Key Updates to the 2026 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards

ALTA and National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) have adopted the revised 2026 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys. The updated standards go into effect February 23, 2026, and will replace the 2021 version as of that date. The proposed revision focuses primarily on updates which increase the clarity and make the standard easier to understand for everyone involved in the transaction. These changes include refined language, resolved instances of inconsistent language and additional clarity of responsibility within different sections. The standards also include a new optional item found in Table A that allows for a table of conditions and potential encroachments to be placed on the face of the plat or map.

Below is an overview of the revisions to the body of the standards that surveyors, title professionals and insurers should be aware of:

1. Revised definition of Relative Positional Precision (RPP): The standards now include a refined definition of Relative Positional Precision and continues to align with accepted measurement practices. This provides additional clarity for those not familiar with the measurement techniques.
2. Additional guidance on the sourcing of title evidence where a recent title commitment is not available.
3. Examples of the types of documents that constituting quasi-public documents, which may require additional surveyor research.
4. Specifying that the fieldwork may be completed using “practices generally recognized as acceptable” for the purposes of an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey
5. Specifying that the “relationship to the ground” is an element of the characteristics of monuments.
6. Specifying that evidence of possession or occupation along the perimeter of the surveyed property should be noted, regardless of their proximity to the boundary lines.
7. In documenting evidence of utility features, clarifying that utility poles on or within 10 feet, and other utility features on or within five feet, of the surveyed property need to be identified.
8. Notation is required in instances where verbal (“parol”) statements are made by relevant landowners or occupants as to title.
9. Acknowledgement that administrative rules may be a basis for requiring recording of the plat or map.
10. An explanation that the certification of the plat or map may be extended to successors and assigns of the lender if requested. Table A of the standard continues to contain the optional elements of an ALTA/NSPS Land Survey. The following elements have been refined:
11. A note in the introduction to the section that if any of the optional items are required by law, they must be included.
12. Further explanation that features may be shown using imagery, but that the specific details of the imagery must be clarified in writing before use.
13. A newly included optional Item 20, that if selected, will appear as a table on the face of plat or map and contain a summary of the designated conditions and potential encroachments that are to be included, as well as references to their location on the map.
14. A numbering revision to make the former “Table A – Item 20”, which provided a place for items negotiated between the surveyor and the client to be listed and selected, to now be found as Table A – Item 21.

Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.