Texas Has Two Survey Systems, and Both Require a Licensed RPLS
Texas is genuinely different from every other state when it comes to property lines. It's the only state in the country that retained control of its own public lands when it joined the Union, which means Texas never adopted the federal Public Land Survey System that covers most of the rest of the country.
The practical result is a split. Northern and western Texas generally uses a PLSS-style rectangular grid. Eastern Texas, which was settled earlier and contains the bulk of the original Spanish and Mexican land grants and Republic of Texas headright surveys, is metes and bounds territory. Property descriptions in eastern Texas can trace back to grants issued in the 1820s and 1830s, documented in old Spanish, with field notes written by surveyors who worked with chains and compasses across land that has since been subdivided many times over.
Whether your parcel sits in the PLSS grid or in original grant territory, the process for establishing where your lines actually sit on the ground requires a licensed Registered Professional Land Surveyor.
Why the Texas General Land Office Matters
The Texas General Land Office holds the archives from all of that original survey work: land grant records, original field notes, and maps going back to the Spanish colonial period. When your RPLS is surveying a rural Texas property, particularly in South, Central, or East Texas, they routinely consult GLO archives to understand the historical basis for the property's current deed description.
This isn't something a property owner accesses as a shortcut. Interpreting 19th-century field notes, correlating them to modern GPS coordinates, and determining what the original surveyor intended at each corner requires both professional training and field experience. The GLO archives are a research tool for your surveyor, not a substitute for hiring one.
What Your Surveyor Does
Your RPLS starts with records. For an urban or suburban lot in a recorded subdivision, that means pulling the plat from the county clerk, reviewing the deed, and checking for any prior surveys that affect your parcel. For rural or older properties, the research extends further: the chain of title, adjacent deed descriptions, any recorded surveys of neighboring parcels, and, where applicable, the original GLO field notes for the grant or section that underlies your property.
In the field, your surveyor searches for physical monuments at the property corners. Texas property corners are typically marked with iron rods or pins driven into the ground, often capped with aluminum or plastic stamped with the surveyor's license number. These can end up buried under years of landscaping, grading, or paving. Your surveyor uses GPS and metal detection equipment to locate them.
Where existing monuments are confirmed and consistent with the deed description, your surveyor records them as found corners. Where they're missing or inconsistent, the surveyor establishes corner positions from the deed description and confirmed surrounding evidence, then sets new monuments.
The result is a signed and sealed plat showing your parcel's boundaries, corners, and dimensions. Texas law requires this certification to come from a licensed RPLS. That requirement exists because the legal and financial consequences of a wrong boundary determination are substantial, and only a licensed professional carries the accountability that protects you.
Situations That Consistently Require a Texas RPLS
- Fence installation near a property line, especially when the line hasn't been recently surveyed
- Building permits for structures within a few feet of where you think the line sits
- Boundary disputes with adjacent landowners
- Purchase of rural land described in metes and bounds, particularly in East, South, or Central Texas
- Mortgage or title transactions requiring a T-47 survey affidavit or a current boundary plat
- Subdividing a parcel under Texas law
- Properties where existing corner markers appear to be missing or disturbed
Find a Licensed Texas RPLS
Every surveyor in our Texas directory is sourced from the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying license registry. Search by county to find a licensed RPLS with experience in your area's deed records, survey systems, and terrain.