Perhaps the most important service provided by the professional land surveyor is the boundary survey.  A properly executed boundary survey is the basis for every successful development and/or land transaction as it will relate the calls in the subject deed to the monumentation and evidence found on the ground.  The survey will also disclose possible discrepancies and negative impacts to title.  A thorough boundary survey should always serve as the basis for any successful project. 

Research of the subject property and adjoining deeds at the County Courthouse is where a properly executed boundary survey begins.  The surveyor is responsible for obtaining documents called for or implied in the client’s conveyance or legal description.  This includes obtaining the necessary maps, plats, drawings, deeds, and references to the subject and adjacent parcels from public and private sources.  If the property adjoins a Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) controlled facility, we also obtain TXDOT right-of-way drawings from said entity.  We also report information that may be disclosed in a title commitment of the subject property pertaining to easements and restrictions of record that could affect the property.  Once the necessary research is completed and analyzed, a working sketch in the form of an AutoCAD drawing is then prepared that depicts the subject and adjoining property, along with the type of monuments called for at the boundary corners that will need to be thoroughly searched for, dug up and accurately located.  This drawing is then provided to the head (party chief) of the survey field crew, at which time the second phase of the survey begins: the field work.

The field work is executed with the aid of the aforementioned working sketch in locating the called for, and sometimes uncalled for, monuments that will be used as the basis for analysis and judgment of the found evidence.  Lines of possession are also located at this phase i.e. fencing, walls, structures and all improvements on the property are located as well, unless the client specifies otherwise.  The field data is then brought back to the office where the third phase of the boundary survey begins: reconciliation of the field data with the first phase of the initial research.

Boundary analysis begins by comparing the found evidence with the research compiled from the first phase.  If discrepancies exist, it is necessary to apply the rules of boundary construction as created by Texas case law to aid in the boundary determination.  Many times it is necessary to return to the field to locate additional property corners to determine the final solution.  In these cases, the subject property sometimes represents only 20-30% of the amount of land that must be surveyed to properly ascertain the discrepancy, depending on the size of the adjoining property and how many tracts adjoin the subject.