SERVICES

Thompson Surveying Company (TSC) currently provides a variety of land survey services including: boundary surveys, topographic surveys for land development and public works projects, global positioning control for aerial mapping and Geographic Information Systems, right-of-way acquisition, improvement surveys and construction surveying.

Thompson Surveying Company, as all surveying companies in the State of Texas,  provides surveys which comply with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors "Minimum Standards of Practice".  In addition, TSC provides surveys which comply with the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors "Standards of Practice" for all categories. The bulk of our commercial work is to furnish surveys that are required to meet the ALTA/NSPS "Minimum Standard Detail Requirements".  More information on these standards is available through our links to the organizations listed.

Most surveys fall, in general terms, into either Boundary, Topographic or Construction categories. A new category has evolved recently to support Geographic Information System (GIS) generation.  Thompson Surveying Company is pleased to provide the support for municipalities and large organizations that require data acquisition through the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system.  Please note that TSC owns and operates nine (9) GPS dual frequency receivers for data collection, primary and secondary control for conventional and aerial mapping projects.  Our experience with GPS and GIS dates from 1986 and project size has varied from 315 square miles to 5 acres.

In addition, Mr. Thompson provides services to Attorneys as an Expert Witness in Land Surveying but only accepts six to nine cases per year, dependent upon the complexity of the case. Mr. Thompson started performing Expert Witness services in January 1997 and completed twenty cases in his first ten years. A complete "Expert Witness" package can be transmitted including Professional Resume and our standard Letter of Engagement. Be prepared to furnish information with retainer to perform the standard clearing of any conflicts of interest with existing case load.

TSC provides a complete package from initial boundary and topographic surveying to support Engineering of sites for development. From concept to completion TSC provides the service required for project completion. In addition TSC will provide the lead in the platting process through municipal Planning and Development departments.

TSC serves the entire State of Texas with our primary service area in southeast and Central Texas.  Our primary projects have included work in the majority of counties in the great state of  Texas. Past projects have taken us to farther points when the demand for our services arises, we go and we get it done. From Beatty, Nevada to McAllen, Texas, we have performed for our clients when the project required it. The state of Texas contains 254 counties. We are proud that we have provided service to all of them and our history includes service in the majority of counties. When required, through association with staff on-call consultants, we can provide service in 18 western states when the need arises.

In addition we offer services based on three types of "Fee" structures and the following is on every proposal to clarify "Terms and Conditions" prior to initiation of service.

STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Our Standard Terms and Conditions are provided as follows;

1. All fees for proposals submitted as a "Lump Sum" are due, payable and expected in exchange for deliverables. All sums are due and payable in Wimberley, Hays County, Texas at 101 East Mountain Road, Wimberley, Hays County, Texas 78676. First time clients are required to pay half the "Lump Sum Fee" prior to commencement of services.

2. All hourly work is billed twice monthly (first and sixteenth).

3. All proposals submitted as an "Estimated Fee" or “On Call Services” are billed net 15 (fifteen) days for this contract only, and subject to late fees. (See fee schedule).

4. No work will be performed for any client that has an outstanding invoice more than 30 days old.

5. Any work scheduled for Saturday will be billed a minimum of 4 hours at 1.5 times the standard schedule of fees. Work scheduled for Saturday afternoon will be billed a minimum of 8 hours at 1.5 times the standard schedule of fees.

6. Absolutely no work will be scheduled for Sunday.

7. ABSOLUTELY NO WORK WILL BE SCHEDULED WITHOUT THIS SIGNED  PROPOSAL.

8. THOMPSON SURVEYING COMPANY WILL AVAIL ITSELF OF ALL LIEN LAWS UNDER THE TEXAS PROPERTY CODE, IF INVOICES ARE NOT PAID PROMPTLY. THE CLIENT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FEES ASSOCIATED WITH RECOVERING FULL PAYMENT.

The case for "Lump Sum" pricing:

Advantages for each party to a contracted service should be important for a bargain to work properly to satisfy each parties motivation. The advantage for the client is simple. The price and the specific scope of service is precisely known at the time the contract is initiated. The advantage to the surveyor is simple, payment upon completion. The financial risk for the surveyor revolves around the ability to properly judge the amount of effort required to fulfill the scope of service. It is important to note that the Registered Professional Land Surveyor in Texas is bound by State Statutes as to professional competency, accuracy and ethical practice to protect the public and the layman client. Since the client knows precisely the cost of the survey at the outset, it is expected and required to be paid in full in exchange for deliverables of the professional service.

"Estimated Fee" services:

Not all surveying services can be priced by the "Lump Sum" method. Projects with an undefined or ill defined scope of service do not lend themselves to that pricing structure. In this case a "best guess" price is estimated with the understanding that it is subject to change. Good communication between the surveyor and the client can resolve these issues most times and the advantages to each are flexibility and easier terms for payment.

"On Call" services:

"On call" services are used most often with our long term clients, construction and development clients that have changing scopes and needs with relationship to their projects. All construction staking is priced on an hourly rate based on our "Standard Schedule of Fees" and are billed semi-monthly.

We find that these payment terms provide 90% of our clients with the service they require when they need it. Other "long term or continuing clients" have Master Services Agreements which are custom tailored contracts which fulfill their continuing needs and reduce paperwork by allowing project managers to initiate P.O.'s to obtain fast and reliable surveying when the need arises. These are clients that have a minimum of five year history of timely invoice payment and repeated single-source contract work .

For more information about Professional Land Surveying services please call.

Copyright © 2020 Thompson Surveying Company
Last modified: February 29, 2020.