PS Exam Preparation

Comprehensive preparation for the NCEES Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam. 5 modules covering all 5 exam domains with 50 in-depth topics.

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Lesson 2

ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards

Learning Objectives

After completing this topic, you should be able to:

State the Relative Positional Precision (RPP) requirement and its components
Explain what RPP applies to and what it does not apply to
Identify the role of Table A items and who requests them
Describe the minimum standard detail requirements for an ALTA/NSPS survey
Explain the surveyor's certification requirements
Distinguish between what the surveyor must show vs. what is optional

Overview

The ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey is the gold standard for commercial real estate transactions in the United States. Jointly developed by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS), the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys establish a uniform national standard for surveys prepared for title insurance purposes.

The current standards were adopted effective February 23, 2021. They define what must appear on every ALTA/NSPS survey, what optional items a client may request, and what precision the survey must achieve. For the PS exam, this is one of the most testable topics in Module 3.

Key Concepts

Who Requests an ALTA/NSPS Survey

A critical point that appears on exams: the client must specifically request an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey. A surveyor does not unilaterally decide to prepare one. The request triggers the surveyor's obligation to comply with the full set of minimum standards.

The client (typically the lender, buyer, or title company) also specifies which Table A optional items are required. The surveyor must be provided with:

A current title commitment or title report with legal description
The identity of the insured (for the certification)
The specific Table A items requested

Without these, the surveyor cannot complete the survey to standard.

Figure PS.3.2 — Relative Positional Precision (RPP) Formula and Application

Relative Positional Precision (RPP)

The RPP requirement is the most quantitative and testable element of the ALTA/NSPS standards.

The Formula:

Relative Positional Precision = 2 cm (0.07 ft) + 50 ppm at 95% confidence level

Breaking this down:

2 cm (0.07 ft): The constant component -- a fixed error allowance regardless of distance
50 ppm: The proportional component -- 50 parts per million of the distance between any two points (equivalent to 0.05 ft per 1,000 ft)
95% confidence: Strictly, 95% confidence corresponds to 1.96 standard deviations (often rounded to "2 sigma" for convenience). In practice, the distinction between 1.96σ (95.0%) and 2σ (95.45%) is negligible for survey work
Relative: The precision is between any two points on the survey, not relative to an external control network

What RPP Applies To:

RPP applies ONLY to the boundary of the surveyed property. Specifically, it applies to the relative position of any two boundary points on the survey, including monuments found or set.

What RPP Does NOT Apply To:

Improvements (buildings, fences, walls)
Easements shown on the survey
Rights-of-way
Topographic features
Any feature other than boundary points

This distinction is heavily tested. A surveyor who achieves RPP on boundary points has met the standard even if improvements are located with lesser precision.

Example Calculation:

For two boundary corners 500 feet apart:

RPP = 0.07 ft + (500 ft x 50/1,000,000) = 0.07 + 0.025 = 0.095 ft

The relative position of those two corners must be known to within 0.095 feet at 95% confidence.

For two corners 1,000 feet apart:

RPP = 0.07 ft + (1,000 ft x 50/1,000,000) = 0.07 + 0.05 = 0.12 ft

Figure PS.3.9 — ALTA/NSPS Relative Positional Precision standard

Common wrong path — applying RPP to improvements. The RPP specification (2 cm + 50 ppm) applies only to boundary points — corners, monuments, and the relative position of any two boundary features. It does not apply to buildings, fences, walls, utilities, topographic features, or anything else on the surveyed property. Exam questions test this by describing a scenario where an improvement (say, a building corner) is located with coarse precision but the boundary is to RPP standard, then asking whether the survey complies. It does. The surveyor is free to locate non-boundary features with whatever precision the scope requires — RPP is only the yardstick for boundary relationships. This is also why Table A Item 7(a) is written the way it is: when the client needs precise building dimensions, they request Item 7, not RPP.

Quick retrieval check — try before reading on.

▶An ALTA/NSPS survey shows two boundary corners 2,500 ft apart. What is the allowable RPP between them, and does it matter whether the surveyor measured from an external RTK base 3 miles away?

Allowable RPP = $0.07 + 2{,}500 \times \frac{50}{1{,}000{,}000} = 0.07 + 0.125 = 0.195$ ft — about 2.3 inches at 95% confidence. And no, the 3-mile base distance does not matter for RPP, because RPP is relative — between the two boundary points, not between either point and an external control station. If the surveyor's RTK baseline produced a 0.3-ft absolute positioning error but the two corners are measured with 0.15-ft relative precision between them, the survey still complies with RPP. This is a frequent exam trap — candidates worry about absolute positioning when the standard only cares about the relative geometry of the boundary.

Minimum Standard Detail Requirements

Every ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey must include, at minimum:

Boundary:

All boundary lines with dimensions (bearings and distances)
All corners, with description of monuments found or set
Basis of bearings
Closure precision (mathematical closure of the boundary)
Gross land area

Title Elements:

All easements, servitudes, and rights-of-way identified in the title commitment that are evidenced on the ground or in recorded plats/maps
All encroachments, overlaps, and gaps along the boundary
Evidence of possession or use inconsistent with the title (fences, walls, hedges)

Improvements:

All buildings and other improvements on the surveyed property
Measured distances from improvements to boundary lines (setback distances)
Building footprints with dimensions where accessible

Access:

Evidence of access to a public right-of-way
The nature of the access (public road, private easement, etc.)

