Survey services, by project stage

Boundary & Property Surveys

Most of these start with a simple, practical question: where exactly is the line? To answer it, we research the chain of title, pull the recorded deeds and maps, then head into the field to recover the monuments that mark your corners — setting new ones where they're missing or disturbed. You get a map that shows your boundaries and how they relate to the parcels around you.

When the work establishes or re-establishes those corner positions, we file the required Record of Survey or Corner Record with the county, so the findings become part of the public record. Whether you're building near a line, settling a question with a neighbor, or confirming what you actually own, you come away with a clear, defensible answer.

Easement Documentation

A shared driveway, a drainage path, a utility run across a corner of the lot — these arrangements only hold up when they're written down precisely. We handle the measurements, plats, and legal descriptions that create, modify, or record an easement, defining the affected area closely enough that there's no question later about where those rights start and stop.

Done right, that paperwork protects every party to it — and heads off the disputes that vague or missing documentation tends to invite.

Topographic Surveys

Before anyone can design grading, drainage, a foundation, or a building layout, they need an accurate record of what's already on the ground. That's what this delivers: elevations and contours, along with structures, paving, utilities, and vegetation — the site as it actually sits, mapped for your engineer or architect to design from.

It's usually the first step before design begins. We match the level of detail to what the project genuinely needs, so you aren't paying to capture data no one will use.

Construction Staking

Approved plans only matter if the build lands in the right place. Staking is how that happens — we translate the design into physical marks on the ground: stakes, hubs, and offset points that tell crews the exact position, alignment, and elevation of structures, grading limits, and utilities.

Because a project moves in stages, we stake in phases to match, keeping every element correct relative to property lines, setbacks, and the approved permit set as the work goes up.

Lot Line Adjustments & Subdivisions

These are two answers to the same question — how the land is divided. Shifting the boundary between parcels that already exist, without adding any new lots, is a lot line adjustment. Splitting one parcel into two or more, each able to be sold or built on independently, is a subdivision.

Both fall under the Subdivision Map Act and local ordinance, and both need maps and legal descriptions from a licensed surveyor. We prepare the tentative, parcel, and final maps and carry them through agency review to recordation.

FEMA Elevation & Flood Certificates

When a building sits in or near a flood zone, an Elevation Certificate is often what your insurer, lender, or city is asking for — under the National Flood Insurance Program, as a lending condition, or to permit work in a flood-prone area. It documents the structure's elevation against the established vertical datum and the surrounding flood zone.

We take the field measurements and complete the certificate on FEMA's standard form, to the specifications whoever's requesting it requires — no back-and-forth over missing information.

Consultation

Not every project starts with a clear idea of which survey it needs — and that's fine. Describe your situation and we'll talk it through. Often a short conversation is enough to clarify what's required, or whether a survey is even the right next step.

If the work falls outside what we take on, we'll point you toward a trusted Bay Area colleague rather than leave you guessing.