Terms Used In Iowa Code > Chapter 355 - Standards for Land Surveying

• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Corner: means a point at which two or more lines meet. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Division: means dividing a tract or parcel of land into two parcels of land by conveyance or for tax purposes. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Government lot: means a tract, within a section, which is normally described by a lot number as represented and identified on the township plat of the United States public land survey system. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Land surveying: means surveying of land pursuant to chapter 542B. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Lot: means a tract of land, generally a subdivision of a city or town block, represented and identified as a lot on a recorded plat. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Meander line: means a traverse approximately along the margin of a body of water. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Monument: means a physical structure which marks the location of a corner or other survey point. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Offset line: means a supplementary traverse close to and approximately parallel with an irregular boundary line. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Ordinance: means a city law of a general and permanent nature. See Iowa Code 362.2
• Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust, or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body. See Iowa Code 362.2
• Plat of survey: means a graphical representation of a survey of one or more parcels of land, including a complete and accurate description of each parcel within the plat, prepared by a licensed professional land surveyor. See Iowa Code 355.1
• property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
• 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. See Iowa Code 355.1
• 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. See Iowa Code 355.1
• seal: shall include an impression upon the paper alone, or upon wax, a wafer affixed to the paper, or an official stamp of a notarial officer as provided in chapter 9B. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Signature: includes an electronic signature as defined in section 554D. See Iowa Code 4.1
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Subdivision: means a tract of land divided into three or more lots. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Subdivision plat: means a graphical representation of the subdivision of land, prepared by a licensed professional land surveyor, having a number or letter designation for each lot within the plat and a succinct name or title that is unique for the county where the land is located. See Iowa Code 355.1
• Surveyor: means a licensed professional land surveyor who engages in the practice of land surveying pursuant to chapter 542B. See Iowa Code 355.1
• United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
• year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1