ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys

Jonathan Terry, PLS (PA)

Course Description

This four-hour course provides instruction and discussion covering the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys adopted by the American Land Title Association and the National Society of Professional Surveyors, along with Table A–Optional Survey Responsibilities and Specifications, plus important changes from the previous 2005 version to the current 2011 version, effective beginning February 23, 2011.

The greatest benefit will be gained through studying both a fresh copy of the 2011 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys along with the author’s Course Content plus taking the required quiz designed to aid retention of the material presented in this course. The included ALTA Surveys checklist is a valuable aid when actually performing a survey to current requirements, improving quality control and directing focus on the standards’ many requirements.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be familiar with:

• Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys.
• Accuracy Standards for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys.
• Changes from the 2005 requirements to the present, 2011 standards.
• Ways avoid pitfalls when making agreements or contracts for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys.
• Practical approaches to performing aspects of the surveys.
• Taking the mystery and fear-factor out of surveying to these requirements.
• Using the provided checklist to verify conformance with the Standards and specific client requirements.
• Making notes on the survey to properly reduce unnecessary liability exposure.

Course Overview

This course, written in a casual writing style intended to convey more the feeling of a live presentation than a solo reading experience, includes discussion of the following:

• The entire 2011 revision of the ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey requirements.
• Brief summary of history of ALTA/ACSM Standards.
• Detailed section-by-section discussion of the most recent revision along with tips and insights offered by the author.
• The complete r organization of the ALTA Standards.
• The purpose for these Standards.
• How to use the Request for Survey section to encourage your client’s cooperation with your needs.
• A discussion of “survey updates.”
• Choosing between ALTA Standards and other standards when they conflict.
• Things to consider regarding research provided by the title company.
• Consideration of the “normal standard of care.”
• Boundary resolution requirements.
• Satisfying measurement standards.
• Understanding Relative Positional Precision (RPP).
• Considerations when using least squares processing.
• The relationship between the four sources of uncertainty.
• Importance of using appropriately trained personnel.
• What to do when the minimum Relative Positional Precision is not achieved.
• Concerns related to creating a new written description for the surveyed property.
• The new requirement to furnish surveyors with adjoining property descriptions.
• Impacts of easements, servitudes, covenants and restrictions on the property.
• Field survey requirements and documentation.
• Evidence of use and/or occupation on or over the surveyed property.
• Problems encountered in determining highway right-of-way widths.
• Relationships between the ALTA Survey map and the property description.
• Mapping standards and minimum requirements.
• Handling gaps and overlaps.
• Junior and senior rights.
• The unaltered certification to be used on ALTA surveys.
• Dealing with water boundaries while field surveying and mapping results.
• An exhaustive checklist useful for quality control and field crew instruction.

Course Author

In his career of over four decades, your instructor obtained registration as a surveyor in eight eastern U.S. states from Florida to Maine. He’s served as assistant construction superintendent, teacher, writer, civil engineering technician, site planner, and land surveying department head. He established and managed the construction layout division of a large commercial construction management firm in the Washington, DC area. His experience ranges from rural farm surveys in the Green Mountains of Vermont to laying out Interstate highway bridges in Florida. He has founded both successful surveying and construction layout businesses, and also served as an employee of civil, surveying, and architectural firms, developers and state government. As a training consultant, he successfully taught both EFB/CaiCE data collection and office processing to both field and office staff of several Florida firms and taught automation techniques with Land Development Desktop data collection and processing plus CAD standardization for multi-discipline firms. His surveying career began in 1963 and continues to the present.

Course Content

You will be directed to the website of American Congress on Surveying and Mapping to study the 2011 revision to the ALTA/ACSM Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys together with the required Course Content, both available by clicking the two links below:

ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys (2011 revision) (2.2 MB PDF file)
2011 ALTA/ACSM Minimum Standard Detail Requirements (200 KB PDF file)

If you prefer to print a black-only version of the course content, please click on the link below:

ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys (2011 revision) (2.2 MB PDF file, monochrome)

Related Links

For additional information related to this subject plus additional sources of general interest, please visit the following websites or web pages:

Numerous Supplemental Helps available on the ACSM site
2005 Stds cross-referenced to 2011 Revision (4 MB PDF file)
2011 Standards with new wording in RED (7 MB PDF file)
Summary of Significant Wording Changes between 2005 and 2011 ALTA/ACSM Standards (94KB PDF)
ACSM.NET - American Congress on Surveying and Mapping
ALTA: The American Land Title Association
Point of Beginning Magazine
American Surveyor Magazine
Professional Surveyor Magazine
On-Line Resources for Land Surveying and Geomatics
Land Surveyor Reference Page
Knud E. Hermansen Articles (authored by or co-authored by Knud)

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.com or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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