In connection with the insurance of a piece of property, land surveys are necessary for any of the following purposes:

• To identify and locate a parcel of land.
• To identify and locate the boundaries of a parcel of land.
• To redraft a legal description.
• To serve as a basis for the subdivision of lands.
• To determine actual distances along government lines or legal subdivisions.
• To identify gaps and overlaps.
• To grant “extended coverage”.
• To determine accretions and relictions.
• To determine the precise location of buildings and structures on a parcel of land.
• To determine the exact dimension of a parcel of land.
• To determine the location of specific monuments or topographical features.
• To determine the existence of legal access to and from the property.
• To serve as basis for the creation of “condominium” property.
• To serve as basis for the creation of “planned unit development” property.
• To serve as basis for the creation of “air rights” or “air space” property. 

        NOTE: The above enumeration is not exhaustive.

Any land survey to be used in connection with a title insurance policy must meet the following minimum requirements:

• It must be current. 
  
  A survey less than 6 months old was traditionally considered as current. However, if there is evidence that a survey, even this recent, is out of date because it does not reflect or show improvements made on the land, it will be necessary to require a more current survey reflecting the same.

Procedural Rule P-2 also addresses the use of existing surveys for making the area and boundary amendment.  It reads in part:

P-2. Amendment of Exception to Area and Boundaries     

a. General Instructions

In either an Owner or Mortgagee Policy, when the Insured desires to have amended the exception as to area and boundaries, (i.e. Item 2 of Schedule B) to delete all save "shortages in area", a title insurance company may accept an existing real property survey and not require a new survey when providing area and boundary coverage if the title insurance company is willing to accept evidence of an existing real property survey, and an affidavit verifying the existing survey, notwithstanding the age of the survey or the identity of the person for whom the survey was prepared. (emphasis added) If the transaction involves Residential Real Property, the affidavit verifying the existing survey shall be the Form T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit. The policy to be issued shall cover the same land as described in the evidence of the existing real property survey.

d. A title insurance company may not require an indemnity from a seller, buyer, borrower, or lender to provide area and boundary coverage.

e. If an affidavit is provided to the Company pursuant to this Rule and the affidavit is incorrect, whether due to the negligence or intentional act of the affiant, the area and boundary coverage given pursuant to this Rule shall be unaffected and in full force and effect; provided, however, the exclusions contained in the policy shall not be affected in any way.

The T-47 Affidavit required by Rule P-2 reads as follows:

T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit
(May be Modified as Appropriate for Commercial Transactions)

Date: ______________                                       GF No.  ____________

Name of Affiant(s): _____________________________________________________

Address of Affiant: ______________________________________________________

Description of Property: __________________________________________________

County ___________________, Texas

"Title Company" as used herein is the Title Insurance Company whose policy of title insurance is issued in reliance upon the statements contained herein.  

Before me, the undersigned notary for the State of _____________, personally appeared Affiant(s) who after by me being sworn, stated:         

1.  We are the owners of the Property.  (Or state other basis for knowledge by Affiant(s) of the Property, such as lease, management, neighbor, etc.  For example, “Affiant is the manager of the Property for the record title owners.”)         

2.  We are familiar with the property and the improvements located on the Property.         

3.  We are closing a transaction requiring title insurance and the proposed insured owner or lender has requested area and boundary coverage in the title insurance policy(ies) to be issued in this transaction.  We understand that the Title Company may make exceptions to the coverage of the title insurance as Title Company may deem appropriate.  We understand that the owner of the property, if the current transaction is a sale, may request a similar amendment to the area and boundary coverage in the Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance upon payment of the promulgated premium.         

4.  To the best of our actual knowledge and belief, since there have been no:         

a.  construction projects such as new structures, additional buildings, rooms, garages, swimming pools or other permanent improvements or fixtures;         

b.  changes in the location of boundary fences or boundary walls;         

c.  construction projects on immediately adjoining property(ies) which encroach on the Property;         

d.  conveyances, replattings, easement grants and/or easement dedications (such as a utility line) by any party affecting the Property.  

