I am also a firm believer in using the UCS command to rotate my views so I can set up my sheets as required, but I have to ask you, do you use the UCS to rotate your view in model space, or through the viewport?

 

I never rotate my UCS in the model space specifically for the reason that you can get erroneous data if you try and list coordinates, but if you do your UCS procedure through an unlocked viewport in your layout space then your model space coordinates are unaffected.  You might counter, "but what if I want to read coordinates through my viewport?", and I will counter, "NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"  It's a poor practice as the layout space is purely set up for doing drafting, if you want coordinates, just click on the model tab and get them from the real source.

 

I was originally taught the DVIEW/Twist technique in college, but I found it lacked accuracy and was, as you put it, a pain to operate.  With the UCS/3 Point you have the option to define EXACTLY what direction to rotate your view in, and I love it.  It takes only a few seconds to draw a reference object to use for the rotation, and then I usually save the UCS as "Sheet x".  I also make a habit of resetting the UCS in the viewport to world when I'm done annotating, or, alternately, have you considered annotating in the paper space and using the CHSPACE command to push the objects through the viewport into your model space?

 

As far as the surveyor's claim that it is "industry standard", he's talking out of his you-know-what.  There is no standard, it is up to the end-user to decide what technique to use for themselves.