SOP - 18. Professional Land Survey

A Professional Land Survey (PLS) should be performed on sites where Remedial Action Construction (RAC) or Source Removal (SR) will take place. A PLS is generally not necessary for assessment work unless there is a question regarding property boundaries. A PLS may also be necessary when engineering controls are part of a conditional closure.

When tasked, the PLS should be used as the base map for a site. The PLS should be performed by a Florida-licensed professional land surveyor. This includes a survey plat, field notes showing site boundaries and easements, legal description, and metes and bounds description. Digital CAD data and Adobe Acrobat™ PDF file formats of the plat shall be submitted electronically as an e-mail attachment. The electronic copy should be forwarded to the Petroleum Restoration Program (PRP) (or contracted local program, as appropriate).

The following should also be noted when scoping a PLS:

1. Verify that a PLS has not previously been conducted. Previous PLS versions may be uploaded to OCULUS or may be available on disk. See Electronic PLS Storage below.
2. If an update to the PLS is necessary, a second full PLS should not be scoped. Please discuss with your technical reviewer.
3. This task does not include the Receptor Survey and Exposure Pathway Identification and the Site Reconnaissance/Field Measurement Visit.
4. Oversight time should not be allowed for this task. The Contractor should coordinate the PLS survey with another on-site task, such as the Receptor Survey and Exposure Pathway Identification and the Site Reconnaissance/Field Measurement Visit.
5. The site plan shall be submitted in Digital CAD data and Adobe Acrobat™ PDF file format.
6. Digital data shall be submitted as an e-mail attachment if within size limitations, or on a CD if too large. Data shall also be made available electronically to other Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) contractors at the request of the DEP Site Manager.

The PLS quote shall include the following:

1. Designation of North direction;
2. The scale of the drawing (the scale should be written and represented as a bar scale);
3. The date of the field survey;
4. The location of the property in relation to bordering roads and streets, neighboring properties, and the locations of the property entrances from the roadway. Business names and street addresses of adjoining properties should be marked on the site plan;
5. Approximate property boundaries and rights-of-way;
6. Accurate dimensions and locations of the foundation outlines of any existing structures on the subject property, including buildings, pump islands, tank areas, underground storage tank (UST) vents, septic drain fields and treatment systems;
7. Accurate dimensions and locations of the foundation outlines of any existing structures that establish a reasonably continuous and uniform construction line including any permanent walls or fences;
8. Accurate location and elevation of top-of-casing for any existing monitoring wells or compliance wells, including on-site wells and any off-site wells, as identified by the Contractor or DEP, associated with the subject property (elevation may be referenced to an arbitrary datum);
9. Location and type of all surface cover materials, including asphalt, concrete, bare soil, vegetation, lawns and landscaping;
10. Location and type of any surface features not covered above, including but not limited to overhead and aboveground utilities, fire hydrants, communication poles or boxes, transformer enclosures, well pumps and pump enclosures, and free-standing satellite dishes;
11. Location and dimensions of all major underground utilities or structures that are evidenced by manholes, fill port covers, monitoring point covers, significant visible pavement repairs or saw cuts (including remediation system piping trenches if visible), storm sewer grates and utility marking posts;
12. Accurate dimensions and locations of any surface features in the immediate (contiguous or adjacent) areas, including surface water bodies of any sort (canals, streams, creeks, rivers, pools, ponds, lakes including storm water retention ponds) or surface relief (ditches, swales, berms, ravines, gullies, sinkholes);
13. The digital signature and seal of the surveyor who performed the survey; and
14. Any other site-specific information required to make a complete site map.

Electronic PLS Storage

Professional Land Surveys are now stored in OCULUS in their native format. 

• If you receive an electronic copy of a PLS, please open the document, confirm it is for the correct site and contains the correct information, then upload to OCULUS under the catalog Storage Tanks, profile Cleanup_Remediation, Document Type SITE MAPS – SKETCHES – DRAWINGS, and enter PLS into the document subject field.   
• If you are unable to open and verify the PLS, please send it via email to PRP.Contracts@floridadep.gov to request the electronic document be inserted into OCULUS. The subject of the email should be: PLS for electronic filing for Facility ID XXXXXXXXX.
• Historical PLS files are being transitioned to the aforementioned location in OCULUS. If you cannot locate a PLS and would like to request an electronic version of a Professional Land Survey you can email PRP.Contracts@floridadep.gov to request to research our archive for a copy.  The subject of the email should be PLS Request for Facility ID XXXXXXXXX.  Contracts Team will reply to the email and attach an electronic copy if available or with notification that no PLS was located.

Return to: PRP Site Manager Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) webpage.

Return to: SOP Site Manager Guide webpage.