EXCEPT for the following (If None, Insert “None” Below:)  

5.  We understand that Title Company is relying on the truthfulness of the statements made in this affidavit to provide the area and boundary coverage and upon the evidence of the existing real property survey of the Property.  This Affidavit is not made for the benefit of any other parties and this Affidavit does not constitute a warranty or guarantee of the location of improvements. 

6.  We understand that we have no liability to Title Company that will issue the policy(ies) should the information in this Affidavit be incorrect other than information that we personally know to be incorrect and which we do not disclose to the Title Company.

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

SWORN AND SUBSCRIBED this day of __________________, 20_______.

                                                    ________________________________
                                                    Notary Public 

(T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit)            

From our Bulletin Tx0000062:
Company Policy: You may rely upon the Survey Affidavit and evidence of an existing survey of any date, made for the existing owner or any prior owner in the chain of title, to provide area and boundary coverage on an Owner Policy (T-1 or T-1R) or a Mortgagee Policy (T-2) or Short Form Mortgagee Policy (T-2R) on residential real property transactions or on commercial transactions not exceeding $10 million.

Please call our underwriting personnel to rely on evidence of an existing survey if the transaction exceeds $10 million. If you are aware that the existing survey or a new survey is not accurate, please do not rely upon it. Please except to any encroachments or conflicts evidenced by the survey, if you issue an Owner Policy or a Mortgagee Policy. Please follow our guidelines for providing express insurance as to encroachments. You do not need to except to minor encroachments on the Short Form Mortgagee Policy.

From our Bulletin Tx0000074:
Procedural Rule P-50 provides that the title company may issue forms T-19 and T-19.1 Restrictions, Encroachments and Minerals Endorsement if its underwriting requirements are met and the premium is paid. Procedural Rule P-9b14 provides the same thing for the T-17 Planned Unit Development Endorsement. Neither of these rules requires a survey or evidence of a survey in order to issue these endorsements.

• If you are requested by the lender to issue the T-19 or the T-17 but are not asked to amend the area and boundary exception, you may do so for platted lots without reviewing or requiring a survey or evidence of a survey. 
• If you are insuring new construction (that is, no policy has been issued showing the improvement to the property), a survey is still required. 
• If the insuring acreage tracts with no survey, you must delete items 1(b) 3 and 4 and 3(a).A survey or evidence of a survey is required to issue a T-19.1 or to amend coverage in the OTP. For those offices that are automatically opting to make the area and boundary amendment in the OTP, be sure to advise the buyer that they should arrange with the seller to be furnished with a copy of the seller's old survey or they will need to provide a new one at closing.

It must have been done in accordance with:

• The Texas Board of Professional Land Surveyors Minimum Standards for Property Land Surveys, or
• The standards of the Texas Society of Professional Land Surveyors
• The Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys.
• Ideally, it will run to Stewart Title Guaranty Company, in order that privity be established between the surveyor and the Company.
• It must contain proper certification.
• It must show the surveyor’s signature and seal (they shall be on each sheet of the survey).
• It must show the date, north arrow and scale (they should be on each sheet of the survey).
• The legal description must be the same one shown in the commitment. If different, the surveyor must certify to Stewart Title Guaranty Company that they are the same. 

NOTE: The effect of the lack of compliance with any of the above requirements must be carefully considered.

18.40.3 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM (As of 2-23-2016 ALTA/NSPS Standards)

The American Land Title Association ("ALTA"),and the National Society of Professional Surveyors ("NSPS") adopted joint 2021 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys (the  “2021 Survey Standards"), superseding the survey standards that were last revised in 2016. The 2021 Survey Standards are effective as of February 23, 2021.

COMMENT - Surveys must generally meet one of three standards:

1.    An ALTA survey – click here to view the 2021 standards
2.    A Texas Society of Professional Surveyors survey – click here to view the 2024 standards
3.    A Texas Board of Professional Land Surveyor survey – click here to view the standards

The use of aerial photography via drones to superimpose field work is not recommended and considered third party work for which the surveyor is responsible if used. Since there is no certification that the surveyor did work on the ground, any party accepting the survey would be deemed to understand that the surveyor is relying on work done by a third party.

