Surveying Careers
What is Surveying and What Do Surveyors Do?
 Surveyors - Opening up our World
The quality of life on Earth is a major concern to Man. Traditionally on Earth, humans have developed both land and sea honing their scientific and practical skills to make life easier and more enjoyable. As the human population grows so does the demand on Earth's finite resources.
Development of the Earth's resources is a costly exercise and the more we try to develop without having due regard for our future needs and our environment generally, the more effort and money we need to put in later to resolve issues such as waste disposal, water quality, air quality, transportation networks, conflicts with neighbours to name but a few!
Key to the proper management of our resources on Earth is information. To design a new watermain we need to know how many people will be using it, what the population growth trends are, how long the pipeline will be and how we are to lay it, who will be affected by it when it crosses their land, and of course how much it will cost and how long it will last. To determine the answers we need a multitude of information from statisticians, surveyors (who undertake field surveys and extract information from aerial photography), and civil engineers will work with these people to prepare the design and plan the construction. A surveyor will often be involved liaising with property owners, preparing easement plans, and ensuring the legal rights are properly registered to avoid conflicts in the future.
So in essence, surveying is the science of land measurement - identifying its size, features and boundaries at any scale, from the entire Planet Earth to a person's backyard. Not only does he measure and record but he communicates his findings to other interested parties by means of survey drawings (scaled-down versions of the real thing) and comprehensive reports. This enables others, often thousands of miles distant from him, to proceed with development plans knowing that when the Contractors turn up on site in six months time - the planning has been done correctly and everything fits like a glove!
The New Zealand Surveyor is educated for and practises with many aspects of law dealing with land ownership, resource management and planning. Knowledge of such laws is essential to the proper execution of any development.
Surveyors have been at the very heart of land development since New Zealand was first settled. This is most likely because they are part of the development process from start to finish unlike some other professionals. As a result, to this day, they continue to hold key co-ordinating roles and are often the leaders within multi-disciplined teams comprising surveyors, engineers, town planners, and architects, and command relatively high salaries.
New Zealand surveyors have historically been well regarded overseas and many choose to travel and enjoy gaining employment in a wide range of work, in many parts of the world.
As Man searches for new ways to manage the resources of the planet, surveyors will continue to be found at the forefront of development, whether on land, at sea, above or beneath the Earth's surface.
The Surveyor's Role
 Surveying spans everything from astronomy to the positioning of telephone cables in your local street ..or thousands of metres below the sea. It is a practical science that enables projects to be planned and executed with the utmost confidence.
Wherever you go in New Zealand a surveyor has been in the area before you. You've probably seen a trig station on a hilltop or noticed a surveyor looking through an instrument on top of a tripod. Surveyors measure the shape and dimensions of land in cities, towns, the countryside, remote bush areas, at sea, from the air, and underground. Surveyors are trained in all aspects of their profession, but you may choose to specialise later in your career. The types of surveying you could consider are explained on this site.
Measurement
Measurement is the basis of all surveying.
It can include measuring the Earth itself - a science called geodesy - or measuring the height of hills, or the sea bed to provide the basis for charts used by sailors, the fishing industry and boaties, and for the development of offshore resources.
Similar surveys on land provide information for roads, railways, airports, dams, housing estates or any other major construction job.
 Cadastral or Land Title Surveying
This is the bread and butter work of surveying in New Zealand. Overseas most countries have some form of recording the ownership of land but in New Zealand, because of our more recent history, we have adopted a regimented system of recording the interests in land that is often modelled elsewhere in the world.
New Zealand operates a system whereby the government guarantees the ownership of land based on accurate surveys of its exact location and boundaries.
When any new development renders changes to property boundaries, a land title survey is required. The surveyor searches old maps and plans to relocate the old boundary corner positions that are related to more permanent reference markers nearby. Only registered surveyors are authorised to conduct land title surveys in New Zealand, however trained technicians are able to perform such work under their directions.
Resource Management
Management of the planet's resources is shaping up as the issue of the 21st century.
Because surveyors have such a broad involvement with the land they're increasingly being called on to act as project managers ... making decisions about how land should be used ... where housing developments should go ... whether a road should go through a forest ...
The skills required include human communications, an appreciation for the many different users of land, knowledge of earth's resources and how they interact, and a working knowledge and liking of the law that governs all facets of land development.
 Geographic Information Systems
This is one of the fastest-growing areas of surveying and an invaluable aid to modern planning.
Taking advantage of the power of modern computers, information gathered from satellites, land title registers, consumer surveys and field studies are assembled to show exactly where there are roads, pipes, legal boundaries, hills, hollows - all we need to know without actually being there.
It provides a powerful modern base for the planning of projects.
Mapping
Traditionally we looked at maps as a guide on how to get from A to B.
But as we move forward into the 21st century, the range of demands map-makers are called on to meet is almost limitless... involving maps of forests, oilfields, agricultural crops, and the ever-changing face of nations. Nowadays most maps are produced in digital form allowing them to be used in association with modern navigational aids such as GPS.
All maps are based on initial data provided by surveyors, which may involve field surveys, mapping calculations, aerial photography or remote- sensing surveys from satellites. In New Zealand, Land Information NZ is responsible for mapping and charting all of New Zealand and its territorial waters. | 
