Questions people ask a surveyor

Only a land surveyor licensed by the State of Tennessee. Our plats are prepared under and signed by a Tennessee licensed surveyor. You can check any surveyor on the state licensing board's public search.

It depends on the acreage, the terrain and tree cover, how many old corners we can find, the quality of the deed records, and travel. We quote every job for free after a look at the records, so you know the cost before anything starts. We do not publish prices because no two properties are alike.

We reply to requests by the next business day and tell you when we can schedule the field work. Research, field time and drafting depend on the records and the season. Tell us your deadline and we plan around it.

The property address, the parcel or tax map number if you have it, any deed or old survey, why you need the survey, and any dates. Gate codes and a heads-up about dogs or a difficult neighbor help too.

No. We need access to the property, so a gate code or an unlocked gate is enough. If you want to walk the lines with us afterward, say so and we will arrange it.

Yes. Blount, Knox, Jefferson and Cocke counties are regular work. Further out, call and ask; for larger jobs we travel.

A plat that is dated, signed and sealed, showing bearings and distances, the corners found or set, adjoining owners, visible easements and rights of way, and the roads and streams that touch the property. Copies go to whoever you name: your attorney, lender, builder or title company.

Corner monuments. Tennessee standards call for durable metal or concrete monuments set in the ground and marked with the surveyor's registration number or company name, so the next surveyor knows who set them and can trust them.

No. Moving, altering or removing a property corner monument is against Tennessee law, and it costs the next owner, buyer or neighbor a new survey. If a pin is in the way of a fence post or a driveway, call us before anything touches it.

Yes. We set or recover the corners and flag them, and on request we flag or stake the line between corners so a fence or clearing crew has something to follow.

Sometimes. Tennessee law expects surveyors to notify adjoining owners in writing when a survey turns up a discrepancy or a conflicting claim. If that applies to your survey, we tell you first and explain what it means.

The state does not require one, but many lenders and title companies do, and a title policy often excludes anything a survey would have shown, such as an encroachment. Ask your title company what your policy covers. For most buyers the survey is the cheapest part of the deal and the only one that shows what you are actually getting.

Tennessee does not define a lighter "mortgage inspection" product; any survey we sign meets the state minimum standards. For a closing we prepare a boundary survey that also locates the house, drive and any encroachments, and we send it to the title company on their schedule.

It is negotiable and usually set in the purchase contract. Ask your realtor. Either way, the plat belongs to whoever ordered and paid for it.

Tennessee puts no expiration date on a plat. Lenders and title companies decide whether an older one is acceptable, and any new fence, building, road or division can make it out of date.

Recorded plats are at the Register of Deeds for the county the land is in. For Sevier County that is the Register of Deeds office in Sevierville. Many residential surveys were never recorded, so call us as well; we keep records of our own work and may be able to help.

No. GIS and tax maps are reference tools drawn from deeds and aerial photos. They are often off by many feet. Never build a fence, a house or a driveway from them.

Usually, with a plat. In Tennessee, dividing land into lots smaller than five acres, or any division that needs a new road or utility construction, counts as a subdivision and needs planning approval before the Register of Deeds will record it. Smaller divisions often qualify for a shorter minor plat review.

Outside city limits, Sevier County Planning and Zoning in Sevierville. Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg each review plats for land inside their city limits. After approval, plats are recorded at the Sevier County Register of Deeds.

The planning commission meets on a monthly schedule with a submittal deadline a few weeks before each meeting, so timing depends on when the plat is ready. Minor plats may move faster. We tell you the likely calendar at the start.

No. Selling lots from an unapproved subdivision is a misdemeanor in Tennessee, even with a written metes and bounds description. Get the plat approved and recorded first.

Moving a shared line between two parcels, by agreement of both owners. It is drawn as a new plat with new legal descriptions and normally goes through the planning office before recording.

Often yes, with more planning. Sevier County has steep slope rules: the steepest lots need slope calculations from topographic mapping and a site plan prepared by a licensed surveyor or engineer before a permit. The county has been revising these rules, so ask us what applies to your lot right now.

The survey. Tennessee's septic program asks you to mark the property lines and the house site before the soil evaluation, and the permit has to be in hand before any dirt work. A boundary survey with the house site staked is the normal first step.

For land outside city limits, Sevier County Planning and Zoning. Inside Sevierville, Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg, the city's own building and planning department. The town pages on this site name the office for each place.

A survey done after the footer or foundation is in, showing where it sits against the property lines and setbacks. Lenders and inspectors often ask for one before framing continues, because that is the last cheap moment to fix a setback problem.

A boundary survey shows where your lines and corners are. A topographic survey maps the shape of the land: elevations, contours, slopes, drainage and features, for design. Builds on sloped lots usually need both, combined on one drawing.

If your lender or insurer asks for one, yes. Under current federal flood insurance rating an elevation certificate is not required to buy a policy, but it can change the premium because the insurer rates on real elevations instead of assumptions. New construction in a mapped flood zone usually needs one for the local floodplain administrator.

A land surveyor, engineer or architect licensed to certify elevations. Ours are prepared and sealed by a Tennessee licensed surveyor on the current FEMA form.

No. A completed certificate stays valid unless the building changes, and a new owner can use it. If the flood maps change, the certificate still records the elevations; the insurer applies the new map.

Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. Sevier County's flood maps have been in the process of being updated, so a property near the Little Pigeon, the French Broad or a larger creek is worth checking before you buy or build. We can check it for you.

That is a separate FEMA process, a Letter of Map Amendment, which we do not handle. An elevation certificate is usually the first step and we can explain what it shows.

If you want the fence on your land, yes. Fences built from a guess or from the county GIS map end up in court or get moved. A boundary survey with the line flagged costs less than moving a fence.

Start with a boundary survey so you know where the line is and by how much. Most disagreements end when both sides see the plat. If it goes further, we work with your attorney on the deed research, the survey and testimony. Tennessee has time limits after which long possession can matter, so do not sit on it.

It happens. Older work used different equipment and sometimes different evidence. We explain exactly what we found, what we relied on and why, in writing if you need it. If the question matters legally, your attorney will want that explanation.