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BenchmarkLand Surveying

Most people asking for an ALTA do not need one.

Benchmark Land Surveying · Ada, Canyon, and Boise counties, Idaho

And most people asking for a quick stake need considerably more. Working out which survey you actually need is the first thing we do and it happens before anyone quotes you anything.

Work out which oneRequest a quotation
A boundary platA four-sided parcel drawn with a bearing and distance labelled on each line. Two corners are marked as monuments found and two as monuments set. A ten-foot utility easement runs along the north line, and a fence is drawn inside the west line, offset from it, with a note reading fence 1.8 feet inside the line.10' UTILITY EASEMENTFENCE 1.8' INSIDE LINEN 06°14' E164.98'N 87°03' E272.36'S 07°35' W166.72'S 86°21' W312.44'FNDFNDSETSETN0 — 100 FEET
A residential boundary plat, simplified. The fence note is the reason most people ring: it is nearly two feet inside the line, which is worth knowing before anybody replaces it.
A survey instrument on a tripod standing alone in an empty grass field, with treeline behind and nobody in the frame.
A total station, set up over a point. Illustrative — not Benchmark's instrument or a Benchmark project.

Start from what you are trying to do.

Nobody wakes up wanting a survey. Find the row that sounds like your week.

  1. “I want to build a fence and not annoy my neighbour”

    Boundary survey

    You need the corners marked on the ground, and you want them marked before the posts go in rather than after.

    Not an ALTA. It costs several times more and shows you things a fence does not care about.

  2. “I am buying a commercial building and my lender sent a list”

    ALTA/NSPS land title survey

    That list is the ALTA optional table. It is the one survey written for lenders and title companies rather than for owners.

    Not a boundary survey — it will be rejected, and you will pay twice.

  3. “My architect says they need the site before they can draw”

    Topographic survey

    They need contours and a CAD file, not corners. Ask them for the contour interval and the format before you ring us.

    Not a boundary survey, though the two are often bought together.

  4. “I want to split five acres off for my daughter”

    Subdivision plat

    A county will not record a split without a plat, and the plat is the long pole — reviews take months, not weeks.

    Not a quick boundary survey with a line drawn on it. That is not a legal division of anything.

  5. “The excavator is on site Monday and needs corners”

    Construction staking

    Staking puts the approved design on the ground. It assumes there is an approved design.

    If there is no design yet, what you need is a topographic survey and an engineer.

  6. “My flood insurance premium jumped and they want a form”

    Elevation certificate

    Specifically the FEMA elevation certificate. It is a form, not a drawing, and it is a smaller job than anything else here.

    You do not need a boundary survey to get one, whatever the insurer's letter implies.

Field time and office time

Published separately, because clients are routinely surprised that the drawing takes longer than the visit. The office half is the record research, and it is where a survey is either right or wrong.

All six services
Boundary survey
1 day in the field, 1–2 weeks in the office
ALTA/NSPS land title survey
2–4 days in the field, 3–5 weeks in the office
Topographic survey
1–3 days in the field, 1–2 weeks in the office
Subdivision plat
Weeks in the field, months through review
Construction staking
Booked in visits, usually 3–6 across a job
Elevation certificate
Half a day in the field, under a week in the office

Send the deed and the address. We will tell you which survey you need before we tell you what it costs.

Request a quotation(208) 555-0117
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