What You Are Looking At
A land survey plat is a scaled drawing of your property prepared and certified by a licensed Professional Land Surveyor (PLS). The most common document homeowners receive is a boundary survey plat. It shows the boundaries of your parcel, the dimensions of each boundary line, the location of structures and improvements, and various other details depending on the type of survey. If you have never read one before, the combination of numbers, symbols, and abbreviations can look overwhelming. It is not, once you know what each piece means.
This guide breaks down every major element of a survey plat in plain language. Print it out and hold it next to your survey as you read.
The Major Parts of a Survey Plat
Title Block
The title block is usually in the lower right corner or along the bottom edge of the drawing. It contains the surveyor's name, license number, and firm name. It also shows the date of the survey, the property owner's name, and a legal reference to the property (such as a lot and block number or a deed book and page reference). The surveyor's seal and signature appear here or nearby. This is what makes the document a certified legal instrument rather than just a drawing.
Legend
The legend defines the symbols used on the plat. Every survey uses shorthand for things like iron pins, concrete monuments, fences, utility lines, and easements. If you see a symbol on the drawing and do not know what it means, check the legend first. Not all surveys include a printed legend. If yours does not, the abbreviations table later in this guide covers the most common ones.
North Arrow
The north arrow shows which direction is north on the drawing. This is critical because all bearings on the survey are referenced to north or south. Without knowing where north is, the bearings are meaningless. Most residential survey plats orient north toward the top of the page, but not always. Check the arrow before assuming.
Scale
The scale tells you the ratio between distances on the drawing and actual distances on the ground. A common scale for residential surveys is 1 inch = 30 feet or 1 inch = 50 feet. The scale lets you estimate distances on the plat using a ruler, but you should rely on the written dimensions rather than measuring the drawing, since copies and prints can distort scale.
Understanding Bearings
Bearings are the most unfamiliar element for most people reading a survey for the first time. A bearing describes the direction of a property line using a specific format.
A typical bearing looks like this: N 45° 30’ 15” E
Here is how to read it:
- The first letter (N or S) tells you which end of the north-south axis to start from.
- The angle (45° 30’ 15”) tells you how far to rotate from that starting direction. The angle is in degrees, minutes, and seconds. There are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minute.
- The last letter (E or W) tells you which direction to rotate toward.
So N 45° 30’ 15” E means: face north, then rotate 45 degrees, 30 minutes, and 15 seconds toward the east.
Bearings always use the quadrant system. The angle is always between 0° and 90° because it measures the rotation within one of four quadrants: northeast, southeast, southwest, or northwest. A line running due east would be N 90° 00’ 00” E (or equivalently S 90° 00’ 00” E). A line running due north would be N 00° 00’ 00” E.
You do not need to calculate anything. Just understand that each bearing tells you the direction of one line segment of your property boundary.
Understanding Distances
Next to each bearing, you will see a distance. Distances on land surveys are given in feet and decimal fractions of a foot, not feet and inches. For example, 150.25 means 150 feet and one quarter of a foot (3 inches). A distance of 200.00 means exactly 200 feet.
This decimal system is standard across the surveying profession in the United States. If you need to convert to inches, multiply the decimal portion by 12. So 0.25 feet = 3 inches, 0.50 feet = 6 inches, 0.75 feet = 9 inches.
How Do I Follow a Metes and Bounds Description?
A metes and bounds description traces the outline of your property using a series of calls. Each call consists of a bearing and a distance, like directions on a treasure map. The description starts at a defined location called the Point of Beginning (POB) and follows each line segment around the parcel until it returns to the POB.
Here is a simplified example:
“Beginning at an iron pin found at the northwest corner of the property, thence N 89° 45’ 00” E a distance of 150.00 feet to an iron rod set, thence S 00° 15’ 00” E a distance of 200.00 feet to a concrete monument, thence S 89° 45’ 00” W a distance of 150.00 feet to an iron pin found, thence N 00° 15’ 00” W a distance of 200.00 feet to the Point of Beginning.”
If you follow those four calls on the plat, you trace a rectangle. The word “thence” simply means “from there, go in this direction.” Each call ends at a corner, and the description tells you what type of monument marks that corner.
On the plat drawing itself, these calls are written along each boundary line: the bearing above (or along) the line and the distance below it. Follow them in order, starting at the POB, and you trace your property boundary.
Common Symbols and Abbreviations
Survey plats use abbreviations to keep the drawing clean and readable. Here are the ones you will see most often.
