Land Surveying & Civil Engineering FAQs

A land survey is the legal, professional process of measuring and mapping a parcel of land's boundaries, dimensions, and features. It's performed by a state-licensed Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) and produces an official, stamped map showing where the property begins and ends, what's on it, and how it relates to neighboring parcels. See our complete guide to what a land survey is for more detail.

You need one any time the precise location of a property line, elevation, or feature matters legally — before building a fence, addition, or shed; before buying, selling, or splitting property; before getting a mortgage on commercial property; or when there's a dispute with a neighbor. A licensed surveyor is also required for any document the county recorder, a lender, or a title insurer will accept.

Only a state-licensed Professional Land Surveyor (PLS). In Utah, the license is issued by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL). Unstamped survey maps — no matter how technically accurate — are not legally binding and will not be accepted by county recorders, lenders, courts, or title insurance companies.

A land surveyor researches recorded property records, performs field measurements using GPS and total stations, computes the boundary and features of the property, drafts a survey map, and signs and stamps the final document. The job spans desk research, field work, computation, and legal documentation.

Start with the title block (usually in a corner) — it shows the surveyor's name, license number, date, and project information. The legend explains symbols and abbreviations. The map shows property lines with bearings and distances, building locations, easements, and corner monuments. The notes section calls out any unusual conditions — encroachments, missing monuments, or discrepancies between recorded deeds and field conditions.

A typical residential survey delivers a stamped survey map (paper and PDF), and for some survey types a written report describing field findings. For commercial work and engineering projects, you'll also receive CAD files (typically AutoCAD DWG) and any specialized data the project required — cross-sections, volumetrics, or 3D surface models. You can share these directly with contractors, architects, or attorneys.

The property address and parcel number are usually enough to get started. Helpful additional items:

• The property deed (legal description)
• Any prior surveys of the property
• Title insurance policy showing easements
• Access instructions (locked gates, security)
• The reason for the survey (fence, sale, dispute, construction)

Most quotes go out within 2–3 business hours.

An easement is a legal right to use someone else's land for a specific purpose. It does NOT grant ownership but allows defined access or usage. Utility easements let utility companies run pipes and cables across your property. Access (right-of-way) easements let a neighbor cross your property to reach their own. Easements typically show up on surveys when they appear in recorded documents.

A boundary survey establishes the exact legal corners of a property. It's the most common Utah survey type and what most homeowners actually need when they say "I need a property survey." Used for fence permits, additions, sales, lot splits, and property line disputes. Starts at $1,025. See our boundary survey services page for full detail.

An ALTA/NSPS survey is a comprehensive land title survey performed to a uniform national standard set by the American Land Title Association and the National Society of Professional Surveyors. It documents boundaries plus Table A items — utilities, easements, encroachments, flood zones, parking, and more. Required by most commercial lenders and title insurers. Starts at $3,000. See our ALTA survey services page for more.

A topographic survey maps the elevations, contours, and surface features of a property. Used by architects, civil engineers, and builders for site design, grading, drainage, and any construction project that has to work with existing terrain. Starts at $1,500. See our topographic survey services page for full detail.

A boundary survey establishes property corners. An ALTA survey includes the boundary work plus documentation of every Table A item — utilities, easements, encroachments, flood zones, parking, building dimensions, and more. ALTA surveys are required by commercial lenders and title insurers; boundary surveys are typically sufficient for residential transactions. ALTA surveys run 2-5× the cost of a boundary survey on the same parcel.

An as-built survey documents what was actually built after construction is complete. It's often required by lenders, title insurance companies, and for certificates of occupancy — confirming that the finished project matches the engineered design. Common on commercial construction, subdivision development, and any project with construction lenders involved.

Construction surveying — also called construction staking — is the process of marking the locations of future buildings, roads, and utilities on the ground so contractors can build to the engineered design. The stakes you see on construction sites are placed by surveyors. Done in phases through the project: building corners first, then road centerlines, then utility locations, then verification of finished work.

Civil engineering is the engineering discipline focused on designing infrastructure and developed land — roads, drainage, utilities, site grading, subdivisions, and the technical documentation that lets construction happen. Most civil engineering work involves engineered drawings that get reviewed and approved by a city or county before construction starts. See our civil engineering services page for full detail.

A civil site plan is the engineered drawing showing how a building, parking lot, road, or development sits on a piece of land — where structures go, how water drains, how utilities connect, and how vehicles and people move through the site. Required for nearly every commercial permit and most residential new construction permits in Utah. Starts at $1,500. See our civil site plans page for more.

