Services
Redniss & Mead has the expertise to help you achieve your vision
With over a half-century of experience providing land use services to homeowners and developers in Connecticut and New York, Redniss & Mead tailors our services to the specific goals of our clients and the unique characteristics of their individual projects.
Whether a small addition to your home, a complex redevelopment of your commercial site or implementation of your institution’s long term plan of development, Redniss & Mead has the expertise to help you achieve your vision. Our Land Surveyors, Civil Engineers and Planning & Zoning Consultants recognize the importance of taking the time to understand this vision. The result is a long history of delivering sound, quality service and cost effective designs that allow our clients to realize the greatest value from their properties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Land Surveying
A land survey presents the physical elements of your property on a map.
As early as possible before a change in your property, including:
- Change in improvements: Before land is developed or altered by construction of buildings, additions or improvements, a survey will identify constraints such as boundaries, set-backs or wetlands.
- Hiring a property professional: Your architect, landscape architect, drainage engineer, real estate agent, land use attorney and contractor rely on accurate survey data to do their jobs.
- Change of control: Before you buy, sell, subdivide, or transfer any rights such an easement, a survey assures the location of property boundaries and the accuracy and wording of legal descriptions.
- Change in use: A survey is the first step in the process of applying for zoning changes or other use permits.
- Clarify property boundaries: A survey is needed to resolve boundary or encroachments disputes.
We will propose the optimal scope for your survey – detailed enough to accomplish your goals without requiring unnecessary work and expense.
Our survey prices are very competitive. After preliminary research and scoping your survey, we will estimate the cost, which is determined by:
- Purpose of your survey and the required accuracy. Complexity of legal records concerning boundaries, deeds and easements.
- Field conditions, including size and shape, accessibility, existing markers, natural features and season of the year.
- Requirements of third parties, such as your title insurance, lender, zoning commission, and architect.
- When you compare prices, be sure you are getting the right survey for your project.
Your best value will be a survey that meets all your needs and legal requirements, based on thorough deed research and field work.
Check the firm’s reputation and professional credentials.
Reputation:
A good surveyor meets the needs of the client’s architect, contractor, land use attorney, permitting authority and other users. Redniss & Mead’s clients range from individual homeowners to major developers, and we gladly provide references.
Credentials:
Only a licensed, professional land surveyor may perform boundary or land title surveys in Connecticut and New York.
The surveyors at Redniss & Mead hold professional land surveyor licenses for Connecticut and New York. They are also respected, active members of land surveyor associations that provide peer recognition and continuing professional education.
Permitting
As provessional surveyors, engineers and planners with permitting experience, we help you by designing and engineering your project to meet permitting requirements. We begin with the end in mind: a successful permit application.
For projects large and small we usually do preliminary work with the permitting agencies to understand their perspective and to obtain early guidance on your project application.
We also assist you and your land use attorney in preparing your permit application package, including engineering data analysis, maps and other tools to communicate the benefits of your project to the permitting authorities.
When appropriate, a member of our firm will make a presentation or answer questions about the engineering aspects of your project at public hearings or agency meetings.
As early in the process as possible for your project, even before hiring an architect. For complex projects, you may want to commission a formal feasibility study to identify site constraints, regulatory issues and potential solutions before you spend money or make public announcements.
The cost will depend on your site, your project and how many permitting agencies are involved. Once we know your goals and the type of services you require, we will submit a written proposal.
Your best value is professional assistance that identifies and solves permit problems long before you attend your application hearing.
Know the firm’s track record in producing successful permit applications and appearing before permitting authorities for projects like yours. Inquire whether members of the firm have experience serving on permitting boards or commissions.
Ask about comparable projects and check client references. Inquire about the firm’s reputation among professionals that are also involved in the permit process, such as architects, contractors, land use attorneys, real estate developers, and staff at building departments and permitting agencies.
Planning & Zoning
Land use planning services bring together a wide range of disciplines to assist you in transforming your land use idea into reality. Services may include engineering analysis of the physical constraints and infrastructure, cost analysis, regulatory permits and managing relationships with neighbors and other constituencies.
The planning consultant is a team player, collaborating with your architect, developer, contractor, legal counsel, financial experts, and public relations advisors to make sure everything is addressed without needless overlap, conflict or expense.
As early as possible, even before buying land for your project. For complex projects, you may want to commission a formal feasibility study to identify site constraints, regulatory issues and potential solutions before you make financial commitments or announce your intentions to develop your parcel.
The cost will depend on the size and complexity of your project. After learning your goals and the type of services you require, we will submit a written proposal.
Your best value is professional planning that identifies and solves problems as early as possible in the process—even before you acquire the land for your project.
Look at the firm’s track record, credentials, breadth of services and reputation.
Learn about the firm’s experience handling projects of the scale and complexity that you are contemplating and check client references. Investigate the firm’s reputation among professionals that have been involved in similar projects, such as architects, contractors, land use attorneys, real estate developers and permitting agencies.
Consider the professional credentials of the individual firm members, including certification in land use planning by the American Institute of Certified Planners as well as credentials in civil engineering and land surveying. Review the range of services provided by the firm—planning, engineering, surveying and mapping—to manage down the number of players on your project.
Civil Engineering
Site civil engineering is the science and art of designing infrastructure, utilities and land forms prior to their construction. Engineering includes the analysis of the function of existing and proposed systems on the property that will affect the project to be built.
As early in the process as possible for your project, even before hiring an architect. You may want to use a civil engineer to analyze your site’s ability to support the type of use or construction that you contemplate. A civil engineer can also conduct a formal feasibility study to identify site constraints, regulatory issues and potential solutions before you spend on design.
The needed services depend upon your site, your project, and where you are in the process. We are pleased to talk to clients, with the goal of understanding what you need to accomplish, what challenges you face, and how we can best help you.
Again, it depends on your site and your project. Once we know your goals and the type of services you require, we will submit a written proposal. Your best value is the proper engineering – before you get too far down the road on your project.
Be sure to hire a professional engineer or P.E., who is licensed in the state where your project is located. The term “civil engineering” covers a wide range of disciplines and services, so be sure to select a firm that does a lot of work in the specific areas needed for your project. You want engineers who are both technically excellent as well as productive members of the project team, helping your project to be all that you envision.
Ask about comparable projects and check client references. Inquire about the firm’s reputation among professionals that provide related services, such as architects, contractors, land use attorneys, real estate developers, and staff at building departments and permitting agencies.
Visit these professional associations, in which Redniss & Mead engineers are active members:
Our Services
Land Surveying
Our quality maps and layout services facilitate ease of design by architects, permit review by regulators …
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Civil Engineering
Our engineers design site infrastructure that few notice but is critically important to every building project.
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Planning & Zoning
We bring it all together – integrated planning, permitting, engineering, surveying.
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We help you achieve your goals by navigating the regulatory permit process for your project.
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