Development of quality assurance procedures for cadastral surveying using GPS technology

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to research, develop and assess a legally traceable set of Quality Assurance procedures for using RTK GPS when performing a cadastral survey. To create the QA procedures research was conducted on current legislation, governing bodies (literature) and best practice guidelines. ISO9000 guidelines were used for the development of the Quality Assurance procedures. A comparison survey was carried out where by the same survey was performed using RTK GPS and a Total Robotic Station. This provided a point comparison between the two methods to determine the achievable accuracy, it also gave a good indication as to the cost efficiency of the two methods. By using ISO9000 QA procedures the legal traceability of GPS observations can be greatly improved. The research also showed that depending on the size of the reinstatement needed, RTK GPS could achieve the desired level of accuracy at a increased level of efficiency. On a cost per job basis this would provide an overall increase in expected profitability. This research is limited mostly by the legally untested use of ISO9000 QA procedures for DPS observations. Until either the government or a professional body produce a standard or “guide for best practice” for tracing GPS observations this research is not absolute.