1. Does the record store its own accuracy?

A position with no accuracy attached is a claim. Tolerance zones are set by state law, commonly 18 inches (46 cm) either side of the mark and wider in some states (PHMSA state law summaries). GPS.gov puts a phone's GPS at about 16 feet (4.9 m) under open sky, and it's worse under trees (GPS.gov).

Ask whether every point stores the fix type, the correction source and the accuracy the receiver reported at that moment. If it doesn't, nobody reading the record later can tell a good point from a bad one.

2. Will it read the locator and GPS we already own?

Ask for the model list, not "all major brands". Then ask how each one connects.

If half your fleet is older, ask whether the older kit and the newer kit end up in the same workflow. A mixed fleet shouldn't force a mixed workflow.

3. When you say you integrate, what do you mean?

Integration is a shared coordinate frame. Everything else is file conversion.

Ask what coordinate frame your locate records and your other datasets share, and how accurate it is. If the answer is a file format, that's conversion. It moves the data. It doesn't tell you whether two layers can be trusted on top of each other.

4. Who owns the software company?

If it's owned by a hardware manufacturer, a ticket-system company or a one-call operator, your locate records become an input to their business model.

5. What happens to our archive if you're sold or shut down?

Locate records carry retention obligations measured in years. They have to outlive the contractor, the crew and the software that collected them.

Ask about the continuity plan, and exactly how you'd get every record out. And ask how long the vendor has kept one client's data meaningful through changes of staff, contractor and technology.

You find out whether a vendor got this right when it's too late to change vendors.

6. Can we take everything with us, in standard formats, any day we like?

Not "on request". Not "for a fee". Any day, in formats anything can read.

How we answer

Question TerraFlow
Accuracy on every point Yes. Fix type, correction source and horizontal and vertical accuracy, per point
Hardware Named list on Supported instruments, with connection method
Integration Every workflow collects in the same frame, on the same device, with accuracy recorded
Ownership Independent. No hardware, ticket-system or one-call parent
Continuity Full export any time. On one program since 2015, through two prime contractors and two technology generations
Portability GeoJSON, Shapefile, KML, CSV, DXF, ArcGIS, REST API. No charge

Locate records · Data ownership · Port Hope case study

Book a demo. Bring your own locator and GPS.