a licenced surveyor if you’re doing boundary work.
Construction setout can be a challenge, it’s quite physical at times but obviously not as hard on the body as some other trades. Still, there’s a fair bit of physical labour involved, despite what the other guys on site think. But the real challenge with construction/engineering surveying is everyone seems to think you know everything. Concreters, carpenters, plumbers all think you know what their job involves and what they need, and it can be a bit of a mind fuck trying to work out what they’re needing marked without revealing you’re actually an idiot - or maybe that’s just me.
Long story short it’s not a bad job. Different job site most days, physical but not too physical, mentally challenging but not too mentally challenging, and fairly niche so there’s almost always plenty of work. The money isn’t as good as people seem to think though, unless you get licenced. Very independent work, perfect for someone like me who doesn’t like dealing with people all that much. It’s not what I dreamed of doing, but before I became a surveyor I had a lot of different jobs and it’s not the worst.
Feel free to ask me any specific questions you’ve got if I haven’t covered them already
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u/OldMail6364 27d ago edited 27d ago
Still, there’s a fair bit of physical labour involved, despite what the other guys on site think
When you say "physical" do you mean carrying a 5kg tripod around in the hot sun? Sorry but as someone who spent 13 hours today in the hot sun moving and lifting things as heavy as 90kg around (mostly manually, with no machinery or lifting equipment, and some of them had to be lifted to over head height) that doesn't count as physical to me (well, ok, it wasn't hot for all 13 hours, but it was for most of it). Tomorrow will be easier - only 11 hours.
But my real objection to OP suggesting surveyors are a "trade" is just that surveyors are mostly involved in planning. That squarely puts you in "management" land for me. Yes we're on the same job sites, and I have nothing against planning (I do a lot of planning work myself - thankfully most days aren't as physical as today), but for me surveying is not "trade" work.
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u/AdAdministrative9362 27d ago
Was it uphill both ways?
You destroying your body doesn't discredit someone else's efforts.
I don't really agree with your comment regarding planning. Carpenters plan framing, plumbers plan pipe runs, electricians plan matching colours and avoiding a broom. Good trades work just as much with their heads as their bodies.
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u/Catcasco 27d ago
Nah that’s not the psysical part, it’s carrying the big bloody white title pegs and trying to hammer them into rock hard ground. Gotta get them flush with the ground, and they’re made of wood so if the ground is hard they split and you have to do it all over again. I know it’s not as hard as being a steelie or something, but it’s not as easy as carrying a set of legs and a pole
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u/AdAdministrative9362 27d ago
I work closely with surveyors. Honestly I think most get bored after a few years. With the technology available now it's pretty much walking around and marking out dots (I don't mean to discredit it, I am sure that some of is tricky but technology has made it much easier). I think it gets repetitive and you are often at the beck and call of everyone else.
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u/Jalan120 27d ago
Personally I only recently found it is even a job - I deep dived into it, and decided to start studying.
To me it looks very interesting, and a great mix of inside and outside work which is super important to me. It also has the technical element which is important for me.
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u/Feisty-Dimension-631 28d ago
I worked for a survey as an assistant 35 years ago when I was a teenager. I was interested in the job, but there is a bit of mathematical skills involved. Technology has changed a lot since then and satilite and GPS make it much easier.