Commercial real estate deals rarely leave room for surprises. Developers, lenders, and title professionals are all working toward the same goal: closing the transaction with confidence that the property is exactly what the documents say it is.
That’s where ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys—commonly called ALTA surveys—play a critical role.
While they’re often seen as just another item on the due diligence checklist, ALTA surveys actually provide some of the most important information in a commercial transaction. They help verify the physical conditions of the property and support the title insurance coverage that protects the investment.
Without that verification, issues like encroachments, access problems, or conflicting property boundaries could remain hidden until after closing. In commercial real estate, that’s a risk no one wants to take.
Key Takeaway: What Developers Should Know
An ALTA survey is one of the most important risk-management tools in commercial real estate transactions. It confirms that the property matches the legal description, supports the intended development plan, and helps ensure title insurance can be issued with confidence—before the deal closes, not after.
What Is an ALTA Survey?
An ALTA survey is a detailed land title survey performed according to standards set by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS).
These surveys are designed specifically for commercial real estate transactions, where lenders and title insurers need a thorough understanding of the property. Unlike simpler location reports used in residential closings, an ALTA survey provides a much more detailed view of the land and everything on it.
A typical ALTA survey documents:
- Property boundaries and legal dimensions
- Buildings, parking areas, sidewalks, and driveways
- Easements and rights-of-way
- Encroachments between neighboring properties
- Access points and visible utilities
- Zoning information and setback lines
Because ALTA surveys follow national standards, everyone involved in the deal—lenders, attorneys, developers, and title companies—can rely on the same consistent level of detail. That shared understanding is essential when millions of dollars may be tied to a single commercial property.
The Connection Between ALTA Surveys and Title Insurance
Title insurance protects property owners and lenders from financial loss caused by defects or disputes related to a property title; things like undisclosed liens, ownership disputes, or recording errors.
But there’s an important distinction worth understanding:
A title search reviews documents. A survey verifies the land itself.
A title search examines public records to confirm ownership history, liens, and legal descriptions. But those records don’t always reveal what physically exists on the property. A recorded easement, for example, may not show whether it conflicts with a planned building. And public records certainly won’t reveal that a neighboring structure has crept across the boundary line.
That’s where the survey comes in. Land surveys confirm critical physical facts—boundaries, improvements, easements, encroachments—that title insurers need before they can issue a comprehensive policy.
Without this information, title insurers often include survey exceptions in the policy, meaning certain risks may not be covered. An ALTA survey allows title companies to review those risks more closely and often provide broader coverage with fewer exceptions—which benefits both the buyer and the lender.
Why ALTA Surveys Are Especially Important for Developers
Commercial properties are rarely simple. A development site might span multiple parcels, include shared access agreements, or carry utility easements that limit what can be built and where. Even a small discrepancy in boundaries or easements can affect construction plans, financing approvals, or future property value.
ALTA surveys help developers answer several critical questions before closing:
- Are the boundaries consistent with the legal description?
- Do existing buildings or improvements cross property lines?
- Are there easements that limit how the property can be used?
- Does the property have legal and practical access?
- Are neighboring structures encroaching onto the site?
Finding answers to these questions during due diligence—rather than after closing—gives project teams the ability to address problems while solutions are still possible.
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A Common Issue ALTA Surveys Reveal: Encroachments
One of the most frequent problems identified during commercial surveys is an encroachment or when a structure or improvement extends beyond a property’s legal boundary line.
This might look like:
- A fence that crosses onto a neighboring parcel
- A parking lot extending beyond the lot line
- A building overhang crossing a shared boundary
- A shared access area without a recorded easement
In commercial projects, encroachments can create major complications that can affect financing, building permits, or long-term property rights. When identified early, they can often be resolved through boundary agreements, easements, or design adjustments. When they surface at closing, they can bring everything to a halt.
How ALTA Surveys Fit into Commercial Due Diligence
For developers and lenders, due diligence is about reducing risk before committing to a major investment. ALTA surveys play a central role in that process by verifying the physical layout of the property and providing the foundation for many other evaluations.
They are commonly used alongside:
- Title commitments
- Environmental assessments
- Zoning reports
- Engineering studies
- Development planning reviews
Because the survey confirms the location of boundaries, easements, and improvements, it ensures that everyone involved is working from the same accurate picture of the property.
INFOGRAPHIC: Which Do You Need? Commercial Boundary Survey or ALTA Survey?
