2026 ALTA/NSPS Standards Explained: What Changed from 2021
2026 ALTA/NSPS Survey Standards: Changes, Checklist & Utah Impact
A practical comparison of the 2026 and 2021 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey standards for commercial buyers, lenders, title professionals, attorneys, developers, and surveyors.
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Published May 28, 2026 · Updated July 15, 2026 · By Ludlow Engineering
This article is part of our Utah ALTA Survey resource center.
This page explains the national standards update. For scope, deliverables, pricing factors, Table A coordination, service areas, and a commercial survey proposal, visit the primary service page.
Explore Utah ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey services →The 2026 ALTA/NSPS Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for Land Title Surveys took effect on February 23, 2026, replacing the 2021 version. The update does not reinvent the ALTA survey. It modernizes the language, clarifies who supplies critical records, changes how certain field and imagery methods are documented, adds new reporting requirements, and introduces a new optional Table A Item 20 for a summarized table of potential encroachments and access conditions.
For a Utah commercial transaction, the practical lesson is straightforward: update the survey request to name the 2026 standards, coordinate the title commitment and Table A items early, and make sure the survey scope accounts for utilities, imagery, access, water boundaries, unusual property interests, and the transaction deadline.
Official effective date
Contracts executed on or after February 23, 2026 generally require the survey to be performed under the 2026 standards. Transition situations and later work on an older survey should be discussed with the surveyor, client, lender, and title insurer.
The biggest practical changes from 2021 are clearer pre-survey scope agreements, revised records-research responsibilities, modernized fieldwork language, additional water-boundary and oral-statement notes, a rewritten imagery option in Table A Item 15, stronger utility-location caveats in Item 11, and a new Table A Item 20 requiring a reviewer-friendly table of specified potential encroachments and access conditions. The numerical Relative Positional Precision limit remains 2 cm plus 50 parts per million.
2026 vs. 2021 Standards at a Glance
The official redline includes many wording and organizational edits. The table below focuses on changes that can affect survey ordering, title review, underwriting, fieldwork, drafting, or transaction timing.
| Topic | 2021 Approach | 2026 Practical Change | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey request | Request identified the ALTA/NSPS survey and selected Table A items. | Request must identify a 2026 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey. Unusual property types or interests should be scoped in writing before work begins, and access permission may need to be secured. | Clarified |
| Measurement standard | RPP definition used more technical positional wording. | The definition and discussion were simplified, but the maximum allowable threshold remains 2 cm plus 50 ppm. | Clarified |
| Records research | Title evidence and certain adjoining-property records were addressed. | Responsibilities are clearer: complete recent title evidence is central, appurtenant easements are expressly included, and the prior general adjoiner-description requirement was removed. | Revised |
| Fieldwork | Used “on-the-ground” language with a Table A imagery exception. | Uses broader professional-practice language and ties feature-location precision to the property’s stated planned use or current use. | Modernized |
| Water boundaries | Water features and boundaries were located and shown. | The plat must include a note describing the measurement date, the water attribute located, and the fact that the boundary may move or may not equal the legal title limit. | New Note |
| Table A Item 11 | Underground utility evidence could rely on plans, reports, and locate markings. | Client or surveyor coordination is clearer; the standards emphasize limitations of non-excavated utility information and require disclosure when locate responses are incomplete. | Expanded |
| Table A Item 15 | Listed specific imagery and remote-sensing methods with a survey note. | Now requires a written client agreement on imagery, discussion of accuracy and completeness implications, and a face-of-survey note identifying source, date, precision, and qualifications. | Rewritten |
| Table A Item 20 | Item 20 was the blank custom-negotiation line. | Item 20 is now a defined optional table summarizing specified potential encroachments and access conditions. The custom-negotiation line moves to Item 21. | New Item |
Eight Changes That Matter Most
The request must name the 2026 standard
Purchase agreements, lender instructions, title-company checklists, and survey proposals should refer to a 2026 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey. Table A selections must still be identified and negotiated.
Unusual properties require a written scope discussion
Marinas, campgrounds, mobile-home parks, easements, leases, mineral interests, and other non-fee-simple interests may require a customized drawing and survey scope agreed upon before fieldwork.
Records responsibilities are more explicit
A complete and current title commitment or acceptable title evidence remains essential. The new language expressly addresses easements benefiting the property and clarifies what research is required when documents are not provided.
Fieldwork language is technology-neutral
The standard now refers to practices generally recognized by the surveying profession rather than framing all fieldwork as strictly “on the ground.” The surveyor still controls the methodology and appropriate precision.
Water boundaries need a clearer warning note
When title is defined by a water boundary, the survey must identify what feature was measured, when it was measured, and that natural movement may change the feature or legal title limit.
Utility information receives stronger caveats
Table A Item 11 recognizes that plans, reports, private locate markings, and visible evidence create a useful view—but not a guaranteed exact depiction—of underground facilities without excavation.
Imagery use must be agreed upon and documented
Table A Item 15 requires written agreement on the imagery source, date or version, and licensing; a discussion of limitations; and a note on the survey explaining source, date, precision, and qualifications.
Potential encroachments can be summarized in a new table
Selected Table A Item 20 requires a table and map references for specified potential encroachments, setback concerns, access between parcels, and certain uses without documented easement rights. The surveyor is not giving a legal opinion.
What the 2026 Table A Changes Mean
Table A Item 11: Underground utilities
Item 11 remains optional. When selected, the parties identify which sources will be used to develop the utility depiction. Those sources can include client-provided plans or reports and markings from a private utility locate coordinated by the client or surveyor. The updated language emphasizes that without excavation, underground utilities cannot be depicted with complete reliability. If an 811 or similar response is unavailable or incomplete, the survey should explain how that limitation affected the utility assessment.
