Great write-up. I've never worked with a surveyor (I rent) but I did some Googling to understand the process. I think I would need to convert point clouds to DEM which Shade Map natively understands.

I'm wondering if I should meet with local surveyors of if there's some big names in the industry you suggest I try to go after?

Also, sorry for my abysmal treatment of buildings on the map (pixelated shadows at high zoom). I'm working to improve this.