Residential Land Surveying Services
ALTA/ACSM surveys are preformed to a set of higher standards that have been established by the American Land Title Association and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.
An ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey is a survey that commonly includes levels of topographic information, boundary information, and is used for conveyances. The Minimum Detail Standards publicized by ALTA/ACSM are national standards used for conveyance surveys and are necessary when dealing with lending institutions for commercial transactions. The lending institution specifies the quantity of topographic information that must be represented by the survey.
Photogrammetry is a surveying technique which is used to gain quantitative information. This information is attained from pairs of photographs. These images, which are commonly images of the same object and often a complex building elevation can be combined to shape a three dimensional image. If control points are marked during the initial photography they can then be used to establish scale.
Architectural surveys provide an inventory of the built environment by systematically documenting intact structures by location or theme. They record construction dates, note architectural details, identify styles or types, note alterations, assess current conditions, and provide brief histories of properties.
An As-Built Plan is a survey performed to obtain either horizontal or vertical dimensional data so that a constructed facility may be delineated, i.e. foundation survey, or as-built of improvements. An As-Built is a survey to physically determine where structures and improvements on a parcel of land are, this is commonly for mortgage purposes. However these surveys do not always include boundary documentation.
Boundary Surveys are the most common type of survey. They illustrate both the improvements on a specific property and the boundary lines of that property. Boundary Surveys are used for a variety of things such as sale of property, mortgage loans and in certain cases, building permits.
The Boundary Survey is a basic survey used to determine the perimeter of a property in relation to the properties legal description. Since the objective of the deed is vital, the Surveyor's primary task is to "retrace the footsteps of the original surveyor." The Surveyor must then interpret the legal description contained within the record deed and find the real property on the surface of the earth for the client.
A Cadastral Survey is the original survey, retracement of public land, or a resurvey within the Public Land Survey System of the United States for the intended restoration of property lines.
A Control Survey is used to find the exact location of horizontal or vertical positions of points for use in the determination of boundaries, aerial photographic mapping, construction staking, or similar purposes.
Analysis of various survey maps and legal descriptions, in-field location and verification of information on record, existing monuments, and physical features and mappings showing this information. This is done for the purpose of providing a visual display for use in a courtroom.
In certain areas of the United States, this may also be known as "Torrens" Survey of "Registered" or Torrens" land. A "Judicial" Survey is a Survey ordered by the courts system, at times setting "Judicial Land Marks." These surveys may also be referred to as "JLMs". Some also may refer to these as "JMs" ("Judicial Monument"" or "Judicial Marker"").
Easement surveys locate, on the ground, the limits of an existing easement or create a description for a proposed easement, such as pipeline right-of-ways, for recording in County Clerk's office.
Elevation surveys determine the given elevation of either sections of buildings or land. These are primarily used to aid in building plans and to determine if a property is in a flood zone.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a flood elevation certificate form specifically for dealing with flood insurance; the form reports the properties elevation information relative to a base flood elevation. The form also requires a surveyor's certification for part of the information. This form will help determine whether or not you need flood insurance.
A Geodetic Survey is a land survey that is affected by the curvature of the earth and astronomic observations while taking these into account at the same time.
GIS: Geographic Information Systems and LIS: Land Information Systems
Hydrographic and Underwater Surveys are used to collect data pertaining to bodies of water. These surveys may include the water depth, bottom contours, bottom configuration, current information, heights and water stages, and the location of fixed objects for navigational purposes.
Required when dividing an existing lot of land into two or more parcels of land. All surveys for lot splits include a plat of the new parcels and the required legal description to create a record of the split. It is important to record the size of the original parcel along with the size of the new parcel(s) in the comments section of the request form to insure that one receives accurate quotes.
Mortgage Inspections are used inconsistently for different purposes in all states, however they are often included with residential loans. A drawing may or may not be provided. More often than not "Mortgage Inspections" surveys are NOT BOUNDARY SURVEYS. They usually are required by lending institutions. Boundary improvements should not be constructed based on Mortgage Inspections due to the fact that boundary lines are not determined on most "Mortgage Inspection" surveys. Look for the Certification of the Land Surveyor, this will include the land surveyor's license number and state of practice.
Surveys that serve as "reconnaissance", they are preliminary survey and location surveys for an alignment or a linear type feature such as a road, railroad, canal, pipeline or utility line.
A Site Planning Survey is a combination of boundary and topographic surveys for the purpose of preparing a site plan to be used for the designing of improvements and developments.
Topographic Surveys show the elevations of the property and useful in establishing contour lines. These surveys are also used for planning and design, drainage studies and to establish the limits of a flood plain.
Topographic Surveys are used to identify and map the contours and the features on the surface of the earth, features slightly below, or the features slightly above (i.e. trees, buildings, streets, walkways, retaining walls, etc.). If the surveys purpose is to be a base map to design any style of building it potentially will be essential to show perimeter boundaries and lines of easement. This is so the designer can accurately show zoning and other agency required setbacks.
Topographic surveys need "benchmarks" to which ground contours are related, information regarding surface and underground utilities, determination of required setbacks, etc.
Topographic Surveys are divided into two levels of information, the physical features on the site and the relief or the elevations of the site, or planimetric detail. Planimetric detail is represented by a scaled drawing illustrating the outline of the features and the relief is illustrated by contour lines.
