Call Us: + 323-240-2303
Email Us: sbuiloff@builoff.com
Call Us: + 323-240-2303
Email Us: sbuiloff@builoff.com
April 23, 2026
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If you're ordering an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey for a commercial transaction, one decision will shape your survey's cost, timeline, and deliverables more than any other: which Table A items you select.
Table A is the list of optional items in the ALTA/NSPS standards that buyers, lenders, and title companies can request beyond the baseline survey. Each item expands the scope in its own way. Some require nothing more than additional field work. Others require you, the requesting party, to provide specific documents or coordinate third-party services before the surveyor can even begin. A few can meaningfully extend the closing timeline — and occasionally cost more than the baseline survey itself.
This guide walks through how to think about Table A selections, which items have the biggest impact on cost and schedule, and what you'll need to know before your next proposal conversation. If you're planning an ALTA survey in Los Angeles or Ventura County, Builoff Surveying & Mapping handles these conversations daily — but the principles below apply to any ALTA project.
The ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey standard is a joint product of the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). The current edition is the 2026 ALTA/NSPS Standards, which took effect February 23, 2026.
Every ALTA survey includes a baseline scope: boundary determination from records and field evidence, easement plotting from the preliminary title report, documentation of visible improvements and observable features, a certified survey map, and ALTA/NSPS certification language for the named transaction parties.
Beyond that baseline sits Table A — a list of 20 optional items in the 2026 standards that the buyer, lender, and title company can request individually. Each item adds specific deliverables to the survey. The baseline survey plus your selected Table A items equals your total scope.
Here's the part most first-time ALTA buyers don't realize: Table A items are not equally priced. Some items add a few hours of field work and a small line on the map. Others require coordination with outside parties, additional site visits, or deliverables that can double the cost of the entire survey. Choosing wisely means understanding which items belong in which category.
Rather than walking through all 20 Table A items (which quickly becomes overwhelming), it's more useful to group the items that actually drive cost and schedule into two categories:
Category A — Items that require you to provide specific information or coordinate third-party services. These items cannot proceed until the requesting party delivers something specific. Missing documents or delayed coordination will hold up the survey regardless of how efficient your surveyor is.
Category B — Items that don't require anything from you but expand the survey's scope in ways that add meaningful cost or schedule. These are purely scope decisions — worth including if they serve your transaction, worth skipping if they don't.
Most Table A items fall outside these two categories: lower-impact additions that affect scope modestly without creating coordination headaches or major cost changes. They're worth including when your lender or attorney requests them, and they rarely change project timelines. The items discussed below are the ones worth thinking about carefully.
These four items need information, documents, or coordination from the requesting party before the surveyor can complete the work. Think of them as items with prerequisites.
Before any Table A discussion, there's one baseline requirement: a current preliminary title report. ALTA/NSPS standards require the requesting party to provide this to the surveyor. Without it, the survey cannot begin.
The report should be hyperlinked. Modern title reports are essentially lists of documents with brief descriptions — deeds, easements, CC&Rs, exceptions. Accurate plotting of easements requires the surveyor to review the underlying documents themselves, not just their descriptions. Hyperlinked reports let the surveyor click through and download documents directly. Non-hyperlinked reports require the surveyor to request each document individually from the title company, which adds several days of back-and-forth to every project.
If you're coordinating the ALTA order and have the option, request the hyperlinked version from title. It's typically available — it just isn't always the default.
If your lender or due diligence requires zoning classification and restrictions documented on the survey (Item 6a or 6b), the requesting party must provide a current zoning report. This is an ALTA/NSPS requirement, not a preference.
If you don't have a zoning report, surveyors can typically assist in obtaining one — but this adds approximately a week to the project and incurs additional budget. Factor that time in when planning your closing schedule.
Utilities are one of the most common schedule surprises in ALTA work. Item 11 has two sub-options, and both require the requesting party to do something before the surveyor can complete the work.
Item 11a asks the surveyor to plot underground utilities from record plans. The requesting party must provide the record plans. No plans, no plotting. If you don't have them, you'll need to request them from the property owner or utility companies, which can take time.
Item 11b asks the surveyor to locate utilities that have been physically marked on the ground by a utility locate company. This is where coordination gets complex. Utility locate companies are separate vendors that must be engaged, scheduled, and completed before the surveyor arrives. The surveyor then locates the markers and depicts them on the ALTA map.
If your utility locate company takes two weeks to schedule, your ALTA project takes two weeks longer. The surveyor can't compress this — they're waiting on a third party that the requesting party has to engage. If Item 11b is on your list, start the utility locate coordination immediately, in parallel with ordering the survey.
Item 17 requires the surveyor to depict any proposed changes to the street right-of-way lines based on information from the controlling jurisdiction. The surveyor submits the request and follows up, but the jurisdiction's response time determines the schedule.
Some jurisdictions provide this information online in minutes. Others take weeks. Los Angeles and Ventura County agencies vary widely in responsiveness, and there's no way to predict which end of the spectrum you'll get on a given property. If Item 17 is on your list and your closing date is tight, discuss contingency planning with your surveyor upfront.
These three items don't need anything from you, but each one can substantially expand the survey's scope and budget. Including them is a transaction decision — worth it when the item serves your due diligence, worth skipping when it doesn't.
Item 1 asks the surveyor to physically set or reset property monuments at the corners of the parcel. This sounds simple but involves several distinct cost drivers:
The monument-setting visit alone can take half a day of crew time. The County filing process adds days to the project timeline, and the filing fees vary by County but are a real line item. For transactions where the monuments aren't strictly needed — for example, refinances where the boundary is already well-documented — Item 1 is often the first item worth reconsidering.
Item 5 asks the surveyor to add vertical relief to the survey, typically in the form of contour lines. This looks like a simple addition on the deliverable, but the field work and processing time are substantial.
Contour mapping requires dense ground shots across the parcel — significantly more field time than a standard ALTA. Processing the data into accurate contours adds hours of office work. On most projects, Item 5 is one of the single largest cost drivers in Table A selection.
Item 5 genuinely matters for properties where development, grading, or drainage will be designed after closing. It matters much less for stabilized assets being acquired as-is with no design work planned. Know which situation you're in before including it.
Item 18 asks the surveyor to locate and document appurtenant easements — rights belonging to the subject parcel that exist on adjacent properties. Common examples include shared driveway rights, utility easements benefiting the parcel, and access easements across neighboring land.
The challenge with Item 18 is that the survey must extend into the adjacent properties to locate and document these easements. In some areas, particularly older parcels or rural properties, the total area of appurtenant easements can be larger than the fee parcel itself. The survey's field footprint and total cost can increase significantly.
When appurtenant easements are material to the transaction — when they grant meaningful access rights or utility capacity — Item 18 is essential. When they're minor or well-documented already, Item 18 can be one of the harder items to justify.
When you're reviewing a Table A list for your next ALTA project, a few questions help clarify what belongs and what doesn't:
The biggest mistake first-time ALTA buyers make isn't choosing the wrong items — it's choosing items without understanding what each one requires. A thoughtful Table A conversation with your surveyor before the order saves far more than it costs.
Every commercial transaction has its own mix of lender requirements, title complexity, and property conditions. If you're planning an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey in Los Angeles or Ventura County and want help thinking through Table A selections, we're happy to walk you through it.
Request an ALTA Proposal → or call 323-240-2303.
Builoff Surveying & Mapping, Inc. · CA PLS #8099 · 2026 ALTA/NSPS Standards