A civil design survey and an ALTA utility depiction are not automatically the same scope. When a developer needs design-grade utility data, the parties should separately discuss subsurface utility engineering, private locating, potholing, record collection, and engineering base-map requirements.
Table A Item 15: Imagery and remote data
The rewritten Item 15 no longer depends on a narrow list of technologies. It permits imagery for features outside the boundary survey portion and features not close to a boundary, title line, or relevant setback line, but only with a documented workflow. Before the survey, the surveyor and client agree in writing on the imagery source, date or version, and licensing. The surveyor also discusses the accuracy, precision, and completeness implications with the client, lender, and insurer. The final survey includes a note describing the imagery and its qualifications.
Table A Item 20: Potential encroachment and access table
This is the most visible new optional deliverable. When Item 20 is selected, specified physical conditions and potential encroachments must be summarized in a table and keyed to the plat. The list can include potential boundary, easement, right-of-way, setback, and undocumented-access conditions. The table improves reviewer navigation, but it is not a legal opinion and is not necessarily a complete list of every condition shown elsewhere on the survey.
Custom negotiated work is now Item 21
The blank line for additional negotiated requirements moves from Item 20 to Item 21. Custom requests should be written precisely, priced separately when appropriate, and coordinated with the surveyor before fieldwork. Vague instructions such as “include all lender requirements” invite scope disputes and closing delays.
2026 ALTA/NSPS Transaction Checklist
Use this checklist at the beginning of a Utah commercial acquisition, refinance, or development transaction. Select the print button to print the checklist or save it as a PDF from your browser.
Commercial ALTA Survey Ordering Checklist
For buyers, lenders, title companies, attorneys, developers, and property managers.
What Each Transaction Party Should Do
Commercial buyer or developer
- Order early enough for survey review and corrections.
- Explain planned development, redevelopment, or due-diligence use.
- Coordinate Table A selections with the lender, title insurer, and design team.
- Provide site access and known property documents.
Lender
- Update standard survey instructions to the 2026 version.
- State required Table A items and certification entities.
- Clarify whether zoning, utilities, flood, parking, and encroachment summaries are needed.
- Allow time for underwriting review before closing.
Title company or insurer
- Deliver complete, legible title evidence and exception documents.
- Identify appurtenant easements and title matters that must be plotted.
- Coordinate access, certification, and Table A expectations.
- Review the final survey against the commitment and underwriting requirements.
Attorney or transaction manager
- Update contract language and survey-objection schedules.
- Make custom Item 21 instructions precise and measurable.
- Coordinate any unusual property-interest scope in writing.
- Distinguish survey facts from legal opinions about title, ownership, or encroachment rights.
How the 2026 Standards Affect Utah ALTA Surveys
The 2026 standards are national minimum requirements. A Utah surveyor must also comply with applicable Utah statutes, administrative rules, local requirements, and the professional standard of care. When a Utah requirement is more stringent, the more stringent requirement applies.
Utah commercial properties often combine recorded subdivision plats, metes-and-bounds descriptions, public-land survey evidence, access easements, irrigation or water features, private utility systems, and rapidly changing development conditions. That makes early coordination especially important. A clean title package and a clearly selected Table A scope can reduce later revisions and prevent the survey from becoming the final unresolved item before closing.
Official standards references
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Frequently Asked Questions
When did the 2026 ALTA/NSPS standards take effect?
The effective date was February 23, 2026. The 2026 version superseded prior ALTA/ACSM and ALTA/NSPS minimum standards as of that date.
Does every new ALTA survey have to use the 2026 standards?
A contract executed on or after February 23, 2026 generally requires the 2026 standards. Transition situations involving a contract signed before the effective date should be addressed in writing among the surveyor, client, lender, and title insurer.
Is an “update” of an older ALTA survey considered a new survey?
Official guidance explains that an update is functionally a new survey because the surveyor is certifying current conditions and current compliance. Work contracted after the effective date generally must follow the 2026 standards, subject to limited transaction-transition circumstances.
Did the Relative Positional Precision limit change?
No. The wording and explanation were revised, but the maximum allowable Relative Positional Precision remains 2 cm (0.07 feet) plus 50 parts per million based on the direct distance between the corners being tested.
How many Table A items are in the 2026 standards?
The 2026 Table A contains 20 defined optional items. Item 20 is the new potential-encroachment and access-condition table. Additional custom negotiated work is identified under Item 21.
What changed in Table A Item 15?
Item 15 now uses broader imagery language. It requires written agreement with the client on the imagery source, date or version, and licensing; discussion of accuracy, precision, and completeness implications with transaction parties; and a note on the survey stating the source, date, precision, and relevant qualifications.
What is the new Table A Item 20?
When selected, Item 20 requires specified potential encroachments and access conditions to be summarized in a table and keyed to the survey. The table helps reviewers locate conditions but does not express a legal opinion about title, ownership, or whether an encroachment legally exists.
Does an ALTA survey guarantee the exact location of underground utilities?
No. Table A Item 11 can combine records, locate markings, and observed evidence, but without excavation the exact location of underground features cannot be depicted with complete certainty. More detailed investigation may require private locating, subsurface utility engineering, or excavation.
Are drone and aerial methods permitted?
Imagery may be used for appropriate non-boundary features under selected Table A Item 15 when the required written agreement, limitations discussion, professional control, and face-of-survey note are provided. Boundary work and features close to relevant title, boundary, or setback lines remain subject to the surveyor’s professional requirements.
Where do I request an ALTA survey for a Utah property?
Visit the Ludlow Engineering ALTA Surveys service page for project scope, pricing factors, Utah service information, and a commercial survey proposal.