In Utah civil engineering practice, a site plan is the engineered, stamped drawing — the deliverable that goes to the city or county for permit review. Site design is the upstream creative work — figuring out the best layout for a project before drawing it. In everyday conversation the terms are often used interchangeably. Most clients need both, and we provide both as part of the same deliverable.

A structural engineer is a licensed Professional Engineer who designs and certifies the structural components of buildings and other structures — foundations, framing, load calculations, and lateral systems. They work alongside architects and contractors to ensure the structure is safe, code-compliant, and built to last. For most Utah residential and small commercial buildings, structural engineering is required before a permit is issued.

A structural inspection is performed by a licensed engineer to evaluate the condition and stability of an existing structure. It looks for foundation cracks, wall movement, drainage issues, framing problems, storm or earthquake damage, and any other condition that could compromise structural integrity. Different from a general home inspection — only a licensed engineer can produce a legally binding structural opinion. We also handle FHA foundation inspections for manufactured homes.

A residential boundary survey in Utah typically costs $1,025–$2,500. ALTA surveys for commercial property start at $3,000. Topographic surveys for engineering design run $1,500–$4,500. Pricing depends on parcel size, terrain, records quality, and survey type. See our complete Utah land survey cost guide for detailed pricing across every service type.

A typical residential boundary survey takes 1–3 weeks from contract to delivered map. Field work itself is usually 1–3 days; the rest of the timeline is records research, computation, drafting, and engineer review. ALTA surveys for commercial property typically take 3–6 weeks. Topographic surveys run 2–4 weeks. Rural parcels with old deeds or missing monuments can take longer.

The process is straightforward:

• Call (435) 623-0897 or request a quote online with the property address
• We send a fixed-fee written quote within 2–3 business hours
• You sign the contract and provide a deposit (typically 50%)
• You share the deed and any prior surveys
• We schedule field work — typically within 1–2 weeks
• You receive the stamped survey by email and (if needed) by mail

Often yes, depending on workload. Rush turnaround typically runs 50–150% above the standard fee and is generally available for residential boundary surveys and topographic work. ALTA surveys involve more research and title company coordination, so they're harder to rush. Tell us your deadline up front and we'll be honest about whether we can meet it.

Sometimes. If the survey is recent, was performed by a licensed PLS, and the site hasn't changed significantly, it may be usable. Most lenders prefer surveys less than 2–3 years old. ALTA surveys are usually considered out of date after 6–12 months. If the prior survey is too old or doesn't match field conditions, we may be able to do a re-monumentation only for $600–$1,200 instead of a full new survey.

Yes — a survey signed and sealed by a licensed Professional Land Surveyor is a legal document. It can be used as evidence in court, accepted by lenders and title insurance companies, filed with the county recorder, and used as the basis for building permits. Unsigned or unsealed survey maps are not legally binding.

From our Nephi office, we serve the entire state — the Wasatch Front (Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, and Weber counties), central Utah (Juab, Sanpete, Sevier, Millard), Park City and the mountain west, and southern Utah (Iron, Washington, and surrounding counties). We also handle civil engineering work in Wyoming. Travel costs to outlying counties are reflected in every quote up front — no surprises on the invoice.

Yes — our civil engineering team works statewide across Wyoming. Most Wyoming projects originate from existing Utah clients with property across the state line, but we also take on direct Wyoming work. See our civil engineering services overview for more on our Utah and Wyoming coverage.

Significantly. Utah snow loads range from about 30 psf in the Salt Lake Valley to 100+ psf in higher-elevation areas like Park City and the Wasatch Back. Every engineered building in Utah has to be designed for the specific snow load at its location. We engineer foundation, framing, and roof systems to the snow load that applies to your specific Utah elevation.

Because they do. Every Utah jurisdiction — Salt Lake City, Provo, Park City, St. George, county building departments — has its own submittal checklist, drawing format preferences, and reviewer style. We've worked with most of them for decades, and we draft to the specific requirements of your jurisdiction. That familiarity is a real part of why our submittals clear plan check faster than out-of-state firms' submittals.

Utah has several types of high-risk areas — FEMA flood zones (often along rivers and benchland creeks), seismic zones (Wasatch Fault zone), wildland-urban interface areas (foothill and mountain developments), and unstable soil conditions (Wasatch Front benchland). Each of these requires additional engineering scope: floodplain analysis and elevation certificates, seismic design verification, fire-code-compliant detailing, or geotechnical investigation. We tell you up front what your specific Utah location requires.