Bill Text: IA SF2276 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the standards for land surveying, including requirements for recorded document formatting, monument preservation certificates, and retracement plats of survey. (Formerly SSB 3150.) Effective 7-1-16.
Sponsorship: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2016-04-06 - Signed by Governor. S.J. 650. [SF2276 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2015-SF2276-Enrolled.html
Senate File 2276 - Enrolled
SENATE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
(SUCCESSOR TO SSB
3150)
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A BILL FOR
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Senate File 2276
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE STANDARDS FOR LAND SURVEYING, INCLUDING
REQUIREMENTS FOR RECORDED DOCUMENT FORMATTING, MONUMENT
PRESERVATION CERTIFICATES, AND RETRACEMENT PLATS OF SURVEY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 331.606B, Code 2016, is amended by adding
the following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 3A. a. Each document or certificate
prepared by a licensed professional land surveyor and presented
for recording, including a plat of survey or a drawing related
to a plat of survey, shall contain an index legend. However,
this requirement shall not apply to a United States public land
survey corner certificate described in section 355.11.
b. Each document or certificate prepared by a licensed
professional land surveyor and presented for recording,
including a plat of survey or a drawing related to a plat
of survey, shall include a blank rectangular space three and
three=fourth inches in width and two and one=half inches in
height reserved and delineated for the county recorder's use,
unless the document is attached to a cover sheet approved by
the governing board of the county land record information
system.
Sec. 2. Section 355.1, Code 2016, is amended by adding the
following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION. 9A. "Public improvement project" means
a project relating to the construction of the principal
structures, works, component parts, and accessories of any of
the following:
a. Underground gas, water, heating, sewer,
telecommunications, and electrical connections located
in streets for private property.
b. Sanitary, storm, and combined sewers.
c. Waterworks, water mains, and extensions.
d. Emergency warning systems.
e. Pedestrian underpasses or overpasses.
f. Drainage conduits, dikes, and levees for flood
protection.
g. Public waterways, docks, and wharfs.
h. Public parks, playgrounds, and recreational facilities.
i. Clearing, stripping, grubbing, earthwork, erosion
control, lot grading, street grading, paving, graveling,
macadamizing, curbing, guttering, and surfacing with oil and
gravel or chloride.
j. Street lighting fixtures, connections, and facilities.
k. Sewage pumping stations.
l. Traffic control devices, fixtures, connections, and
facilities.
m. Public roads, streets, and alleys.
NEW SUBSECTION. 9B. "Retracement plat of survey" means a
graphical representation of a survey of one or more parcels
or tracts of land prepared by a licensed professional land
surveyor and described by an existing recorded property
description used for the transfer of land.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 355.6A Monument preservation
certificate.
1. If during the construction of a public improvement
project the governmental entity or other organization
responsible for the public improvement project determines that
a monument is likely to be disturbed or removed, the entity
or organization shall hire or cause to be hired a surveyor to
locate and preserve, in the manner provided in this section,
the monuments likely to be disturbed or removed. However,
any United States public land survey corner monuments that
are within the construction corridor of a public improvement
project shall be preserved and replaced pursuant to section
355.11.
2. a. The surveyor shall review all relevant documents of
record, including those retained by federal, state, county,
and city offices, necessary for locating the monuments likely
to be disturbed or removed. The surveyor shall also conduct
a field survey of the construction corridor to locate such
monuments and preserve their positions and, if applicable,
their elevations.
b. Following the completion of the public improvement
project, the surveyor shall replace any monument disturbed or
removed at its preserved position pursuant to section 355.6,
subsection 1. Elevation shall be preserved, if applicable,
by using appropriate survey methods to determine a relative
elevation on a nearby physical structure.
c. If the replacement of a monument at the preserved
location is unsafe or impractical, the surveyor may, in lieu
of establishing a reference monument, use a federal, state,
county, or city geographic coordinate system to preserve the
position.
3. The surveyor shall prepare a monument preservation
certificate to record and identify a monument location
preserved under this section. Multiple monuments preserved
for the same public improvement project may be identified on
a single certificate. The size of each sheet making up the
certificate shall not be less than eight and one=half inches
by eleven inches. The monument preservation certificate shall
include, at a minimum, the following information:
a. A description of the public improvement project and the
jurisdiction or organization under which the certificate was
prepared.
b. A description of the land on which the monument is
located within, including the section number, township, range,
county, quarter section description, and official plat name,
if applicable.
c. A description of the monument prior to being disturbed
or removed, including but not limited to its size, shape,
material, and color. However, the surveyor shall not be
required to state the significance of any such monument.
d. A description of the procedure used to preserve the
position of the monument. When a federal, state, county, or
city geographic coordinate system is used to preserve the
position of the monument, such description shall include
a coordinate listing and elevation, if applicable, of all
coordinate system access monuments used and the official name
of the system, along with the geographic datum to which the
coordinate system is referenced.
e. A description of the replacement monument after being
preserved, including but not limited to its size, shape,
material, and color. However, the surveyor shall not be
required to state the significance of any such replacement
monument.
f. Where the elevation of a monument is preserved, a
description of the monument prior to and after replacement,
including the relative elevation and a minimum of three
reference ties.
g. A plan=view site drawing depicting the monument with
reference to the physical surroundings and natural or man=made
objects in sufficient detail to facilitate the preservation
of the monument, including project control, nearby monuments,
street or highway centerlines, project corridor right=of=way
lines, trees, fences, or structures.
h. A statement by the surveyor certifying that the work
was performed by the surveyor or under the surveyor's direct
personal supervision, which shall be signed and dated by the
surveyor and bear the surveyor's Iowa license number and
legible seal.
