Survey sketch symbols are the standardized lines, point markers, and abbreviations surveyors use to show property boundaries, corner monuments, easements, setbacks, natural features, buildings, and utilities on a drawing of your land. Every mark has a defined meaning, and the legend printed on your sketch is the final authority on what each one represents for your specific property.
Start With the Legend, Scale, and North Arrow
Three items appear on virtually every survey sketch and should be the first thing you look at. The legend (sometimes labeled “key”) defines every symbol the surveyor used on that drawing. Many conventions are shared across the profession, but surveyors have some discretion in how they depict features, so the legend governs your sketch.
The scale tells you how distances on paper relate to distances on the ground. A notation like “1 inch = 20 feet” means one inch on the drawing represents 20 real-world feet, so you can estimate distances between features with a ruler. The north arrow orients the entire sketch. Without it, the bearings written along the boundary lines would be meaningless.
Boundary Lines and Bearings
The most prominent lines on the drawing are the property boundaries, usually solid lines forming the perimeter of the parcel. Along each segment you’ll see two numbers: a bearing and a distance. The bearing is the compass direction of the line; the distance is its length.
Bearings are written in a format that looks strange at first. Something like “N 45°30’15” E” means the line runs from due north, angled 45 degrees, 30 minutes, and 15 seconds toward the east. The first letter is always N or S, the last letter is always E or W, and the angle between them is 90 degrees or less. Distances appear in feet, typically to the hundredth (for example, 150.25′). Together, these let anyone with a compass and tape measure retrace the boundary in the field.
The Point of Beginning, abbreviated POB, is the starting reference point for the boundary description. It ties to a permanent, identifiable feature such as a USGS marker, a road intersection, or a corner of an adjacent surveyed parcel. From the POB, the boundary runs through each successive line segment and eventually closes back to the start.
Corner Markers and Monuments
At property corners and other critical points, surveyors place or find physical markers in the ground. These appear on the sketch as small point symbols, and the kind of marker matters because it tells you how reliable that corner is.
One of the most important distinctions is between “found” and “set.” A found marker was already there before the current survey; the surveyor evaluated it and relied on it as evidence of the boundary. A set marker is one the surveyor installed during this survey. When you see “FD” next to a symbol, the surveyor is documenting pre-existing physical evidence.
Common abbreviations include:
- IPF: Iron Pipe Found
- IRS: Iron Rod Set
- IRF: Iron Rod Found
- CIP: Capped Iron Pin
- R/C: Rebar and Cap
- Con Mon F: Concrete Monument Found
- NMS: No Monument Set (the surveyor couldn’t place a marker)
- PK Nail: A concrete nail stamped “PK,” commonly set in pavement
- WC: Witness Corner (a marker set near a corner that can’t be monumented directly)
Easements, Setbacks, and Rights of Way
Easements are areas where someone other than the owner has a right to use the land for a specific purpose. On a survey, they typically appear as dashed or dotted lines running parallel to a boundary or across the property, with the width noted. “10′ UE,” for instance, means a 10-foot utility easement. Common labels include:
- UE: Utility Easement
- PUE: Public Utility Easement
- DUE: Drainage/Utility Easement
- DE: Drainage Easement
- ESMT: Easement (general)
- R/W or ROW: Right of Way
- S/T: Subject To (the property is burdened by the easement)
- T/W: Together With (the property benefits from the easement)
Setback lines, sometimes called Building Restriction Lines (BRL) or Building Setback Lines (BSL), mark areas where construction is prohibited. They appear as dashed lines inside the property boundary, usually labeled with the abbreviation and the setback distance, and they come from local zoning rules.
Rights of way for roads and highways appear along property frontage, showing the width and location of the public corridor. The sketch will note the road name, the right-of-way width, and where the pavement edge sits relative to your property line.
Natural Features
Topographic features have their own symbols. These matter most on topographic surveys and site plans, though boundary surveys sometimes include them.
Contour lines are curving lines that connect points of equal elevation. The vertical distance between consecutive lines is the contour interval, noted on the sketch. Closely spaced contours mean steep terrain; widely spaced contours mean the ground is relatively flat. Every fourth or fifth line is drawn bolder and labeled with its elevation. Spot elevations are small dots with a number beside them giving the exact height at that point, useful where contours alone don’t capture subtle grade changes. Benchmarks, labeled “BM” with a triangle symbol and an elevation, are reference points with precisely known elevations that other measurements tie to.
