What Is Included in a Land Survey: Boundaries, Easements, and Encroachments

A land survey includes your property’s boundary lines and corner markers, the structures and improvements on the lot, easements and rights-of-way across the land, any encroachments, a written legal description of the parcel, and the licensed surveyor’s signed certification. What is included in a land survey beyond that core depends on the type of survey you order and which optional items you request, such as setback lines, flood zone classification, or topographic detail.

Boundary Lines and Corner Markers

Boundaries are the backbone of the drawing. The surveyor identifies each corner of the parcel and marks it with a physical monument, usually an iron pin or concrete marker driven into the ground. The plat then connects those corners with lines showing the exact length of each side and its compass bearing, expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds relative to north or south.

This is the part of the survey that answers the question most owners actually have: where does my lot end and the next one begin. The drawing also notes which monuments the surveyor found already in place during fieldwork and which were newly set.

Structures and Improvements

A survey plots every significant structure on the land: the house, garage, shed, deck, driveway, patio, retaining wall, swimming pool, and any other permanent improvement. Each is shown in its exact position relative to the boundary lines, with measured distances from the structure to the nearest property line on each side.

Those measured distances carry real weight. Zoning codes require buildings to sit a minimum distance from the property line, and the survey is usually the only document that confirms whether existing structures comply. If a previous owner added a deck or expanded a garage without permits, that history tends to surface here. More detailed surveys may also show exterior building dimensions, footprint square footage, and building heights when the client requests them.¹

Easements and Rights-of-Way

Easements give someone other than the owner a legal right to use part of the land for a specific purpose. Utility easements are the most common and allow power, water, sewer, or telecommunications companies to maintain infrastructure that runs across or under the parcel. Access easements let a neighbor or the public cross the property to reach a landlocked parcel or a road.

The survey maps the location and dimensions of each easement, both those found in recorded title documents and any unrecorded easements the surveyor spots on the ground, such as visible utility lines crossing the lot.² Knowing where easements sit matters before you build anything, because permanent structures generally can’t go inside an easement area, and a structure placed there can be ordered removed.

Encroachments

Encroachments are physical crossings of the property line that shouldn’t be there. A neighbor’s garage might overhang your lot. Your fence might sit two feet into theirs. Surveyors catch these by measuring the position of improvements against the established boundaries.

Common findings include fences built a few feet off the actual line, roof overhangs extending past the boundary, driveways that partially cross onto an adjacent parcel, and utility lines from a neighboring property running across a corner of yours. Even small encroachments can become serious during a sale, because title insurance companies often want them resolved or formally acknowledged before issuing a policy.

Natural Features and Topography

Surveys map the natural landscape as well as the built one. Trees, streams, ponds, and rock outcroppings are plotted in position relative to the boundary lines, which matters for construction planning, drainage, and spotting environmental constraints.

Many surveys include topographic detail, showing elevation changes with contour lines. Each contour connects points at the same elevation; lines bunched together mean steep ground, lines spread apart mean flatter terrain. When vertical relief is included, the drawing also records the datum and benchmark used, giving engineers and architects the elevation data they need for grading and drainage work.¹

Setback Lines and Zoning Information

Setback lines show the minimum distance a building must sit from each property boundary under local zoning. A residential lot typically has a front setback, a rear setback, and side setbacks, each potentially a different distance. On a survey, they appear as dashed lines drawn inward from the boundaries, creating the buildable envelope inside the lot.

Setback information isn’t automatic. Under the ALTA/NSPS standards, zoning setback requirements are an optional Table A item that the client has to request. When included, the surveyor plots the setback lines on the drawing and shows whether existing structures comply.¹ If you plan to expand, asking for this upfront saves a separate trip to the zoning office.

Flood Zone Classification

A survey can also show whether the property falls within a FEMA-designated flood hazard area. The surveyor references the federal Flood Insurance Rate Map for the area, plots the flood zone boundaries on the drawing, and notes the specific zone designation.¹

Like setback information, flood zone classification is an optional Table A item, not part of the default scope. Lenders and insurers often require it, especially for property near waterways or on the coast. A property in a high-risk zone will need flood insurance, which can meaningfully affect your monthly cost, so this is a worthwhile add-on if you’re buying near any body of water.

Legal Description

Every survey carries a written legal description that uniquely identifies the parcel. A street address isn’t a legal description. The legal description is a technical statement that ties the land to the broader system of recorded property records so there’s no ambiguity about which piece of earth is yours.

Two formats are common. A metes-and-bounds description starts from a defined point of beginning and traces the outline of the parcel line by line, giving each segment’s compass direction and distance until the description closes back at the starting point. It handles irregularly shaped parcels well and is the older of the two systems. A lot-and-block description instead references a numbered lot within a numbered block on a recorded subdivision plat, worded something like “Lot 5, Block 3, Oak Hills Subdivision.” Lot and block is standard in planned residential developments where the subdivision plat was filed with the county before any lots were sold.³

Surveyor’s Certification

The certification is what makes the document count. It includes the surveyor’s printed name, license number, signature, professional seal, the date the fieldwork was completed, and the date of the plat itself.¹ It attests that the work was performed in accordance with applicable professional standards, and on an ALTA/NSPS survey it identifies which optional Table A items were included. Surveyors must hold a license in the state where the property sits.⁴

Without the certification, the survey has no legal weight. A plat missing a seal or signature is just a drawing. Lenders and title companies will reject it, and the county won’t record it. When you receive a survey, confirm the certification block is fully completed before you pay.

What Varies by Type of Survey

Not every survey contains everything above. A basic boundary survey, the most common residential product, marks corners, establishes boundary lines, and may flag easements and encroachments. A mortgage or location survey shows structures relative to property lines but with less precision, and often without set monuments. A topographic survey focuses on elevation and natural features for design work. An ALTA/NSPS land title survey is the most comprehensive standardized product, following national standards jointly maintained by the American Land Title Association and the National Society of Professional Surveyors, and it lets the client add Table A items like flood zone classification, setback lines, building dimensions, and parking counts. Commercial transactions and lenders routinely require this type.¹

Before you order, ask your lender or title company which type they’ll accept and which optional items they want included. That decides what will actually appear on your drawing.

1
National Society of Professional Surveyors. 2026 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys
2
U.S. Department of Agriculture. NRCS Easement Programs Land Survey Specifications
3
Bureau of Land Management. Specifications for Descriptions of Land
4
National Society of Professional Surveyors. Surveyors Professional Qualifications