How to Prepare an ALTA Survey for Closing

A commercial closing can slow down quickly when the survey team receives incomplete title material, unclear instructions, or no access to the property. Knowing how to prepare an ALTA survey means preparing the information and access your surveyor needs before fieldwork begins. The surveyor is responsible for performing and certifying the ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey, but the buyer, lender, title company, and property representative each have a role in defining the assignment correctly.

An ALTA/NSPS survey is more detailed than a typical boundary survey. It is used to identify the property being conveyed, show matters that affect title, locate visible improvements, and support title insurance, financing, acquisition, and development decisions. Good preparation reduces avoidable revisions and helps the final survey match the needs of the transaction.

Start With a Clear Survey Purpose

Before requesting a proposal, identify why the ALTA/NSPS survey is needed. A lender may require specific Table A items. A purchaser may need to confirm access, parking, encroachments, utility locations, or the relationship of buildings to property lines. A developer may need topographic information or additional site details for planning.

These needs affect the scope, cost, schedule, and final certification. Avoid requesting an "ALTA survey" as a general label without discussing the transaction. The base ALTA/NSPS requirements provide a standardized framework, but the survey must still be tailored to the property and the parties relying on it.

Provide the names of all parties that need to be listed in the survey certification. This commonly includes the buyer, seller, lender, title insurer, and sometimes another party identified in the purchase agreement. Certification language should be addressed early, particularly when a lender has its own requirements.

How to Prepare an ALTA Survey Package

The most useful item you can provide is the current title commitment, along with all referenced exceptions and supporting documents. The surveyor needs more than the commitment schedule alone. Recorded easements, rights-of-way, plats, declarations, access agreements, leases that affect the site, and other listed instruments may contain the legal descriptions and location details needed for the survey.

Send the complete package as soon as it is available. If the title commitment is revised, send the update promptly. A new exception added late in the process can require additional research, field investigation, mapping, or a survey revision.

The legal description should also be reviewed for consistency. In some transactions, the deed description, title commitment description, prior survey, and county records do not match exactly. Minor differences may be explainable, but they should not be assumed to be harmless. The surveyor may need direction from the title company or legal counsel if the property being insured is not clearly defined.

A practical ALTA survey request package typically includes:

• The current title commitment and every document listed as a title exception

• The legal description for the insured parcel and any adjoining parcels included in the transaction

• Existing surveys, plats, site plans, construction drawings, and recorded documents in your possession

• Contact information for the owner, tenant, property manager, title representative, buyer, lender, and attorney as applicable

• The requested certification parties, closing deadline, and any lender survey instructions

Prior surveys and site plans are helpful reference materials, but they do not replace current fieldwork or title review. Conditions can change through construction, new easements, boundary adjustments, or changes in title.

Select Table A Items Deliberately

Table A of the ALTA/NSPS standards lists optional survey responsibilities that can be added when appropriate. These items are not automatically included simply because the assignment is called an ALTA survey. They must be requested and agreed upon.

The right selections depend on the property and the transaction. For example, a purchaser of an improved commercial parcel may request building dimensions, parking counts, building setbacks, exterior evidence of utilities, and the location of certain site improvements. A lender may ask for zoning information, but the surveyor can only report zoning classification and setback information when the client provides the required written documentation from the appropriate authority.

Utility-related requests deserve special attention. A survey can show visible utility evidence and certain markings when they are observed or provided, but it is not a substitute for a utility locate or subsurface utility engineering investigation. If underground utility conflicts are a concern, discuss that need before the survey begins so the correct services can be coordinated.

Do not select every Table A item by default. Some items add meaningful due diligence value; others may not apply to the parcel or may require information from third parties. A focused scope is more useful than a broad request that produces data no one needs.

Arrange Site Access and Identify Conditions

Field crews need safe, timely access to the property. Confirm who can authorize access, how gates or secured buildings will be opened, and whether the site has tenant rules, security procedures, required escorts, or restricted work hours. For occupied retail centers, industrial facilities, apartment communities, and properties with controlled access, this step can determine whether the field schedule stays on track.

Tell the surveyor about conditions that may affect the work. Examples include active construction, heavy vegetation, standing water, dogs, locked utility rooms, roof access requirements, hazardous areas, or equipment stored near property corners. These details do not prevent the work from moving forward, but they allow the survey team to plan appropriately.

In Sarasota and surrounding Florida communities, site conditions can also change quickly after storms, flooding, grading work, or coastal construction activity. If the property has recently been altered, provide the most recent plans and explain what has changed. Current conditions, not old drawings, control the survey findings.

Set a Realistic Timeline Before Due Diligence Ends

An ALTA/NSPS survey involves research, field measurements, analysis, drafting, quality review, and certification. The time required depends on parcel size, complexity, title exceptions, site access, requested Table A items, and the availability of supporting documents.

Start the survey early in the contract period. Waiting for every transaction detail to be finalized can create pressure later, especially if the survey identifies an encroachment, access issue, gap, overlap, or easement concern that requires title review. The survey is most valuable when there is still time to respond to what it reveals.

If closing is on a fixed date, communicate that date at the outset. A professional surveyor can explain what is feasible and identify factors that may affect delivery. Expedited work may be possible in some circumstances, but it cannot eliminate the need for adequate field and record review.

Review the Draft Survey With the Right People

When a draft is available, distribute it to the transaction team promptly. The title company should compare the survey against the title commitment and exceptions. The buyer and lender should review the features that matter to their risk assessment, such as access, buildings, parking, visible encroachments, and easements. Legal counsel may need to evaluate title or boundary questions.

This review is not just a formatting exercise. A survey may show that a fence crosses a line, a building sits near a setback, an apparent access route is not within the insured parcel, or an easement affects planned improvements. The surveyor reports the observed and documented conditions. Decisions about curing title, changing transaction terms, obtaining endorsements, or accepting a risk belong to the parties and their advisers.

If corrections are needed, provide them in one coordinated response when possible. Multiple separate requests from different parties can create confusion, particularly when a requested change conflicts with the title documents or ALTA/NSPS standards.

Keep Flood and Site Planning Needs Separate but Coordinated

An ALTA/NSPS survey can support broader due diligence, but it does not automatically answer every flood or development question. A flood elevation certificate, a topographic survey, or documentation for a Letter of Map Amendment may require a separate scope and additional field information.

For Florida properties, these services can be closely related to the transaction. A commercial buyer evaluating flood exposure, drainage, elevations, or future construction should raise those concerns early. Coordinating the work can reduce duplicated site visits and provide a clearer record of existing conditions, but each deliverable has its own purpose and standards.

CDB Surveying helps clients define surveying scopes that fit the property and the decision at hand. The goal is not simply to deliver a drawing before closing. It is to provide documentation that gives the transaction team a dependable basis for evaluating the land, title matters, and visible site conditions.

A well-prepared request gives the surveyor the records, access, and direction needed to do careful work. That preparation can turn the survey from a late-stage closing requirement into an early source of clarity when the property decision still has room to change.