ALTA Surveys: Understanding the Optional Utility Requirements

When it is time to order an American Land Title Association (ALTA) Survey, there are Optional Table A items to choose from. Some of these items will significantly increase the cost to produce the ALTA Survey so it’s important to consider the different options available, and understand which will fulfill the various requirements of a real estate transaction. In this blog, I will look at one of the optional ALTA Survey items: utilities. How to select the Utility option that’s right for you Almost all lenders require some form of mapping of utilities, but in an ALTA Survey this is not a standard requirement, but an optional one. In the Standard 2011 ALTA Requirements, the Utilities option can be found in “Table A: Optional Survey Responsibilities and Specifications”, under item 11. Within this item, clients can order two different options: Option 11 (a) is the “location of utilities existing on or serving the surveyed property as determined by observed evidence.” This is the least expensive option for the land surveyor and client. ‘Observed evidence’ (also commonly known as ‘above-ground evidence’) refers to the items that the surveyor is able to see when he conducts his field work. Symbols are used to show various above-ground utility structures – including storm and sanitary manhole covers, water and gas meters and valves, fire hydrants, utility poles, electric boxes, storm outlets and inlets, and others – on the survey map. Underground utility lines are not mapped as part of this option.

The second option 11 (b) uses “observed evidence together with evidence from plans obtained from utility companies or provided by client, and markings by utility companies and other appropriate sources” to map various utilities. The surveyor interprets the data from these sources to establish the location of utility systems, and transfers this information to the ALTA Survey. This is a more comprehensive study that can provide information about below-ground utilities, but it is also more labor intensive – and thus costly.