Plats and surveys explained
Two different documents answer two different questions: where the lines were drawn, and where they actually sit today.
A plat is the recorded map that divides a tract of land into lots and sets the boundaries, rights of way, and easements for your development. A survey shows where those lines actually fall on the ground today. Together, they tell you where your lot ends and the common area, or your neighbor's lot, begins.
What a plat actually is
A plat is the map recorded when your development was first subdivided. It lays out each lot, the streets, the common areas, and the easements that run through the property, like utility lines or drainage paths. It is the document a surveyor, a title company, or a new owner's attorney pulls first when a boundary question comes up.
Exactly how a plat gets approved and recorded depends on the county and state where your property sits. Your county's land-records or recorder's office can tell you how it works locally.
Why a survey is different from the plat
The plat was recorded once, maybe decades ago. A survey is fresh work: a licensed surveyor visits the property and marks, with current measurements, where the boundaries described in that old plat actually sit on the ground now. Fences move, trees grow over stakes, and old markers get paved over. The plat tells you what was promised. The survey tells you what is real right now.
"surveys used by title insurers, lenders, clients and surveyors"
Source: ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards, American Land Title Association and National Society of Professional Surveyors
That shared standard exists so a survey means the same thing no matter which surveyor produced it, which matters when a title insurer or lender needs to rely on one.
What the plat and survey do not decide
A plat and a survey establish where the lines are, not what you can do inside them. That is the job of the declaration, which sets the rules for use, appearance, and maintenance within those boundaries; see Declaration / CC&Rs explained. And if a boundary or an easement turns into a real dispute, whether it runs with the land or belongs to one person, that distinction is worth understanding before anyone acts; see Easements explained.
Where to find your plat and survey
Your plat is public record, recorded at the county land-records or recorder's office where your development sits, alongside your declaration and any amendments to it. Many associations also keep a copy in their own document library, but the recorder's office holds the authoritative version. If you need a fresh boundary determination, a title company or a licensed surveyor, not the board and not the manager, is who can produce one.
Recording offices, fees, and how far back their online records go vary by county. Check the recorder's website or call ahead before a trip.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A homeowner wants to know exactly where their lot line ends before building a fence. Which document actually shows that?
An association wants to divide a large common-area parcel into new lots. What has to happen to the plat?
A fence appears to cross onto a neighbor's lot, and the old plat map does not settle it. What should the board recommend?
- ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards, American Land Title Association and National Society of Professional Surveyors
Governing Documents
Have a boundary question that is more than curiosity? How to research a governing-document question walks through where to look next.
Subdivision platting, recording procedures, and how a boundary or easement dispute actually gets resolved vary by state, county, and your own recorded documents.