This site is intended to provide you with information on Land Surveying in the Enterprise, AL, Coffee and Dale Counties, and Geneva County area of Alabama. If you're looking for an Enterprise Land Surveyor, you've come to the right site. If you'd rather talk to someone about your land surveying needs, please call (888) 936-8426 today. For more information, please continue to read.
Land Surveyors are professionals who measure and make precise measurements to determine the size and boundaries of a piece of real estate. While this is a simplistic definition, boundary surveying is one of the most common types of surveying related to home and land owners. If you fall into the following categories, please click on the appropriate link for more information on that subject:
Enterprise Land Surveying services:
I need to know where my property corners or property lines are. (Boundary Survey)
I have a loan closing or re-finance coming up on my home in a subdivision. (Lot Survey)
I need a map of my property with contour lines to show elevation differences for my architect or engineer. (Topo Survey)
I've just been told I'm in a flood zone or I 've been told I need an elevation certificate in order to obtain flood insurance or prove I don't need it. (Flood Survey)
I'm purchasing a larger tract of land, acreage, that hasn't been subdivided in the past. (Boundary Survey)
If your needs don't fall into one of the above, don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of it. CALL Enterprise Land Surveying TODAY at (888) 936-8426 OR better yet, fill out a Contact Form request to discuss your survey needs.
You’re close to closing on a commercial property. The price looks right. The location works. So your team moves fast, and before long, due diligence is almost over. But if nobody asked the right questions about the ALTA survey, you could be walking into a deal that costs far more than the purchase price.
An ALTA survey is not just a formality. It shows you exactly what you’re buying, what comes with it, and what problems are hiding in plain sight on the property. Most buyers assume their attorney or lender is handling the survey side of things. Some are right. Many aren’t.
So before that due diligence window closes, here are the questions you should be asking, and why each one matters.
Has the Survey Been Updated for This Transaction?
Sellers sometimes hand over an old survey and call it good. If that survey is three or more years old, it may not reflect current conditions. Buildings get added. Fences move. Utilities get rerouted. A dated survey can miss all of that.
Ask for the certification date. If it’s old, ask whether a new survey will be ordered before closing. Your lender likely requires a current one anyway, so confirm this early rather than scrambling at the end.
Which Table A Items Are Included?
ALTA surveys come with optional add-ons called Table A items. These are extra details a surveyor can include if requested. Things like parking counts, building setbacks, flood zone data, utility locations, and zoning info all fall under Table A.
The base survey doesn’t include all of them by default. So ask which Table A items were ordered. If flood zone classification wasn’t included and the property sits near a creek, that’s a problem you’ll wish you caught sooner. The same goes for setback lines if you plan to expand or renovate.
Go through the full Table A list with your surveyor and decide what you need based on how you plan to use the property.
Are There Any Encroachments on the Property?
An encroachment happens when something crosses the property line that shouldn’t. A neighbor’s fence might sit six inches inside your parcel. A utility shed might overlap into a public right-of-way. Even a small building overhang can create a legal headache.
Ask the surveyor directly: does the survey show any encroachments? If yes, find out who owns the offending structure and whether there’s a recorded agreement covering it. Some encroachments have been in place for decades with no documentation at all. That matters legally, and it matters for your title insurance.
What Easements Run Across the Property?
Easements give other people or companies the right to use part of your land for a specific reason. A utility company might have the right to run power lines across the back of the lot. A neighboring property might have a recorded access easement across your driveway.
Ask the surveyor to walk you through every easement shown on the survey. Then check those against the Schedule B-II exceptions in your title commitment. If the title company lists an easement but the survey doesn’t show its location, that’s a gap you need to close before you own the property.
Easements don’t always kill a deal, but they can limit what you’re able to build or change on the land. Know what you’re working with before you sign.
Do the Legal Description and Survey Match?
The legal description in your deed defines what you’re buying on paper. The survey defines what actually exists on the ground. Those two things should match perfectly. Sometimes they don’t.
Discrepancies between the deed and the survey can point to old errors, changes in ownership over time, or even a missing strip of land that never got included in the title chain. Ask your surveyor and your attorney to compare the two. If there’s a conflict, you want it resolved before closing, not after.
Is the Property in a Flood Zone?
This one surprises a lot of commercial buyers. Flood zone designation affects your insurance costs, your financing terms, and what you can build on the property. A site that looks perfectly dry can still carry a flood designation based on FEMA maps.
