The largest investment most people make is their home or land. Each landowner should have a survey completed of their property to insure they are buying and getting what they believe they are. Each landowner should also know where their property boundaries lie in order to protect their property from encroachments and trespassing. Too many times people opt out of the option for a survey and end up with legal and or personal issues.

There are so many reasons you may need a survey that the best answer to this is to talk with your surveyor about your needs and they will be able to help you determine what type or survey is needed. A good rule of thumb may be to tell the surveyor to perform the survey like it is their property that should get you what you need and not a lot of unnecessary extras.

Surveys are used in the preparation of legal documents such as deeds, easements, agreements, etc and the results of a survey are often time reflected on a plat or map. These records may transfer land for many years and are often times the only source for finding the true and original location of property corners. This alone assures that surveys are good for a long time if not forever. Many times, old plats or maps are used by current surveyors to retrace old boundary lines. Many people will only have their property surveyed once but may refer back to their documents for many years.

Depending on the reason for the survey you may need to do nothing. If it is for a transfer of property, you probably need to get the survey to an attorney to prepare a deed or in some cases it may need to be reviewed by a county or municipal officer in order to verify it meets all applicable zoning, subdivision and any other rules and laws. Your surveyor will help guide you through this process and make sure you have what you need.