What A Land Survey Shows That A Plat Does Not

A recorded plat and a boundary survey are often treated as the same document. One is a map of how land was divided on paper; the other is a measured statement of where the lines fall on the ground.

What a plat records

A plat is filed when land is subdivided, showing numbered lots, streets, easements and dimensions as designed. It becomes part of the public record and deeds refer back to it.

Its authority is legal rather than physical. The plat defines the lots that exist, which is why a lot and block description can be so short.

It also carries burdens created at the time of subdivision, including drainage and utility easements and building setback lines that continue to apply to every lot shown.

What a surveyor adds

A licensed surveyor goes to the property, locates existing monuments and corners, measures the parcel and reconciles the record description with what is physically there.

The result reflects conditions rather than intentions. Corners get disturbed, fences are built by eye, and driveways are poured where they were convenient rather than where the lot line is.

Where evidence conflicts, the surveyor exercises professional judgment about which monuments control. That analysis is the substance of the work, not the drawing itself.

Encroachments and improvements

Surveys commonly show the location of buildings, fences, walls and paving relative to the boundaries. That is where problems surface.

A garage a short distance over a line, a fence built on the neighbor's side, or a shed inside a setback are all ordinary findings that can affect financing, insurance or a future sale.

Long-standing encroachments raise questions about rights acquired over time through use, which vary considerably between states and are not resolved by the survey itself.

Types differ by purpose

A basic location or mortgage inspection shows improvements in approximate position and is not always a boundary determination. A boundary survey sets and certifies corners.

Commercial transactions often use a survey prepared to a national standard specifying what must be researched and shown. Residential work is usually less prescriptive.

Elevation certificates, topographic surveys and staking for construction are separate products. Ordering the wrong one produces a document that does not answer the question asked.

When it is worth ordering

Buyers commonly order one where boundaries are unclear, where a fence or structure sits near a line, where the parcel is irregular or rural, or where construction is planned.

Title insurance frequently excludes matters a survey would disclose unless one is provided, which links the two decisions more closely than buyers expect.

Licensing requirements, monument standards, setback rules and the law on boundaries by acquiescence differ by state and change over time. A licensed surveyor and, for disputed lines, a real estate attorney are the appropriate professionals.