Permit reviewers read your drawings closely. If the lot size is wrong, a setback is off, or an easement is missing, the application can come back with comments, and your schedule slips. Many of these delays trace back to property information nobody checked before the design started.

Understanding Site Conditions Before Redevelopment Begins

Redevelopment sites often carry history. An older building may have been expanded more than once. Parking lots get restriped, fences get moved, and utilities get added over decades without anyone updating the records.

A land surveyor documents current conditions so your team doesn’t rely on old plats or tax maps. Tax maps are useful for general reference, but they’re not built for design or permit drawings. A field survey shows what exists today and how it relates to the property lines. That picture helps your architect and engineer decide what can stay, what must go, and what needs a closer look.

Ask for this work early. If your purchase, financing, or permit dates depend on survey data, tell your surveyor up front so the scope and timeline match your plan.

Confirming Parcel Dimensions and Existing Site Features

Parcel dimensions are the lengths and angles of your property lines. They control buildable area, setbacks, and many zoning calculations. A land surveyor confirms them by researching deeds and plats, then locating boundary markers in the field.

Sometimes the numbers don’t match. A deed may call for one distance while the markers in the ground show another. Neighboring deeds may overlap or leave a small gap. These issues are more common on older parcels and on lots that have been split or combined over time.

The survey also locates existing features your design has to work around, such as:

• Buildings, additions, and sheds
• Driveways, curbs, and parking areas
• Fences and retaining walls
• Utility poles, meters, manholes, and hydrants
• Trees or other features local rules may protect

Knowing where these sit, and how close they are to property lines, helps your designer spot setback problems before they show up in a reviewer’s comments.

Identifying Easements That May Affect Proposed Work

An easement is a legal right that lets someone else use part of your property for a set purpose. Common examples include utility lines, storm drainage, shared driveways, and access paths. Easements usually stay with the land when it’s sold.

These rights can limit where you build. You may not be able to place a building, wall, or even certain landscaping inside an easement area, depending on its terms. Missing one during design can force a late redesign after the permit review points it out.

A land surveyor can show recorded easements on the survey when they’re provided or found in the research. Many surveyors work from a title commitment, which is a document from a title company listing recorded rights and restrictions. Ask whether your surveyor will review one, because the depth of easement research can vary by project scope. Your attorney or title company should interpret the legal terms of any easement.

Providing Survey Data for Permit Drawings

Permit drawings need accurate base information. Your architect or engineer uses survey data to draw the site plan, show setbacks, and design grading, drainage, and utility connections. Errors in that base carry into every sheet built on top of it.

Depending on the project, your surveyor may provide a boundary survey, a topographic survey, or both. A topographic survey shows ground elevations and site features, which helps with grading and drainage design. Some projects also need floodplain information, tree locations, or utility details. What the reviewing office expects can vary by jurisdiction, property type, and project scope.

Confirm the file format your designer needs before survey work starts. Most design teams want a digital drawing file tied to a known coordinate system. Getting the right format the first time saves a round of back and forth.

Resolving Property Information Before Permit Submission

Finding a problem is only useful if you deal with it before you apply. A survey may reveal an encroachment, which is when a structure crosses a property line. It may show a missing easement, a boundary conflict, or a lot area smaller than the records claim.

Each issue has a different fix. Some are design changes, like shifting a new addition away from a line. Others may need a boundary line agreement, an easement release, or help from an attorney or title company. None of these fixes happen overnight, so give yourself time to work through them.

Before you submit, review a short checklist with your team. Confirm that the site plan matches the latest survey. Check that all known easements appear on the drawings. Make sure any open boundary questions are resolved or clearly explained. A clean package gives reviewers fewer reasons to send it back.

For a free land surveying quote, call us at (703) 854-9783 or send us a message by going here.

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