Table A Item 19 on an ALTA survey includes a flood zone determination. Make sure it was ordered. If the property falls in Zone A or AE, factor the flood insurance premium into your numbers before you finalize the deal.
Who Certified the Survey and Are They Licensed?
An ALTA survey must be certified by a licensed surveyor in the state where the property sits. The certification ties the surveyor professionally to the accuracy of the work. This protects you.
Check the certification block on the survey. Confirm the surveyor’s license number and verify it’s active with your state licensing board. It’s a quick check that tells you whether the person who signed off on your transaction was legally qualified to do so.
Does the Survey Meet the 2021 ALTA/NSPS Standards?
ALTA surveys follow a national set of standards jointly issued by the American Land Title Association and the National Society of Professional Surveyors. The current version is from 2021. If your survey was prepared under an older version, your title company or lender may not accept it.
Ask your surveyor which version the survey was prepared under. If it’s not the 2021 standards, find out why and whether it needs updating. This is a small detail that can cause a real delay if you catch it the morning of closing.
Ask Before the Clock Runs Out
Due diligence has a deadline. Once it passes, most of your leverage in the transaction goes with it. That’s why these questions need to happen early, not in the final hours before the period expires.
A good ALTA survey gives you the full picture of a property, but only if you know what to look for and what to ask. Work with a licensed land surveyor who has commercial experience, and loop in your attorney and title rep at the same time. They’re all looking at the same deal from different angles, and the survey connects them all.
Buying commercial real estate is a big move. The survey cost is a small fraction of the purchase price. Asking the right questions about it is free. Do both.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ALTA survey in commercial real estate?
An ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey is a detailed survey that identifies property boundaries, easements, improvements, access points, and other matters affecting ownership and title insurance for commercial properties.
Why should commercial buyers review ALTA survey questions before due diligence ends?
Reviewing key questions early allows buyers to identify title defects, encroachments, access issues, and development restrictions while they still have time to negotiate or address problems.
What issues can an ALTA survey uncover?
An ALTA survey can reveal boundary discrepancies, encroachments, easements, rights of way, utility locations, access concerns, and other matters that may affect property ownership or intended use.
Does an old ALTA survey need to be updated before closing?
Not always, but many lenders and title companies prefer or require a current survey. Older surveys may not reflect new improvements, relocated utilities, or changes that have occurred since the previous survey was completed. Reviewing the survey date early can help avoid delays during closing.
What are Table A items on an ALTA survey?
Table A items are optional features that can be added to an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey to provide additional information. These may include flood zone classifications, utility locations, parking counts, setback lines, and zoning-related details. Buyers should review which Table A items are needed based on the property’s intended use and development plans.
A topographic survey measures the shape and elevation of a piece of land. It records how the ground rises and falls, where the low spots are, and what physical features sit on the property. The result is a contour map that engineers, architects and developers use to plan construction and drainage before any work begins.
What the Survey Actually Records
When a surveyor runs a topographic survey, they collect two types of data: elevation readings and surface features.
Elevation readings get assigned to hundreds or thousands of points across the site. Those points connect to form contour lines on the finished map. Contour lines show equal elevation, so when the lines are packed close together, the terrain drops or rises steeply. When they spread apart, the ground is flat or gently sloped.
Surface features are recorded alongside the elevation data. Trees, buildings, driveways, fences, drainage ditches, utility poles and retaining walls all get noted on the map. So what you receive at the end isn’t just a picture of the terrain. It’s a complete record of what’s on the land and how the ground behaves underneath it.
According to the National Map Accuracy Standards, vertical accuracy on a topographic map requires that no more than 10% of tested elevations exceed half the contour interval in error. For most residential projects, surveyors work to a 1-foot or 2-foot contour interval.
When You Need One
A topographic survey is required whenever a project depends on knowing how water moves, where the ground rises and falls, or whether a site meets elevation requirements for a permit.
Common situations include:
New construction on undeveloped land
Site plan approval from a local municipality
Drainage or grading redesign
Retaining wall design
Subdivision of raw land for development
Flood zone analysis tied to base flood elevation
Homebuilders, civil engineers and landscape architects are the primary users. Many local governments also require a topo survey as part of a building permit package, particularly on sloped or low-lying properties.
