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Published: June 7, 2011
Author: Laura Peck
This article originally appeared in the Wisconsin Builders Association May 4, 2011 Builder Buzz Blog post.
The American Land Title Association has just updated its minimum survey standards, effective February 23, 2011. ALTA first developed standards in 1962 in an effort to regulate the minimum standards for surveys for surveyors, title insurers, owners and lenders to rely on in real estate transactions. These new standards replace the 2005 Minimum Standards.
Why Do We Need Surveys and Minimum Standards?
Surveys are an important tool to alert you to title, zoning, and easement issues with a property. Obtaining an ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey meeting these minimum survey standards is required by title insurance companies in order to remove the standard survey exception to title policies. This certifies that the surveyed property is free and clear of survey matters except those disclosed by the survey. The survey standards also insure a uniformity of quality, process, and information that is accurate, complete, and reliable. Additionally, the Table A optional items expand to include more types of information that the client and surveyor may negotiate to be included. As underwriting standards have tightened in commercial real estate, buyers, operators, and lenders are increasingly requiring an ALTA/ASCM Survey for the purchase, financing, workout, or involuntary transfer of projects.
Highlights of Changes
Many of the changes are technical in nature, addressing consistency in terminology and affecting surveyors more than the consumers of surveys. However, here are some changes that may affect you directly:
- Expands the documents to be presented to the surveyor.
- Discourages the writing of a new legal description.
- Clarifies how the remainder of a parcel should be shown.
- Requires title commitment information to be shown and reinforces that it should be provided to the surveyor before the survey work begins.
- Requires the width of onsite easements to be shown.
- Requires indication of physical access to a public way on land including, but not limited to, curb cuts, driveways, and to and from waters adjoining the surveyed tract, such as boat slips, launches, piers, and docks (used to be a Table A optional item and is now required).
- Requires notes on the face of the survey regarding certain easements shown by recorded documents.
- Requires a vicinity map (used to be a Table A optional item and is now required).
- Requires a note if there are no visible buildings on the surveyed property.
- Provides for the e-mail address of the surveyor in the contact information and provides for digital copies in addition to, or in lieu of, hard copies in accordance with the contract.
- Requires the use of a standard certification, "unaltered," which requires the date of the field work and the date of the plat or map. This "short form" type certification may pose problems for many lenders who currently require their own specific long form certification.
- Expands Table A Optional Items negotiated by the client and the surveyor.
Table A Changes
While expanded choice of optional items is good for the industry, consumers should be aware that, as before, some of the additional items available in Table A may significantly increase the costs of a survey. It is very important to carefully go through the Table A items and customize them to the needs of your project. Some former Table A items have been shifted to required items. Highlights of these changes include:
- Item 6 (Zoning) has been split into two options that match zoning endorsement specifications, with data to be provided by the title insurance company. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the title industry to this, as this has not traditionally been the title insurer’s responsibility.
- Item 19 requires showing the location of wetlands.
- Item 20 addresses offsite easements or servitudes and the location of improvements in such offsite rights.
- Item 21 requires the surveyor to obtain professional liability insurance for the particular survey project and to provide evidence of such insurance if requested. Some controversy has greeted this item. Many surveyors do not carry this type of insurance and requiring it may create some sticker shock in the price of the survey.
For more information about the American Land Title Association's minimum survey standards effective February 23, 2011, contact Laura Peck at 608.283.6729 or lpeck@axley.com.
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