Bock & Clark Blog

An equity level property condition assessment is a great resource when contemplating the purchase of a property and very useful in maintaining the asset by allowing for proper planning for capital improvement and the associated expenditures.

When considering an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey performed to the most current Minimum Standard Detail Requirements (2016), transaction parties must also weigh the need for any additional Optional Table A Items as part of the scope.

Consistent with ASTM by-laws, the ESA Phase I Standard is now due for review and re-approval. Updates to the E1527 standard are expected to go to a first ballot this fall with a planned new standard publication in late 2020.

In 1962, the first version of the “Minimum Standard Detail Requirements” was adopted and put into effect to standardize the survey product called the ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey. Over the years, there have been approximately ten revisions to the Minimum Standards. Learn more.

Commercial zoning reports can be completed during a pandemic. Although a small number of municipalities are closed, most planning and development departments across the country are still doing business with many working behind closed doors and/or remotely.

Within the Optional Table A Items for an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey, the definition of Item 21 is blank. It has intentionally been left blank to allow for additional information that a surveyor may be willing to provide if what is being requested is within the surveyor’s limits of expertise. Learn more.

It is now clearly defined that it is up to a professional surveyor’s judgement to address the issue of the integrity of boundary resolution. As a result, the surveyor is required to resolve the surveyed property’s boundary as a part of an ALTA Survey. Learn more.

It is in the best interest of the buyer and the tenant of a commercial property to ensure that a current ESA Phase 1 has been performed for the subject property. Environmental liability is determined by several state and federal statutes that can put the buyer and the tenant at risk if sufficient due diligence is not conducted.

The advances in drone technology are affecting countless industries in a variety of ways and land surveying is not exempt.  From package delivery to surveillance and data gathering, drone surveying is fast becoming a tool that surveyors too are incorporating into their work. 

Discussions have begun within the NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors) regarding potential revisions to the ALTA/NSPS Minimum Standard Detail Requirements. The tentative plan is to have the final version ready to be adopted by both ALTA and NSPS in the fall of 2020 and go into effect sometime in February of 2021.