Pennsylvania's Professional Land Surveyors Act
Pennsylvania law requires that anyone performing boundary surveys hold a current license as a professional land surveyor. The governing statute is the Professional Land Surveyors Act, codified at 63 P.S. section 148 et seq. The law defines the practice of land surveying, establishes minimum education and experience requirements, and creates the disciplinary framework that PELSB uses to regulate the profession.
Under Pennsylvania law, only a licensed professional land surveyor may establish property boundaries, prepare boundary plats, and set or restore property corner monuments. A boundary determination made by an unlicensed person has no legal standing. If you hire someone without a valid Pennsylvania license to survey your property, the resulting documents cannot be recorded, used in court, or relied on for legal purposes.
The State Registration Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists (PELSB) administers the licensing program. To obtain a Pennsylvania land surveyor license, candidates must complete a degree in surveying or a related field, pass national and state examinations, and complete a required period of supervised experience under a licensed professional. The license database is publicly searchable at pals.pa.gov.
What a Licensed Surveyor Can and Cannot Do
A Pennsylvania licensed professional land surveyor can establish property boundaries, prepare subdivision plats, create boundary maps, set corner monuments, perform topographic surveys, and complete elevation certificates for FEMA flood insurance purposes. Surveyors may also provide expert testimony in court regarding boundary locations.
A surveyor cannot give legal advice, adjudicate boundary disputes, or force a neighbor to accept a survey result. If a boundary survey produces a result that you or your neighbor dispute, the legal resolution belongs in court. A surveyor's job is to determine where the boundaries are based on the physical and documentary evidence. What happens next is a legal matter.
How Pennsylvania Deed Descriptions Work
Pennsylvania property descriptions in deeds use metes and bounds, which is a system that traces the perimeter of a property using distances and compass bearings from a defined starting point. Metes and bounds descriptions are used across most of Pennsylvania, particularly in areas settled before the 19th century. Some newer subdivisions use lot and block systems that reference a recorded subdivision plat instead of listing individual courses.
Older Pennsylvania deeds, particularly in rural counties and colonial-era urban areas like Philadelphia, often use references to natural features, old roads, and monuments that no longer exist. Surveying these parcels requires tracing deed chains back through the recorder of deeds records, sometimes spanning hundreds of years, to piece together how the description evolved over time. This research is part of what you pay for when you hire a licensed Pennsylvania surveyor.
PA Municipalities Planning Code and Subdivisions
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247) governs how land can be subdivided and developed across the state. Under the MPC, any division of land into two or more parcels, or any land development project, requires an approved subdivision or land development plan. This plan must be prepared by a licensed professional land surveyor or professional engineer and submitted to the local municipality and county planning commission for review and approval.
Each Pennsylvania municipality adopts its own subdivision and land development ordinance (SALDO) under the authority of the MPC. Requirements vary by municipality. Some require surveyed lots to meet minimum size and frontage requirements. Others impose additional standards for steep slopes, wetlands, and floodplains. Before purchasing land for subdivision or development, check with the local municipality's planning office and the county planning commission to understand what the subdivision process requires in that specific location.
Once a subdivision plat is approved, it must be recorded at the county recorder of deeds. Only recorded subdivision plats create legally recognized lots that can be conveyed separately.
Adverse Possession in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's adverse possession law requires 21 years of continuous, open, notorious, hostile, and exclusive possession to establish a claim to another person's land. The 21-year period is one of the longest adverse possession statutes in the country. It means that even if a fence has been in the wrong place for 10 or 15 years, the person encroaching has not yet met the statutory period to make a legal claim.
A boundary survey is the tool that documents whether an encroachment exists and how long it appears to have been in place. Evidence of adverse possession can include historical aerial photographs, old surveys, deed history, and physical evidence on the ground. If you discover that a neighbor's fence, building, or other structure appears to encroach on your property, consult both a licensed surveyor to document the facts and an attorney to advise on your legal options.
Adverse possession claims in Pennsylvania are resolved through quiet title actions in the Court of Common Pleas. A licensed surveyor's plat is often key evidence in these proceedings.
Floodplain Regulations and Survey Requirements
Pennsylvania municipalities that participate in NFIP are required to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations. Under these regulations, any new construction or substantial improvement within a Special Flood Hazard Area must be elevated above the Base Flood Elevation, and an elevation certificate must be filed with the local floodplain administrator.
PEMA works with Pennsylvania municipalities to administer floodplain programs. Communities along the Susquehanna River, Delaware River, Lehigh River, and their tributaries have large numbers of properties in regulated flood zones. Property owners in these areas need to be familiar with their flood zone designation and whether any construction activity requires a floodplain permit.
Recording and Public Records
Pennsylvania survey records are maintained at the county recorder of deeds in the county where the property is located. Subdivision plats, boundary survey plats, and deeds are all recorded there. County GIS portals provide online access to parcel maps and assessment data, but these digital maps are not legal surveys. The authoritative legal record is the recorded plat or deed at the recorder of deeds.
Philadelphia maintains its own Recorder of Deeds office at City Hall. Allegheny County maintains deed records through the Department of Real Estate. Most other counties operate through the county courthouse. When researching a Pennsylvania property, the recorder of deeds is the starting point for any serious deed chain research.
How to Use This Information as a Property Owner
You do not need to be an expert in Pennsylvania surveying law to protect your property interests. You need three things: a licensed surveyor for any boundary work, accurate records of your deed and prior surveys, and basic awareness of when surveys are legally required versus optional. When a question about property lines, subdivision, or encroachments comes up, hire a licensed professional first. The cost of a survey is almost always lower than the cost of a legal dispute that could have been prevented by accurate information.