NOTE - Attention is directed to the fact that the National Society of Professional Surveyors, Inc. (NSPS) is the legal successor organization to the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) and that these 2021 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys are the next version of the former Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys.

In Texas, the “mortgage inspection report” is not sufficient in order to attempt the deletion of the area and boundary exception.

For years another kind of survey, generally known as “spot survey” or “mortgage inspection report”, has been made by local surveyors for real estate and lending organizations. The certificate of a “spot survey” or “mortgage inspection report” states that it is conducted to locate improvements on a particular piece of property. The actual boundary lines are almost never marked on the ground. The surveyor generally will conduct just enough work to make a drawing of the house and other improvements; this may or may not require the usual surveying instruments. In general, this type of survey is of very limited value. Its primary purpose is to show that improvements (house, garage, etc.) are within property boundaries; therefore, the “spot survey” or “mortgage inspection report” need only be sufficiently accurate to establish this fact. Recognizing that these so-called “surveys” are not truly accurate, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, comprising some 66,000 surveying professionals across the United States, declared a resolution calling for renaming of the so called spot survey. This resolution states that calling results of such work a survey is a misnomer and suggests that a better name would be mortgage inspection report.

In Texas, a land title survey must be made by a Registered Professional Land Surveyor.

(“NOTE: Any “Yes” answer represents an adverse matter, and you should consider the need to show it as an exception or require additional documentation for its more comprehensive review.")

Utility lines outside recorded easements? _____ (Y/N)

Utility lines requiring easements, but no easements of record are found for the same reason? _____ (Y/N)

See also Texas Bulletin TX2014006 RATES AND/OR FORMS UPDATE - Relating to T-19 Series Endorsements

See also the following checklists:
T-19 Survey Checklist
T-19.1 Combined Checklist

Walls, fences or plantings,

• Encroaching from adjoining property? _____ (Y/N)
• On property line? _____ (Y/N)
• Encroaching on easements? _____ (Y/N)
• Encroaching on adjoining property or rights-of-ways? _____ (Y/N)

• Encroaching from adjoining property? _____ (Y/N)
• On property line? _____ (Y/N)
• Encroaching on easements located on the property? _____ (Y/N)
• Encroaching on adjoining property or rights-of-way? _____ (Y/N)
• Encroaching over building setback lines ? _____ (Y/N)

Driveways, sidewalks, parking areas,

• Encroaching from adjoining property? _____ (Y/N)
• On property line? _____ (Y/N)
• Encroaching on easements? _____ (Y/N)
• Encroaching on adjoining property or rights-of-ways? _____ (Y/N)

Cemeteries and burial grounds? _____ (Y/N)

Park and recreational facilities? _____ (Y/N)

Springs, streams, creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes or drainage ditches? _____ (Y/N)

Variances in the area or dimensions of the land? _____ (Y/N)

Violations of restrictive covenants or ordinances (if coverage is being given as to such matters)? _____ (Y/N)

Survey is more than six months old, or recent improvements have been made on the land since the date of the survey? _____ (Y/N)

Survey does not show any of the following: surveyor’s signature, seal, date, or certification? _____ (Y/N)

Legal description differs from the one in the commitment? _____ (Y/N)

Survey shows matters not shown in the commitment? _____ (Y/N)

Survey does not comply with the minimum standards for surveys required by Stewart Title Guaranty Company? _____ (Y/N)

Railroad rights-of-way, switch tracks, spur tracks or transmission lines, but no easements of record are found for the same? _____ (Y/N)

Gaps or overlaps are caused by the description of the property? _____ (Y/N)

Legal names and widths of streets, roads and avenues are not shown? _____ (Y/N)

Lack of legal access to and from the property? _____ (Y/N)

Characters, locations and dimensions of all the buildings or structures located upon the property are not shown? _____ (Y/N)

Property built full by one building does not show the accurate location of the walls and their thickness? _____ (Y/N)

Adjoining property descriptions checked for potential conflicts? _____ (Y/N)