David Cristiani

I say it all of the time. Landscape Architecture work has not disappeared. The title and structure of the profession is what has changed. It was an emerging profession that seemed like it was growing and taking off toward something on an equal footing with other licensed professions coming out of the 60’s. Something clearly happened or is…[Read more]

The counter point to that is that the areas that you would not consider are areas with people with a lot of money, a high amount of “keep up with the Jonses” mentality, and a lot of regulation. All of these things add up to more opportunity in general as well as a higher need for design professionals not only to meet their aesthetic needs, but…[Read more]

It is very much state to state. A state with a Practice Act may have specific things that an LA can stamp while states with a Title Act pretty much allows you to do what any other person with no license can do except you can call yourself an LA. I see many Practice Acts as being little more than a Title Act to be honest with you. But, some states…[Read more]

No, I have not worked with the other units. I get by very well with the 910, so no strong desire to upgrade. Most of my jobs have fairly complete surveys anyway. I use it to supplement if they don’t get all of the trees, or if it is a small job like adding a swimming pool to an existing house. It does not replace a survey crew on a full site, but…[Read more]

I set up and take 30 shots and then save. If I need more from the same location, I start again by taking the reference points again (usually two house corners on the same face and top of foundation or threshold) and continuing. I often need to relocate, but follow the same protocol.

I use a more stable surveyors tripod because the one in the kit…[Read more]

Kirk,

I most often use it to 2d draft in plan view. It creates three dxf files. One is a 2d plan view using the xy coordinates, one does it 2d elevation (x,z?), and the other is x,y,z. I most often use the plan view dxf to draft the as-built in plan view. If I also need spot elevations, I will add the 3d dxf as long as I have shot something with…[Read more]

I think part of the problem is that people are either afraid to look at alternative pathways to success or have been convinced that they are less of an LA if they don’t go the firm route. I’m not saying that one way is better, but if you hit a road block you can either sit there and stare at it, hope for someone else to move it (ASLA, government,…[Read more]

Things in the landscape are getting built and people are designing those things. That part has not changed other than volume going up or down as the economy swings. I don’t know (or care) about the statistics of how many have BLA/BSLA, or MLA, or any other degree or whether or not they have LA stamps, some other stamp, or no stamp at all. What I…[Read more]

What you are describing is a active niche for sure. I live on Cape Cod and do residential landscape design. Many of the projects here are the razing and replacing of water front vacation homes (multi-million dollar summer homes). These are all heavily regulated to protect the many wetland resources that occur in these settings. Almost all of these…[Read more]

TYY,

First – I think a lot of us go through a phase where we don’t see that our careers are moving forward. It is very easy to let yourself think that you don’t have what the employers are looking for. I am someone who is missing a lot of the skills on the check list of what “All Landscape Architects” need to be good at. Once I stopped worrying…[Read more]

We do also need to be careful about laws regarding drones and also liability insurance. My insurer recently sent me information letting me know that they will not cover liability for drone use. Also, most of my work is done within 5 miles of one airport or another. My understanding is that it is illegal to fly a drone within 5 miles of any airport…[Read more]

I’m not sure about that either when applied to landscape maintenance. I think there are some loopholes where other restraints are accepted, but you and I know that residential landscape maintenance companies think OSHA is an island in the Pacific. It will only be a 29″ drop on this job anyway. Thanks for engaging in the discussion.

Since there is no definition of “walking surface” this Building Commissioner is defining it as “anything that you can walk on”, so we are going to add planters in front of the wall to reduce the drop to <30″ where we can and add railings where we can’t. Fortunately the homeowner is fine with dealing with it. …. I’m just not sure about the other j…[Read more]

I use RLA because the professional license in my state (MA) is as a Registered Landscape Architect. I’m not sure that anyone outside of our profession pays any attention to it. It seems logical to use the abbreviation of the license as it is the norm in other professions. I see that most states seals have “Registered Landscape Architect” or…[Read more]

You have to go after work that you are not only capable of doing, but that you are likely to get. The first thing that you need to accomplish is filling your schedule with work or it will go nowhere.

The ONLY reason people hire us or other people who do similar work is to remove doubt from the outcome of the project. Part of that is the design…[Read more]

Different states have different requirements. My state, Massachusetts, does not have any surprisingly. However, a General Liability policy is something that you’ll need when working for other businesses because their insurance require the subs to be insured – usually $1m with a $2m aggregate. I pay around $800 per year for that. Errors and…[Read more]

The amount of work experience required in most states to sit for LARE is probably going to be the best preparation anyone could have.

1. How did you know when you were ready to go solo?
I’m not overly reckless, so I made sure that I already had some flow of work coming to me. I did something similar to what you sound like you are about to do. I worked on the side for quite a while in order to develop a volume of plans with built work that went along with them. That builds a…[Read more]

Arran, this is a highly variable thing with so many factors that can influence it. The bottom line is how much does the person paying value what you are doing?

A huge issue is who is providing the prospective client – you or the installer? If the installer just needs you or someone else to draw up a more presentable plan to help with sales there…[Read more]