4. a. The monument preservation certificate shall be
filed with the county recorder pursuant to section 331.606B,
subsection 4, no later than thirty days after the certificate
is signed by the surveyor.
b. The county recorder shall index the monument preservation
certificate according to the township, range, section number,
and quarter section on which the monument is located within.
If the monument is located within an official plat, the county
recorder shall index the certificate alphabetically by the
official plat name.
c. The index legend affixed to such certificate shall
include the following information:
(1) The surveyor's name, mailing address, and other contact
information.
(2) The name of the governmental entity or other
organization under which the surveyor provided the professional
service.
(3) The aliquot part or parts of the United States public
land survey system or portion of official plat that the
monument is located within.
(4) The name of the governmental entity or other
organization requesting the monument preservation certificate
pursuant to this section.
(5) Information necessary for the county recorder to return
the certificate.
5. a. A monument preservation certificate shall not be
prepared in lieu of a plat of survey or acquisition plat where
a true land boundary survey is required.
b. A monument preservation certificate shall not be prepared
for the identification or establishment of survey corners or
right=of=way corners.
c. The surveyor preparing a monument preservation
certificate shall be liable only for the accuracy or placement
of the replacement monument and not for the accuracy or
placement of the original monument.
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 355.7A Retracement plats of survey.
A retracement plat of survey shall be made, showing
information developed by the survey, for each land survey
performed for the purpose of surveying an existing recorded
description of one or more parcels or tracts of land and shall
not be used for the division of land. Each retracement plat of
survey shall conform to the following provisions:
1. The original plat drawing shall remain the property of
the surveyor.
2. The size of each plat sheet shall not be less than eight
and one=half inches by eleven inches.
3. The scale of the plat drawing shall be clearly stated and
graphically illustrated by a bar scale on every plat sheet.
4. An arrow indicating the northern direction shall be shown
on each plat sheet.
5. The plat shall show that the survey is a correct
representation of the recorded description of the parcel
or tract. The plat shall show, clearly and unequivocally,
the method used by the land surveyor to locate the recorded
description of land.
6. a. The plat shall show the lengths and bearings of
the boundaries of the parcels surveyed. The course of each
boundary line shown on the plat may be indicated by a direct
bearing reference or by an angle between the boundary line and
an intersecting line having a shown bearing, except when the
boundary line has an irregular or constantly changing course,
as along a body of water, or when a description of the boundary
line is better achieved by measurements shown at points or
intervals along a meander line or an offset line having a shown
course. The bearings shall be referenced to a United States
public land survey system land line or recorded subdivision
line. If the boundary lines show bearings, lengths, or
locations which vary from those recorded in deeds, abutting
plats, or other instruments of record, the following note shall
be placed along the lines:
Recorded as (show recorded bearing, length, or location).
b. Bearings and angles shown shall be given to at least the
nearest minute of arc.
7. The plat shall show and identify all monuments necessary
for the location of the parcel and shall indicate whether the
monuments were found or placed.
8. If United States public land survey system corners
control the land description, the corners shall be clearly
identified on the plat including a description of the
monumentation and shall indicate whether the monuments were
found or placed.
9. Control monuments shall be adequately described and
clearly identified on the plat and noted as found or placed.
10. Distance shall be shown in decimal feet in accordance
with the definition of the U.S. survey foot. Distance
measurements shall refer to the horizontal plane.
11. Curve data shall be stated in terms of radius, central
angle, and length of curve, and as otherwise specified by local
ordinance. In all cases, the curve data must be shown for the
line affected.
12. The unadjusted error of closure shall not be greater
than one in five thousand for an individual parcel.
13. If any part of the surveyed land is bounded by an
irregular line, that part shall be enclosed by a meander line
or an offset line showing complete data with distances along
all lines extending beyond the enclosure to the irregular
boundary, and shown with as much certainty as can be determined
or as "more or less", if variable. In all cases, the true
boundary shall be clearly indicated on the plat.
14. The acreage shall be shown for each parcel or tract
included in a retracement plat of survey to the nearest
one=hundredth acre. If a parcel or tract described as part of
the United States public land survey system and not entirely
within an official plat lies within more than one forty=acre
aliquot part of a section, the acreage shall be shown only
for assessment and taxation purposes for each portion of the
parcel that lies within each forty=acre aliquot part. The
surveyor shall not be required to establish the location of
the forty=acre aliquot line by survey but is required to use
reasonable assumptions in determining its approximate location
for assessment and taxation purposes. If appropriate, areas
of parcels or tracts of less than one acre may be expressed in
square feet to the nearest ten square feet.
15. The plat shall be captioned to show the date of the
survey, and shall be accompanied by a description of the
parcel.
16. The plat shall contain a statement by a surveyor that
the work was done and the plat was prepared by the surveyor
or under the surveyor's direct personal supervision, shall be
signed and dated by the surveyor, and shall bear the surveyor's
Iowa license number and legible seal.
Sec. 5. Section 355.10, subsection 1, Code 2016, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH. c. To retrace an existing recorded
description of a parcel or tract of land.
PAM JOCHUM
President of the Senate
LINDA UPMEYER
Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the Senate and
is known as Senate File 2276, Eighty=sixth General Assembly.
MICHAEL E. MARSHALL
Secretary of the Senate
Approved , 2016
TERRY E. BRANSTAD
Governor
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