What is a Land Survey?

A land survey identifies your boundaries of the land you own. It is important to know where your property line is located in relation to your neighbor's property. Each property corner should be identified by a Professional Land Surveyor and marked to easy identification.

The Land Surveyor Should Provide You with 3 Things

  1. The Survey Plat,
  2. Clearly marked property corners...iron pins with survey flagging, and
  3. Confidence and Peace of Mind about the location of your property boundaries.

The Land Survey Plat

The survey plat will be prepared by the surveyor after he completes the field work. It will show the improvements on your property such as your house, driveway, street, sidewalks, fences, power lines and any other buildings located on your land. It will also show the property lines and the property corners. The land survey is represented on the survey plat.

Each property line should have the distance of the line and the bearing of the line. This information should match the legal description of the deed. If any of the distances or bearings surveyed in the field does not match your deed exactly, the surveyor should show what the deed says and what he found in the field. Many times these will not match exactly because of the more precise equipment used today as compared to the equipment used many years ago.

Marking Property Corners

The surveyor should identify each property corner, drive an iron flush to the ground at its location and tie survey flagging to the iron rod so you will be able to walk to your property corner. Another good reason this should be done is so that your adjoining neighbor can see the corner.

Homeowners plant shrubs and build fences along property lines. The iron pins on the property corners show you and your neighbor where the lines are located. So when you are ready to plant shrubs, you will easily know the limits of your property and are assured you are planting the shrubs on your property.

This will help keep good neighbor relations. Many property owners get upset when neighbors plant shrubs or construct fences on their property. Knowing where your lines are before you purchase the home will prevent misunderstanding with the neighbor.

The Surveyor

What should you look for in selecting a surveyor?

  • Hire only licensed land surveyors. They should be registered in your state by the State Board. This will give you the confidence knowing that he is qualified and knows what he is doing.
  • Hire a surveyor with an established reputation for quality work. You want a surveyor that will be around next year should you have questions or an issue arises with the neighbor about property line disputes or property corner disputes.
  • Ask the surveyor if he carries professional liability insurance. This is for your protection if something goes wrong and issue was incorrect on the survey.
  • The really cheap surveyors are really cheap for a reason. Usually they work out of the back of their pickup truck, carry no professional liability insurance and have no plans to back up their work. They take your money and gooooo. Goodbye.

Confidence and Peace of Mind

A survey defines where you land is located on the ground, is marked by iron pins and flagging and is accurately shown on the survey plat.

Get the peace of mind knowing your survey is done accurately. Choose a surveyor that has an established business and insured. Choose Atlanta Engineering Services.

Atlanta Engineering Services started in 1990. We have been providing surveying services for 24 years. Recently, one of clients that we provided survey work for in 1997 needed to subdivide a portion of his property. He came to us. We had all the legal descriptions, survey plats and records. We were able to very quickly and very inexpensively subdivide his property.

For more information:

Atlanta Engineering Services' Home Page

Types of Land Surveys to meet your need

Typical Surveys and Clients of Atlanta Engineering Services

Beverage License Surveys or Liquor License surveys for restaurant and bar owners


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