If you're about to buy property, you'd want to know what the boundaries are, wouldn't you? You would want to access financing to purchase it or develop it, wouldn't you?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you are just starting to understand why land surveying is important.

What are land surveys?

Land surveying is the act of establishing the boundaries and the natural and man-made features of a piece of land.

There are a number of reasons people would want to know this information.

In the examples above, a land survey would assist in letting you know where your property was located. It would also help a bank or financier assign a value to a property, so they'd know if it was worth investing in.

The above examples also would likely involve very different types of land surveying. The first would be a boundary survey. The second is an ALTA survey. Let's get into the different types of land surveys that exist a little more deeply. For survey design ideas for your site click here

Types of Land Surveys

Boundary survey

A boundary survey is undertaken when the owner of a property wants to establish the boundaries and corners of their land.

People usually do this kind of survey when they want to settle disputes, which, if allowed to escalate, can become quite costly.

They may also be necessary when the owner is thinking about dividing the land, embarking on new construction or identifying easement rights.

Subdivision survey

A subdivision survey is done when the owner wants to divide their plot of land further.

At the end of a subdivision survey, the owner will be able to see his land divided into equal parts. Subdivision surveys often included topographic surveys, which detail all that is on the land at the time of the survey.

These are useful for people like residential developers.

ALTA Survey

An ALTA survey is usually commissioned by financial institutions that want more details than a boundary survey can provide.

The details that can be found on an ALTA survey include things like encroachments on the property by neighbors and differences between what is on the title deed and what the property is actually composed of, for example.

Usually, the surveyor is asked to form a legal opinion about the facts of the land. In this way, it resembles Calgary Real Property Reports because it provides the person with far more knowledge about the piece of land. This level of detail is required for investment/financing, commercial real estate, or insurance purposes. These institutions usually need to know everything about the property so they can avoid legal issues down the road. For larger projects, land surveying services for large projects become even more critical, as they ensure comprehensive assessments that address specific needs and regulatory requirements, ultimately safeguarding the interests of all parties involved.

Construction Survey

As the name implies, construction surveys are related to construction activities.

These surveys help establish the boundaries of the structures the crew is about to start building. The boundaries are marked with stakes. 

This way, the structures don't encroach on other earmarked areas on the construction site and difficult to correct, expensive mistakes are lessened.

Topographic survey

A topographic survey is one that lists all the natural and artificial features of a piece of land.

It has the additional benefit of being three dimensional, so viewers of a topographic survey can literally get the lay of the land.

Topographic surveys are useful for people who want to know about the kind of land features they'll encounter before they start construction. Therefore utility companies and authorities engaged in road or drainage construction tend to request them. If you also happen to be looking for a drainage survey, or construction for yourself - it might be beneficial to seek advice from the professionals at drainage-surveys.co.uk who are experts in their field.

Site planning survey

A site planning survey combines the elements of a boundary survey and a topographic survey.

They are most useful to landowners who are thinking about adding new buildings to a property or making improvements to existing ones. 

A property owner may also need this type of survey to obtain permission from zoning and licensing authorities to embark on the type of construction they want.

Understanding why land surveys are important

As you can see from the various categories of land surveys, you get different information from each type of survey.

This information affects everything that you see on land and even land that has been left empty.

Land surveys determine:

the type of architecture and material needed on the land to be built

which land should be built on and which should be left alone (e.g. you wouldn't build on land that is prone to earthquakes or shifting)

what can be built on the land (residences, commercial buildings, hospitals, roadways)

which land should be used for other purposes (farming, mineral harvesting, parks etc)

Knowing how land surveys work is therefore important. You come away with a much better understanding of your built environment.