 There are two ways of getting rid of mistakes, avoid making them or find them

during processing. It is usually better to avoid making mistakes at all, finding

mistakes in processing means a repeat measurement must be made and having
to repeat work is expensive.
 If there is no independent check on the position of a point then there may well be
a mistake in one of the measurements and the position will be wrong. Finding
mistakes that have been made is done using check measurements. To find the
position of a point in three dimensions needs three measurements, any extra
measurements can be used as a check on the other three. Extra measurements
are called redundant measurements.
 Making extra redundant measurements takes time so a balance is needed
between making the check measurements and minimising on work. The simple
rule is that each point should have at least one check measurement for detail
work, for positioning the control points at least two should be used.

In surveying, the distance between two points is understood to mean the horizontal
distance, regardless of the relative elevation of the two points. Frequently, the lay of the
land between the two points is not uniform, or the elevation of the two points is very
different. Special equipment and techniques may be needed to obtain an accurate
determination of the distance. Various methods of determining distance are available
along with special and different types of equipment. The degree of precision required is
another factor which is required to be considered before a measurement of distance is
undertaken so that the correct type of equipment and method of measurement may be
done
The common method of determining distance is by direct measurement with a tape. The
tape is called a "chain" and is usually 100 ft in length. The term "chain" comes from the
form of the early tapes which were composed of 100 links, each one foot long. Brass
tags were fastened at every ten links and notches in the tags indicated the number of
ten link segments between the tag and the end of the tape. Therefore, the early tapes
looked like a chain of one hundred links. Chain is also applied to the operation of
measuring lines with tapes. The term "taping" is gradually being used more exclusively.
The distance measured with a steel tape is much more precise than the distance
obtained by pacing. The precision obtained depends upon the degree of refinement with
which the measurements are taken. Ordinarily, taping over the flat, smooth ground with
a steel tape or chain, divided in hundredths of a foot, provides a precision of one in
three thousand to one in five thousand.
Tapes are usually very close to the correct length when subjected to a given pull at a
given temperature. The conditions of support are important. For example, a 100 ft tape
is the correct length at 68° F under a pull of 10 pounds with the tape horizontal and fully
supported throughout the entire length of the tape. All tapes are standardized so that
the actual length is known under various conditions of support, at various temperatures,
and under a known amount of tension

 Mistakes are errors that arise from inattention, inexperience, carelessness, and poor
judgment or confusion in the mind of the observer. They do not follow any mathematical
rule (law of probability) and may be large or small, positive or negative. They cannot be
measured. However, they can be detected by repeating the whole operation. If a
mistake is undetected, it produces a serious effect on the final result. Hence, every
value to be recorded in the field must be checked by some independent field
observation.
One direct method of measuring distances is by the use of tape. In the early days, this method is more
known as chaining. This is because, instead of using tape for measuring they use a device
or instrument which was made of chains. Taping is the process of directly measuring
distances with the use of graduated tape. The usual procedure of taping will involve the process
of aligning the tape, stretching it, plumbing selected tape marks, and marking and
recording tape lengths. It is standard practice to hold the tape horizontally above ground and to
plumb at one or both ends when taping on sloping and uneven terrain surfaces. This requires the
measurement of shorter distances which are accumulated to total a
full tape length.
Moreover, it is easier to record the distance between points using tape than pacing if
one is measuring a horizontal distance on a flat surface