How Surveyors Collect the Data
The method depends on the size of the property and how much detail the project requires.
For standard residential lots, a field crew walks the site with GPS equipment or a total station. They record elevation points across the entire area. The more complex the terrain, the more points they collect.
For larger properties, drone surveys are faster. A drone flies a grid pattern over the land and captures either photogrammetric imagery or LiDAR data. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It fires laser pulses at the ground and measures how long they take to return, building a dense cloud of elevation readings across the site.
Modern GPS equipment used in surveying achieves accuracy within 1 to 2 centimeters. Drone-based surveys cost 30 to 50% less than traditional ground methods for properties over 2 acres, which makes them the practical choice for larger parcels and commercial sites.
Both methods produce accurate results. The right choice comes down to budget, acreage and what the project requires.
What the Finished Map Includes
The deliverable is usually a CAD file or PDF. It shows the property boundary, labeled contour lines, spot elevations at key locations and all the physical features the crew recorded.
Spot elevations are exact elevation readings at a specific point. They appear at driveways, building corners, drainage inlets and low areas of the yard. These give designers the fixed reference points they need to calculate cut and fill volumes, model how water drains or confirm that a planned floor elevation clears the base flood elevation on file.
The contour interval is agreed on before the survey starts. Residential projects typically use a 1-foot or 2-foot interval. Engineering-grade surveys for detailed construction plans may require a 0.5-foot interval.
Engineers and architects import the finished file directly into their design software. Every number on the map feeds into their calculations, so the accuracy of the survey affects every decision they make downstream.
How Much It Costs
Cost depends on three factors: property size, terrain complexity and the contour interval required.
A small flat lot costs less than a large wooded site with steep grade changes. According to Angi’s 2026 data, residential topographic surveys typically range from $500 to $6,500. Simpler lots under one acre often fall between $500 and $1,500. Larger or more complex sites push higher, sometimes into the several-thousand-dollar range.
Getting both a topographic and boundary survey from the same crew in the same site visit keeps costs lower. The coordinate systems stay consistent, and the surveyor only has to mobilize once.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a topographic survey and a boundary survey?
A boundary survey locates property lines. A topographic survey maps the elevation and terrain within those lines. They answer different questions. Many construction projects need both, and surveyors often combine them into a single visit.
Do I need a topographic survey to get a building permit?
Many municipalities require one, especially for new construction on sloped land or in areas with drainage concerns. Check with your local building department before submitting a permit application to confirm what they require.
What is a contour interval?
A contour interval is the vertical distance between adjacent contour lines on a topo map. A 1-foot interval means each line represents a 1-foot change in elevation. Tighter intervals give more detail but require denser data collection and cost more.
Can a topographic survey be used for flood zone purposes?
Yes. The elevation data from a topo survey feeds directly into flood zone analysis, base flood elevation determinations and FEMA-related documentation. It’s often ordered alongside an elevation certificate on properties in or near a designated flood zone.
Most development projects don’t fail because of bad design or slow contractors. They stall because of bad survey mapping. A missed easement, a wrong boundary call, or an old base map can add weeks to a schedule and thousands to a budget before a single foundation is poured.
Survey mapping errors are common. They’re also preventable. Here’s what developers get wrong most often, and what it costs when those mistakes reach the field.
Ordering the Wrong Type of Survey for the Job
Not all surveys produce the same output. A lot survey and a topographic survey answer different questions. Ordering the wrong one wastes time and money, and it still leaves a gap in what your team needs.
Developers who skip the topographic survey and go straight into site design often find their grading plan doesn’t match the actual ground. The redesign costs more than the topo survey would have. On sloped or uneven sites, this mistake hits hard because every contour line affects where utilities go, where drainage flows, and where the building can sit.
Before ordering any survey, confirm with your engineer and architect which documents they need. Get that list in writing.
Using Outdated Survey Maps as the Base for Design
An old survey is not a current survey. A plat from ten years ago doesn’t show the fence a neighbor built six years ago, the widened driveway, or the rerouted utility line.
Developers who pull an old survey from the title file and hand it to their design team are taking a real risk. If conditions on the ground have changed, the design is built on wrong information. That problem shows up during construction, not during design. By then, fixing it costs far more.
If a survey is more than a few years old, or if anything has changed on the property or nearby parcels since it was done, order a new one. The cost is small compared to a mid-project correction.
