A Boundary Survey is often needed in order to build an addition or develop a residential property. There are essentially two types of Boundary Surveys. The type you need for your project depends largely on the requirements set by the municipality in your area.
A Topographic and Record Boundary Survey is a survey showing the improvements on your property related to the record boundary. The record boundary is what is on record as described in the deed of your property. Essentially, a survey team goes out to your property and looks for sufficient survey monumentation that supports the record legal description in your deed. They also measure topographic features such as structures, utilities, curbs, sidewalks, driveways, adjacent streets, etc. A map is then compiled with this data and given to the homeowner (which is usually submitted with the house plans to the city by the architect). This generally satisfies the requirements of most, but not all municipalities to allow you to build or modify your home.
In some cases, the municipality requires a full Boundary Survey and Record of Survey Map to be filed and recorded with the county surveyor’s office. A Boundary Survey is a much more detailed, in depth survey. It requires surveying the whole block your lot is located in, finding any and all survey monuments in your block, locating & documenting occupation (ie fence lines, walls, improvements, etc.) and analyzing how it all fits together with the record information. A record of survey map is then prepared showing all the evidence found during the field boundary survey portion to justify the locations of your property lines. The County Surveyor’s office then reviews the map, comments on what they would like to see corrected and determines if any additional field work and analysis is necessary to complete the record of survey map for approval and recordation. The amount of field and office work required to produce the Record of Survey Map and the rigorous approval process make this type of survey more costly and usually takes several months to complete.
For more information about which type of survey is right for you, see How to get the right boundary survey to help you build the home of your dreams.