What Changed with the 2026 ALTA/NSPS Survey Standards
ALTA and NSPS release updated survey standards on a roughly five-year cycle. The 2026 edition became effective February 23, 2026, and applies to all surveys begun on or after that date. If you’re working on a commercial transaction right now, these are the standards your surveyor should be referencing.
Rather than a complete overhaul, the 2026 updates refine how surveys are conducted and reported—with a clear emphasis on clarity, transparency, and better communication between surveyors, title companies, and clients. Here are the changes most relevant to developers and lenders.
New Table A Item 20: Standardized Encroachment Opinions
This is the most significant change in the 2026 standards, and it directly affects how encroachments are handled in commercial transactions.
The new Table A Item 20 requires the surveyor—if requested—to include a table of potential encroachments observed on the property. This covers encroachments over boundary lines in either direction, into rights-of-way or easements, and into setbacks. The surveyor also must note any use of the property by third parties without an easement, and any access that exists only through common ownership with an adjacent parcel.
Why does this matter? In many commercial transactions, the surveyor is the only neutral third party who has physically visited the property. Title companies have long relied on surveyors’ observations not just for survey purposes, but also to satisfy title insurance underwriting requirements around physical inspections. Previously, surveyors handled encroachment opinions inconsistently. Item 20 creates a standardized location for gathering and presenting that information, which reduces back-and-forth between surveyors and title insurers and streamlines the underwriting process.
Expanded Use of Aerial and Satellite Imagery
The 2026 standards formally expand acceptance of aerial and satellite imagery in surveys. This reflects how surveying technology has evolved and allows surveyors greater flexibility in how they gather and verify property data, which is particularly useful for larger or more complex sites.
Certification to Lender’s Successors and Assigns
The updated standards now specifically permit a survey to be certified to a lender’s successors and assigns, if requested. This is a practical improvement for loan sales and securitization, eliminating a negotiation point that has come up repeatedly in commercial lending transactions.
Removal of the Adjoining Deed Requirement
The 2021 standards required surveyors to provide copies of adjoining deeds—a requirement that proved impractical in many markets. The 2026 standards remove this requirement, reducing an administrative burden that added time and cost without consistently adding value.
Noting Statements by Landowners or Occupants
Surveyors are now required to note any statements made by interested landowners or occupants about title or boundary issues relating to the property. This ensures that informal but potentially important information gathered during fieldwork is documented and available to title insurers and buyers, rather than simply going unrecorded.
Why Ordering an ALTA Survey Early Matters
Because ALTA surveys require field research, record review, and coordination with title commitments, waiting until the last minute puts unnecessary pressure on closing timelines.
Ordering early gives project teams time to:
- Review title commitments alongside survey findings
- Identify and address potential boundary issues
- Resolve encroachments or access concerns
- Coordinate optional Table A items specific to the project
The earlier potential issues are discovered, the more options the team has to resolve them before closing.
The Bottom Line for Developers
The most important thing developers can take away from this is straightforward: an ALTA survey isn’t just a closing formality, t’s a critical risk-management tool.
It confirms that the property being purchased or financed matches the legal description, supports the intended development plan, and helps ensure title insurance can be issued with confidence. Commercial real estate projects involve significant investment, and surprises can be expensive. An ALTA survey helps eliminate those surprises by providing a clear, detailed understanding of the property before the deal closes.
In commercial real estate, that clarity isn’t just helpful, it’s essential.
At McSteen, we bring more than 50 years of experience to each real estate transaction. Contact us today to let us help you determine which type of survey best protects your commercial real estate purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions About ALTA Surveys
Not always, but most title insurers require one for commercial transactions. It allows them to verify boundaries, easements, and improvements that could affect coverage—and often results in a stronger, broader policy.
The buyer, developer, or lender usually orders the survey during the due diligence phase of a commercial transaction. It’s typically coordinated alongside the title commitment.
The timeline depends on the complexity of the property and the availability of existing records. Ordering the survey early—at the start of due diligence—is the best way to avoid delays in the closing process.
A boundary survey focuses primarily on establishing property lines. An ALTA survey includes additional information—such as improvements, easements, and encroachments—required for commercial title insurance.
Table A items are optional additions to an ALTA survey that allow buyers and lenders to request specific details beyond the standard requirements. These might include parking counts, utility observations, or building measurements.