Following are the Minimum Standards for Professional Land Surveyors as adopted by the
Texas Board of Professional Land Surveyors. Any instrument carrying the seal and signature
of a Professional Land Surveyor must comply with the Professional Land Surveying Practices
Act and Board Rules.
To better serve the general public in regulating the practice of land surveying in
Texas, these minimum standards of practice "(Standards)" are established. All
land surveys performed by Registered Professional Land Surveyors in Texas shall adhere to
these standards by meeting or exceeding the requirements hereof.
663.15. Precision
(A) The actual relative location of corner monuments found or set within the corporate
limits of any cities in Texas shall be reported within a positional tolerance of 1:10,000
+ 0.10'.
(B) The actual relative location of corner monuments found or set within the
extraterritorial jurisdiction (EJT) of any cities in Texas shall be reported within a
positional tolerance of 1:7,500 + 0.10'.
(C) The actual relative location of corner monuments found or set in all rural areas
outside extraterritorial jurisdiction areas of all cities in Texas shall be reported
within a positional tolerance of 1:5,000 + 0.10'.
(D) Areas, if reported, shall be produced, recited, and/or shown only to the least
significant number compatible with the precision of closure.
(E) Survey measurement shall be made with equipment and methods of practice capable of
attaining the tolerances specified by these standards.
(F) Positional tolerance of any monument is the distance that any monument may be
mislocated in relation to any other monument cited in the survey.
668.16. Boundary Construction
(A) When delineating a property or boundary line as an integral portion of a
survey, the surveyor shall respect junior/senior property rights, footsteps of the
original surveyor, intent of the parties involved, the proper application of the rules of
dignity or the priority of calls and applicable statutory and case law of Texas.
(B) Appropriate deeds and/or other documents including those for adjoining parcels
shall be relied upon for the location of the boundaries of the subject parcel(s).
(C) A land surveyor assuming the responsibility of performing a land survey also
assumes the responsibility for such research of adequate thoroughness to support the
determination of the intended boundaries of the land parcel surveyed, however, the
surveyor may rely on record data furnished by a qualified provider such as a Title or
Abstract Company provided he/she believes such data sufficient and notes, refer ences, or
credits the documentation by which it is furnished.
(D) All boundaries shall be related to identifiable physical monuments of record
dignity. In the absence of such monumentation the surveyor's opinion of the boundary
location shall be supported by other appropriate physical evidence which shall be
explained in a surveyor's report.
663.17. Monumentation
(A) All monuments set by Registered Professional Land Surveyors shall be set at
sufficient depth to retain a stable and distinctive location and be of sufficient size to
withstand the deteriorating forces of nature and shall be of such material that in the
surveyor's judgment will best achieve this goal.
(B) When delineating a property or boundary line as an integral portion of a survey
(survey being defined in the Act, Section 2, subsection (1) or (3), the land surveyor
shall set, or leave as found, sufficient, stable and reasonably permanent survey
markers to represent or reference the property or boundary corners, angle
points, and points of curvature or tangency. ALL SURVEY MARKERS SHALL BE SHOWN AND
DESCRIBED with sufficient evidence of the location of such markers on the survey- ors'
plat. If the land surveyor shall prepare a written description of the surveyed premise,
he/she shall include in that written description:
(i) reference to a description of the survey markers as shown on the plat, and
(ii) the seal and signature of a registered or licensed surveyor.
(C) All metes and bound description prepared for easements shall be tied to physical
monuments of record related to the boundary of the effected tract. If the surveyor chooses
to monument the easement or is directed to do so by his client, such monumentation shall
be in compliance with 663.17
663.18. Certification
(A) The Professional Land Surveyor shall apply his/her seal to all documents
representing professional surveying as defined in the Act.
(B) If the surveyor certifies, or otherwise indicates, that his/her product or service
meets a standard of practice in addition to that promulgated by the Texas Board of
Professional Land Surveying, then the failure to so meet both standards may be considered
by the Board, for disciplinary purposes, to be misleading the public.
663.19. Plat/Description/Report
For the purpose of these rules the word report shall mean any or all of the
following: survey plat, descriptions or separate narratives.
(A) All reports shall delineate the relationship between record monuments and the
location of boundaries surveyed, such relationship shall be shown on the survey plat, if a
plat is prepared, and/or separate report and recited in the description with the
appropriate record references recited thereon and therein.
(B) Every description prepared for the purpose of defining boundaries shall provide a
definite and unambiguous identification of the location of such boundaries and shall
describe all pertinent monuments found or placed.
(C) Every survey plat prepared shall be to a convenient scale, and provide a definite
and unambiguous representation of the location of the surveyed land according to its
record description. Where material discrepancies are found between the record and the
condition discovered, the surveyor shall apprise his/her client in the following manner:
(i) if a plat of survey is prepared, the surveyor shall:
(a) make specific reference of the discrepancy on the plat or survey or
(b) make a general reference to the discrepancy on the plat of survey and a specific
reference to a report of survey which more specifically describes the discrepancy,
(ii) if a survey plat is not prepared, the surveyor shall notify his/her client of any
material discrepancy by report of survey or other written notice.
(D) Courses shall be referenced by notation upon the survey plat to an identifiable
line for directional control.
(E) The survey plat shall bear the name of the land surveyor responsible for the land
survey, his/her official seal, his/her original signature (see Rule 661.46), and date
surveyed.
(F) Boundary monuments found or placed by the surveyor shall be described upon the
survey plat, including those controlling monuments to which the survey may be referenced.
The surveyor shall note upon the survey plat which monuments were found and which
monuments were placed as a result of his/her survey.
(G) A reference shall be cited on the plat to the record instrument which defines the
location of adjoining boundaries.
(H) When appropriate, reference shall be cited in the description prepared to the
record instrument which defines the location of adjoining boundaries.
(I) If any report consists of more than one part, each part shall note the existence of
the other part or parts.