Page 324 - ALTA Endorsements Guide

ADDENDUM RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for

ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys

(Effective February 23, 2026)

1. Purpose - Members of the American Land Title Association® (ALTA) have specific needs, unique to title insurance matters, when asked to insure title to
land without exception as to the many matters which might be discoverable from survey and inspection, and which are not evidenced by the public
records.

For a survey of real property, and the plat, map or record of such survey, to be acceptable to a title insurance company for the purpose of insuring title
to said real property free and clear of survey matters (except those matters disclosed by the survey and indicated on the plat or map), certain specific
and pertinent information must be presented for the distinct and clear understanding between the insured, the client (if different from the insured),
the title insurance company (insurer), the lender, and the surveyor professionally responsible for the survey.

In order to meet such needs, clients, insurers, insureds, and lenders are entitled to rely on surveyors to conduct surveys and prepare associated
plats or maps that are of a professional quality and appropriately uniform, complete, and accurate. To that end, and in the interests of the general
public, the surveying profession, title insurers, and abstracters, the ALTA and the NSPS jointly promulgate the within details and criteria setting forth a
minimum standard of performance for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys. A complete ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey includes:
A. SAMPLE
the fieldwork required pursuant to Section 5,
B. the preparation of a plat or map pursuant to Section 6 showing the results of the fieldwork and its relationship to documents provided to or
obtained by the surveyor pursuant to Section 4,
C. any information from Table A items requested by the client, and
D. the certification outlined in Section 7.
2. Request for Survey - The client shall request the survey, or arrange for the survey to be requested, and shall provide a written authorization to
proceed from the person or entity responsible for paying for the survey. Unless specifically authorized in writing by the insurer, the insurer shall not
be responsible for any costs associated with the preparation of the survey. The request must specify that a “2026 ALTA/NSPS LAND TITLE SURVEY” is
required and which of the optional items listed in Table A, if any, are to be incorporated. Certain properties or interests in real properties may present
issues outside those normally encountered on an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey (e.g., marinas, campgrounds, mobile home parks, easements, leases,
mineral interests, other non-fee simple interests). The scope of work related to surveys of such properties or interests in real properties should be
discussed with the client, lender, and insurer, and agreed upon in writing prior to commencing work on the survey. When required, the client shall
secure permission for the surveyor to enter upon the property to be surveyed, adjoining properties, or offsite easements.

3. Surveying Standards and Standards of Care
A. Effective Date - The 2026 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys are effective February 23, 2026. As of that
date, all previous versions of the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM or ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys are superseded by
these standards.
B. Other Requirements and Standards of Practice - Many states and some local jurisdictions have adopted statutes, administrative rules, and/
or ordinances that set out standards regulating the practice of surveying within their jurisdictions. In addition to the standards set forth herein,
surveyors must also conduct their surveys in accordance with applicable jurisdictional survey requirements and standards of practice. Where
conflicts between the standards set forth herein and any such jurisdictional requirements and standards of practice occur, the more stringent
must apply.
C. The Normal Standard of Care - Surveyors should recognize that there may be unwritten local, state, and/or regional standards of care defined
by the practice of the “prudent surveyor” in those locales.
D. Boundary - The boundary lines and corners of any property or interest in real property being surveyed (hereafter, the “surveyed property”
or “property to be surveyed”) as part of an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey must be established and/or retraced in accordance with appropriate
boundary law principles governed by the set of facts and evidence found in the course of performing the research and fieldwork.
E. Measurement Standards - The following measurement standards address Relative Positional Precision for the monuments or witnesses
marking the corners of the surveyed property.
i. “Relative Positional Precision” is the accepted indicator of measurement quality on an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey. It is defined as the
length of the semi-major axis, expressed in meters or feet, of the error ellipse of the line connecting the monuments or witnesses marking

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