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| POB | Point of Beginning |
| IPF | Iron Pin Found (existing marker located by surveyor) |
| IRS | Iron Rod Set (new marker placed by surveyor) |
| IRF | Iron Rod Found |
| CM | Concrete Monument |
| PK | PK Nail (a type of survey nail set in concrete or asphalt) |
| RB | Rebar |
| CP | Capped Pin (iron rod with a plastic or aluminum cap stamped with the surveyor's license number) |
| R/W | Right of Way |
| E’MT or ESMT | Easement |
| U/E | Utility Easement |
| D/E | Drainage Easement |
| BL | Building Line (setback line) |
| CL | Centerline |
| P/L | Property Line |
| R | Radius (of a curve) |
| L | Arc Length (of a curve) |
| CH or CB | Chord Bearing (straight-line direction across a curve) |
| D | Delta (central angle of a curve) |
| NTS | Not to Scale |
| O.R. | Official Records (book and page reference) |
| P.B. | Plat Book |
If you see an abbreviation not listed here, check the legend on your specific survey. ALTA/NSPS surveys used in commercial transactions contain additional detail and follow a nationally standardized format. Some states have specific standards that introduce additional abbreviations or modify the common ones.
Reading Easements on a Survey
Easements appear on survey plats as shaded areas, dashed lines, or labeled strips along or across the property. An easement gives someone other than the property owner a right to use a specific portion of the land for a defined purpose.
The most common types you will see are:
- Utility easements (U/E): Allow utility companies to install, maintain, and access power lines, water lines, sewer lines, or gas lines. These typically run along the edges of a lot or through the rear of the property.
- Drainage easements (D/E): Reserve space for stormwater flow and drainage infrastructure. You generally cannot build permanent structures within a drainage easement.
- Access easements: Grant someone the right to cross your property to reach theirs. Common in rural areas where a parcel is landlocked.
- Conservation easements: Restrict development on a portion of the property, often near wetlands or protected areas.
Each easement on the plat will reference the document that created it, usually an official records book and page number or an instrument number. The survey shows you where the easement is, but the recorded document defines exactly what rights it grants and to whom.
Building within an easement is generally restricted. Before planning any improvement, check whether it falls within an easement shown on your survey.
Understanding Setback Lines
Setback lines (sometimes labeled BL for building line) appear as dashed lines inside the property boundary. They mark the minimum distance that structures must be set back from the property line, as required by local zoning regulations.
A typical residential lot might have a 25-foot front setback, a 10-foot side setback, and a 15-foot rear setback. These numbers vary by jurisdiction and zoning classification. The area between the property line and the setback line is where you generally cannot place permanent structures, though fences, landscaping, and some other improvements may be allowed depending on local code.
Setback lines on the survey reflect the zoning rules that applied at the time the survey was prepared. If zoning has changed since the survey date, the setback lines may no longer be current.
Reading Curves
If your property has a curved boundary (common on cul-de-sacs, along roads, and in planned developments), the plat will describe the curve using several measurements instead of a simple bearing and distance. The key values are:
- Radius (R): The radius of the circle that the curve is part of.
- Arc Length (L): The distance along the curve itself.
- Chord Bearing (CB or CH): The direction of a straight line connecting the two endpoints of the curve.
- Chord Distance: The straight-line distance between the two endpoints.
- Delta (D): The central angle of the curve, which tells you how much of the circle the curve covers.
You do not need to do any math with these values. They are there so the curve can be precisely reproduced. The key takeaway is that your boundary follows the arc, not the chord. The arc length tells you the actual distance along that boundary segment.
Matching the Survey to Your Physical Property
Once you understand the plat, the practical step is matching what the drawing shows to what you see on the ground.
- Start at a known corner. Find one of the corner monuments shown on the plat. Iron pins and rebar are often at or just below ground level. A metal detector helps. Capped pins are easier to spot because the plastic or aluminum cap sits at or slightly above grade.
- Orient the plat. Hold the drawing so the north arrow points north (use a compass app if needed). Now the drawing is aligned with the ground.
- Walk the boundary. From your starting corner, follow the bearing and distance to the next corner. You should find a monument there matching what the plat describes. Repeat for each call around the perimeter.
- Note discrepancies. If a fence, driveway, or structure appears to cross a boundary line shown on the survey, that is an encroachment. If you cannot find a monument where the survey says one should be, it may have been disturbed or buried. In either case, contact the surveyor who prepared the plat for clarification.
When Should You Call Your Surveyor?
If anything on the survey does not match what you see in the field, or if you have questions about an easement, encroachment, or setback that appears on the plat, contact the surveyor who prepared it. Survey plats are legal documents, and the licensed Professional Land Surveyor who certified yours is the right person to explain any detail you do not understand.
If you are thinking about doing some of the research yourself before hiring a professional, see our guide on whether you can survey your own property to understand what the law allows. If you need a survey or need to have an existing one reviewed, browse licensed Professional Land Surveyors by state and county in our directory. Every listing is sourced from official state licensing records.