Utilities:

Evidence of utilities serving the property (poles, manholes, meters, transformers)
Underground utilities are shown only if evidence is visible or if Table A Item 11 is requested

Other Required Elements:

Name and address of the surveyor
Surveyor's certification
Date of field work and date of plat preparation
Scale (graphic and written)
North arrow with basis of bearings
Legend

Table A Optional Items

Table A contains optional items that the client must specifically request. The surveyor is not required to perform these unless requested. The 2021 standards include 19 categories of optional items (some with sub-items).

Key Table A items frequently referenced on the PS exam:

Item	Description	Key Detail
1	Monuments placed	Monuments (or reference monument/witness) at all major corners of the surveyed boundary, unless already marked or referenced by existing monuments in close proximity
2	Address(es)	Address(es) of the surveyed property if disclosed in documents provided to the surveyor or observed during fieldwork
3	Flood zone classification	Depicted by scaled map location and graphic plotting only — based on federal FIRM or state/local equivalent
4	Gross land area	Plus other areas if specified by the client
5	Vertical relief	Source of information (ground survey, aerial map, etc.), contour interval, datum, originating benchmark when appropriate
6(a)/(b)	Zoning	(a) full zoning classification, setbacks, height, FAR, parking — listed from a client-provided zoning report; (b) graphical depiction of setback requirements where no surveyor interpretation is required
7(a)/(b)/(c)	Buildings	(a) exterior dimensions of all buildings at ground level; (b) square footage of footprints / other client-specified areas; (c) measured height above grade at a client-specified location
8	Substantial observed features	In addition to base-standard features (parking lots, billboards, signs, swimming pools, landscaping, refuse, etc.)
9	Parking spaces	Number and type of clearly identifiable spaces; striping of identifiable spaces in surface lots
10	Division/party walls	Relationship and location of division or party walls with respect to adjoining properties, as designated by the client
11(a)/(b)	Underground utilities	Evidence determined by (a) plans/reports provided by client, or (b) markings coordinated by the surveyor via a private utility locate request — combined with observed evidence per §5.E.iv
12	Governmental agency survey requirements	E.g., HUD surveys, BLM lease surveys; client supplies the relevant requirements
13	Names of adjoining owners	Per current tax records ("et al." for multiple owners)
14	Distance to nearest intersecting street	As specified by the client
15	Rectified orthophotography / remote sensing	Photogrammetric, LiDAR, mobile-scan products as basis for showing non-boundary features when ground measurement is not necessary; surveyor must discuss ramifications and note source/date/precision on plat
16	Evidence of recent earth moving / construction	Observed during fieldwork
17	Proposed changes in street ROW	If made available by the controlling jurisdiction; plus evidence of recent street/sidewalk construction
18	Plottable offsite (appurtenant) easements	Disclosed in documents provided to or obtained by the surveyor
19	Professional liability insurance	Client-specified minimum amount; certificate furnished on request; not addressed on the plat
20	Negotiated additional items	20(a), 20(b), etc. — engineering design surveys go here, not Items 5/11

Important Notes on Table A:

The client requests the items, not the surveyor
If a Table A item is not requested, the surveyor has no obligation to investigate or show that information
Some items require the client to provide documents (e.g., zoning reports, utility records, proposed improvement plans)
The surveyor should confirm Table A selections in writing before beginning work

Zoning

The 2021 standards address zoning as follows:

If the client provides a zoning report or zoning letter from the local authority, the surveyor graphically depicts the zoning classification and building setback lines on the survey
The surveyor is not required to interpret zoning regulations
If no zoning report is provided and Table A Item 6(a) is not requested, the surveyor has no zoning obligation
The surveyor does not opine on zoning compliance

Certification

The surveyor must include a certification on the plat. The certification is addressed to specific parties -- typically the buyer, lender, and title company -- as identified by the client. Key elements of the certification:

Statement that the survey was prepared in accordance with the 2021 ALTA/NSPS standards
Identification of Table A items included
Reference to the title commitment used
Effective date
Surveyor's signature, seal, and license number

The certification language cannot be modified to reduce the surveyor's obligations under the standards. The surveyor certifies to the parties named -- the survey cannot be relied upon by unnamed parties.

Underground Utilities and Limitations

The standards are explicit about underground utility limitations:

The surveyor shows evidence of underground utilities observed during the survey (manholes, cleanouts, valve boxes)
If Table A Item 11 is requested, the surveyor plots information obtained from utility company records
The surveyor does NOT guarantee the completeness or accuracy of underground utility information
A note must appear on the survey stating that underground utilities are shown from available records and observed evidence only

Exam Tips

The RPP formula (2 cm + 50 ppm at 95% confidence) applies ONLY to boundary points -- this is the single most tested fact about ALTA/NSPS standards
The client must request the ALTA/NSPS survey and specify Table A items -- the surveyor cannot decide to do one unilaterally
Table A items are optional until requested; once requested, they are mandatory
95% confidence ≈ 1.96 sigma (often approximated as 2 sigma) -- if the exam gives you a 1-sigma value, multiply by 1.96 (or 2.0 for quick estimation)
Underground utilities are never guaranteed, even with Table A Item 11
The surveyor shows zoning graphically only if a zoning report is provided -- no interpretation required
The 2021 standards are the current version -- do not confuse with the 2016 or earlier versions
The certification is addressed to specific named parties -- unnamed parties cannot rely on the survey
Remember that RPP applies to monuments found OR set -- it is the relative precision between boundary points, not just set monuments

PS Exam Preparation

Module 1: Legal Principles

Module 2: Professional Survey Practices

Module 3: Standards & Specifications

Module 4: Business Practices

Module 5: Areas of Practice