When Lenders Flag Survey Age
Lenders and title companies have their own rules on how old a survey can be. Many won’t accept one older than six months to a year. If you’re working toward a construction loan, confirm the acceptable date range early. Finding out at closing that your survey is too old is a delay that didn’t need to happen.
Skipping the Records Research Phase
Survey mapping starts in the office, not in the field. A surveyor who goes straight to the site without pulling deed records, prior surveys, and recorded easements is doing partial work.
Records research finds problems a field visit can’t see. An access easement recorded in 1987 leaves no mark on the ground. A gap in the chain of title has no visible sign at the property corner. These issues only come out when someone looks for them in the public record.
Developers who push surveyors to skip deep research to save time often pay more later. A title issue that surfaces after closing becomes the developer’s problem to fix, and that fix is slow and expensive.
Survey Mapping Errors in Boundary Placement
Wrong boundary placement is the most costly survey mapping mistake on active construction projects. If a boundary line is off by even a few feet, structures end up in the wrong place, setbacks get violated, and neighboring parcels get affected.
This error is more common on sites where original survey monuments are missing or damaged. When a surveyor can’t find original markers, they have to rebuild the boundary from record documents and nearby evidence. That takes experience and careful work. Rushed jobs on tight deadlines produce poor results.
What Happens When a Boundary Is Wrong
A building placed over a property line or inside a neighbor’s setback doesn’t stay there. The municipality can require removal. The adjacent owner can take legal action. Title insurance may not cover the full cost if the survey that caused the problem was done improperly.
Fixing a boundary error after construction starts costs far more than getting it right before any digging begins. Require your surveyor to locate or set physical monuments at every corner before design work starts.
Not Verifying Easement Locations Before Site Design
Easements limit what you can build and where. A developer who doesn’t know exactly where an easement falls on a parcel before designing a building footprint will likely need to redesign after the survey maps it.
Utility easements, drainage easements, and access easements all remove buildable area. Some are narrow and easy to work around. Others cut through the most useful part of a lot. The design team needs that information at the start, not after a permit gets rejected.
Ask your surveyor to locate and map all recorded easements as part of the survey scope. Don’t rely on a deed reference alone. A deed may list an easement by book and page number without showing where it physically sits on your lot.
Treating Survey Mapping as a One-Time Step
Survey mapping is not just a pre-construction task. Some projects need updated surveys at more than one stage: before design, before permit submission, after rough grading, and after construction is complete.
An as-built survey at the end of a project shows what was actually built versus what was planned. Municipalities and lenders often require it before issuing a certificate of occupancy or releasing final loan funds. Developers who don’t plan for this step early are sometimes surprised by it at the worst possible time.
Build survey requirements into your project schedule from the start. Talk to your surveyor at the beginning about every survey document the job will need from start to finish.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common survey mapping mistake on development projects?
Using an outdated survey as the base for site design is the most common and costly mistake. Conditions on the ground change over time. A survey that doesn’t reflect current conditions will produce a design that doesn’t match reality in the field. Ordering a new survey at the start of every project prevents this.
How do survey mapping errors affect construction loans?
Lenders require current, accurate surveys before funding. If survey errors come up during the lender’s review, the loan can be delayed. Boundary problems, missing easement disclosures, or surveys that don’t meet current standards can all trigger extra requirements that slow the closing process.
Can a developer be held liable for a survey mapping error?
A developer who builds based on a survey they knew was outdated or incomplete takes on real liability. If that survey leads to an encroachment, setback violation, or title defect, the developer may face legal claims from adjacent owners, lenders, or the municipality. Always use a current, properly sealed survey from a licensed professional.
How does skipping records research affect a survey?
Records research is how a surveyor finds easements, title gaps, and recorded restrictions that have no physical sign on the ground. A survey done without thorough records research is incomplete. These issues don’t disappear when they’re missed. They show up during permit review or title search.
When should a developer order an as-built survey?
Order an as-built survey after construction is complete but before the final inspection. Most municipalities and lenders require it as part of project closeout. Planning for it at the start of the project, rather than treating it as a surprise at the end, keeps the schedule on track.
Land Surveyors are professionals who measure and make precise measurements to determine the size and boundaries of a piece of real estate. While this is a simplistic definition, boundary surveying is one of the most common types of surveying related to home and land owners. If you fall into the following categories, please click on the appropriate link for more information on that subject:
