First I would like to say that I am supid. It wasn't .01 inches is was .01 feet. :doh:
We worked on housing subdivisions and commercial building lots. Pretty anal crews.
We always instructed contractors to work off the center of the hubs (2x2 stake hammered flush with the ground) on roadwork stuff. We were expected to have those within .03' (about 1/8"). Everyone hated putting tacks in the hubs and the contractors were happy with center.
Property pins were within the error of the station, .01'. They were hammered in and then adjusted to center. Though I did drill a few holes in concrete off slightly (.02-.03) and walked away like they were correct.
Some firms used aluminum or brass caps then marked the exact after setting. We only did that on permanent bench marks (usually called stone monuments).
Laying out buildings we used a 4" pole on the 1.5" prism which brings the accuracy up especially on the 100' to 200' shots. Those were set with hubs then a small tack driven in for the centering point. We gave the corner of the building and two offsets (10' to 15') towards the outside of the corner. Those were also set one at a time. Total station on the first shooting to the second, then total station on the second shooting to the third. At the end you had to tie back to the first or start over.
We would always have two or three temporary bench marks depending on the size of the project and the location to monuments. I liked hammering an X into concrete or putting a nail in the street to be safe. Those were always marked center and as exact as we could get them.
As far as accuracy with the total station. All stations that I used had a sight similar to a scope and looked straight down through the hold down screw in the tripod (legs for short). First we roughed the sight in doing the rough level as we went. Then station was leveled finer first with a normal bubble level then fined in with the small bubbles checking two sides 90 degrees off. The checked the alignment through the sight to the bench mark. The retaining screw on the legs could be loosened and slid around some to get it on the mark then the fine level was checked again.
The standard pogo we used was 4' extendable to 7' with a point on the end and a 3" prism. There was a fine level (the shits in the wind) so you knew center of the prism was directly above the point on the pogo. Topoing the level wasn't as important, but expect the guy to come across the radio with harsh word if he could tell it was off. You could always tell the new guys because they would have a couple of lath or legs on the pogo to help with leveling.
The last full summer I worked I set 45 5/8"X3' rebar in a four lane street that has 30,000 cars a day run across it. It had to be one of the hottest weeks on record and the boss was to cheap to buy a longer bit for the drill. We'd drill 6" (got to remember this street has been overlaid a few times) then start swinging. Granted it wasn't Arizona hot at around 110 but I was sure I was going to die standing on that asphalt swing a 6 lb. sledge. Yes I still miss it some days.
Anyway, 3-4 inches would gain you a nice sized White boot in butt. I only used a plumb three times in four years and that was pulling offsets by hand for a stone (concrete in those cases) monument. And that was only when the monument was higher than ground level.
Also I've seen 3 or 4 inches at the gun (bench mark got messed with) be off 15'. By the time you turn an incorrect angle (need to known points and distance) and your running 400' or more it becomes quite a bit. Depends on a lot of things.