Trees on a detailed survey appear as small circles for the trunk, sometimes with a larger irregular outline for the drip line. Deciduous and coniferous trees get distinct symbols. A number beside the tree usually indicates its diameter at breast height, so “24” OAK” means a 24-inch oak. Streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes are drawn in blue, with arrows showing stream flow direction. Wetlands are shown with a pattern of small marsh grass symbols. These features can trigger regulatory restrictions on nearby construction.
Buildings, Fences, and Other Improvements
Buildings appear as outlined rectangles or polygons drawn to scale in their actual positions, matching the footprint. The survey shows the distance from each wall to the nearest property line. Those measurements are what reveal whether a structure violates a setback or crosses onto a neighbor’s land.
Fences use specific line patterns that sometimes indicate the material. A solid line with small x-marks is a common representation for chain-link; other patterns indicate wood, wrought iron, or other styles. Watch where the fence sits relative to the actual boundary. Fences and property lines don’t always line up, and the survey will show the gap if one exists.
Driveways, sidewalks, patios, and retaining walls have their own outlines. Paved surfaces are often labeled with the material (concrete, asphalt, gravel). Retaining walls get a distinct symbol because they affect drainage and grading.
Utility Lines and Infrastructure
Utilities are shown with labeled lines, and each service type has its own representation. Overhead power lines typically appear as a solid line connecting small pole symbols. Underground lines appear as dashed lines with letter codes identifying the service: “W” for water, “SS” for sanitary sewer, “G” for gas, “E” for electric, “T” for telephone or telecom.
Other utility features include manholes (small circles with “MH”), fire hydrants, utility poles (small circles with “PP” for power pole or “TP” for telephone pole), transformers, meter boxes, and storm drains or catch basins (small squares or circles with “CB” or “SD”). “NPP” marks a nail set in a power pole.
Locating underground utilities precisely is genuinely difficult without excavation, so surveys often include a disclaimer that underground utility locations are approximate. If a private utility locate was performed, the sketch shows where the paint or flag markings were found on the surface, but those positions are estimates based on detection equipment rather than direct observation.
Flood Zone Designations
Many surveys note the FEMA flood zone, especially for real estate transactions or mortgage files. The surveyor references the applicable Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) and labels the property with its zone classification.
The most common designations are Zone AE (areas with a 1% annual chance of flooding where base flood elevations have been determined), Zone X (areas outside the high-risk flood zone), and Zone VE (coastal flood zones with wave action). The Base Flood Elevation (BFE), the water level expected during a 1%-annual-chance flood, may appear on the sketch as a numerical elevation along with a reference to the FIRM panel number. If the flood zone line crosses the parcel, the survey shows its approximate location, meaning part of your land sits in a higher-risk zone and part doesn’t.
Encroachments and Boundary Conflicts
An encroachment is a structure, fence, or improvement that crosses a boundary line onto another property. A good survey measures how far the feature extends past the line and labels it, something like “fence encroaches 1.2′ onto adjoining property,” with an arrow and dimension line pointing at the overlap.
Encroachments go both ways. A neighbor’s shed might sit partly on your land, or your driveway might extend onto theirs. The survey also flags improvements that intrude into easements even on your own property. A covered porch extending 3 feet into a 10-foot drainage easement, for example, would be called out.
Related problems include gaps and overlaps between adjoining parcels. A gap (sometimes called a gore) is a strip neither deed covers, often triangular, caused by errors in earlier surveys or deed descriptions. An overlap is the opposite: two deeds claiming the same strip. These usually require a title attorney to resolve, but the survey is what reveals them.
Common Abbreviations Quick Reference
Beyond the monument and easement labels above, these abbreviations turn up often:
- POB: Point of Beginning
- CL: Center Line
- N/F: Now or Formerly (identifies a neighboring property owner)
- BRL or BSL: Building Restriction Line or Building Setback Line
- MBS: Minimum Building Setback
- NBL, SBL, EBL, WBL: North, South, East, or West Boundary Line
- PI: Point of Intersection
- PT: Point of Tangency (where a curve meets a straight line)
- PRC: Point of Reverse Curve
- L.O.D.: Limit of Disturbance
- LS: Licensed Surveyor (appears next to the surveyor’s seal)
Surveying conventions are shared nationally, but regional shorthand varies, and some surveyors use office-specific notations. If you run into a symbol or abbreviation the legend doesn’t define, call the surveyor’s office that prepared the drawing. The legend on your specific sketch is always the authoritative guide.