Who Governs Land Surveying in Arizona
Land surveying in Arizona is regulated by the Arizona State Board of Technical Registration (AZBTR), operating under ARS Title 32, Chapter 1. The AZBTR issues licenses, enforces professional standards, investigates complaints, and has authority to discipline or revoke the licenses of surveyors who violate state requirements.
Only a licensee holding a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) credential from the AZBTR can legally certify a boundary survey, prepare a legal land description, or set survey monuments with legal authority in Arizona. Practicing without a license or misrepresenting credentials is a violation of ARS Title 32 and can result in civil or criminal penalties.
You can verify any Arizona surveyor's license at btr.az.gov before hiring.
ARS Title 32 and What It Covers
ARS Title 32 is Arizona's broad professional licensing statute, covering engineering, architecture, geology, and land surveying. Chapter 1 is the portion specific to land surveying and technical professions. Key provisions relevant to property owners include:
Scope of Practice
The statute defines land surveying to include measuring and locating land boundaries, preparing plats and maps of survey, and writing legal descriptions of land. Only licensed PLS holders, or individuals directly supervised by one, can perform this work for others in Arizona. The scope of practice clause is why you cannot legally hire an unlicensed person to do a survey that will be used for legal or permitting purposes.
Licensing Requirements
To obtain a PLS license in Arizona, a candidate must:
- Hold a degree in surveying, geomatics, or a related field, or demonstrate equivalent education and experience
- Complete a minimum of four years of surveying experience under the supervision of a licensed PLS
- Pass the NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam
- Pass the NCEES Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam
- Submit to background review and approval by the AZBTR
Arizona does not have a separate licensing track for land surveyors separate from the broader Technical Registration system. The AZBTR oversees all technical professions under one statutory framework.
Monument Protection Under Arizona Law
Survey monuments are the physical markers, including iron pins, rebar, concrete monuments, and brass caps, that mark property corners in the field. They are the physical evidence of the survey system, and all adjacent property owners depend on them to know where their land is.
ARS 33-103 makes it a class 2 misdemeanor to willfully destroy, remove, disturb, or conceal a survey monument. This applies to landowners, contractors, and anyone else. Accidentally hitting a pin with landscaping equipment may not trigger the criminal standard, but deliberately pulling pins or paving over them does.
If you find that a survey monument on or near your property has been disturbed or removed, the correct response is to hire a licensed surveyor to re-establish it, not to estimate its location yourself and drive a new stake.
Plat Recording Requirements in Arizona
When land is subdivided into two or more lots for sale, Arizona law requires a recorded subdivision plat. The plat must be prepared by a licensed Professional Land Surveyor and reviewed by the county engineering or planning department before it can be recorded with the county recorder.
Subdivision plat requirements in Arizona fall under two statutory frameworks depending on the type and location of the subdivision:
- ARS 9-463: Governs subdivisions within incorporated municipalities (cities and towns). Requires plat approval by city planning and engineering before recording.
- ARS 11-806: Governs subdivisions in unincorporated county areas. Requires county engineer review and, in some counties, additional health department and water availability review.
Both statutes require the plat to be certified by a licensed PLS and to meet minimum technical standards for accuracy, monument placement, and legal description quality.
When a Survey Is Legally Required in Arizona
Arizona does not require a survey for most routine real estate transactions or property improvements. But several situations do trigger a legal requirement:
Subdividing Land
Any time you divide a parcel into two or more lots intended for separate sale or ownership, a subdivision plat prepared by a licensed PLS is required under ARS 9-463 (municipal) or ARS 11-806 (county). This applies even to simple two-lot splits in rural areas.
Court-Ordered Boundary Determinations
When property owners cannot resolve a boundary dispute through negotiation, courts can order a formal survey. The court typically requires the survey to be performed by a licensed PLS whose findings become part of the court record. A court-ordered survey has legal weight that no informal measurement or estimate can match.
Commercial Real Estate Lending
Most commercial real estate lenders in Arizona require an ALTA/NSPS survey as a condition of financing. This is a lender requirement, not a statutory one, but it is effectively mandatory for any commercial transaction involving institutional financing.
State and Federal Land Transactions
Transactions involving State Trust Land administered by the Arizona State Land Department, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels, or National Forest boundaries typically require survey work meeting federal or state standards. These are agency-level requirements separate from the ARS framework but enforced by the relevant land management agency.
Arizona Property History and Its Survey Implications
Understanding a bit of Arizona's property history helps explain why surveys can be complicated here.
Most of Arizona was surveyed under the U.S. Public Land Survey System (PLSS) following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. The PLSS divides land into townships, ranges, and sections using a grid system anchored to established principal meridians and base lines. The Arizona Principal Meridian governs most of the state's rural land descriptions.
However, portions of southern Arizona, particularly in Santa Cruz, Cochise, and Pima counties, contain Spanish and Mexican land grant parcels that were recognized when the territory became part of the United States. These grants do not follow the PLSS grid and were surveyed under different rules. Surveying within or adjacent to these grants requires research into historical documents that may exist only in state archives or federal land office records.
The PLSS monuments established in the late 1800s are the foundation of all rural Arizona property descriptions. Many of these original monuments are damaged, missing, or need to be reestablished by reference to dependent resurvey records. This is normal in western states and is one reason rural Arizona surveys can be more complex than they appear.
What Property Owners Can Do Without a Licensed Survey
You do not need a licensed PLS for everything related to your property. The following are generally acceptable without a formal survey:
- Reviewing existing plat maps available from your county recorder or assessor
- Using county GIS tools to get a general sense of your parcel boundaries
- Reviewing deed descriptions to understand how your parcel is described
- Researching prior surveys recorded with the county recorder
But when you need a result that has legal standing, such as a certified drawing for a permit, a recorded plat, a document for a court proceeding, or physical monuments you intend to rely on for a fence or structure, you need a licensed PLS.
Browse our directory to find a licensed Arizona land surveyor anywhere in the state, from Maricopa and Pima counties to rural areas across the Colorado Plateau, Sonoran Desert, and Sky Islands.