An ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey comes with a list of 21 optional items called Table A. These items add extra work and detail beyond the base survey. Picking the right ones for a property takes some thought. Picking the wrong ones wastes money or leaves out data a lender needs.
Match Table A Selection to the Planned Use of the Property
Table A is not a form where you check every box. Some buyers ask for all 21 items out of habit. That drives up the fee and adds time to the survey without adding much use.
Under the 2026 ALTA/NSPS standards, Table A items are optional unless a law or regulation requires them. The buyer, lender, title company, and surveyor can also negotiate the scope of each item. A farm purchase does not need the same items as a shopping center sale.
Before picking items, think about a few things:
- What is the property being used for now, and what will it be used for later?
- Does the lender have a list of required items?
- Does the title company want anything specific shown on the survey?
- Are there site conditions, like existing buildings or shared access, that call for a closer look?
A vacant lot bought for future construction may only need a handful of items. A working retail center bought for redevelopment may need many more. Talk with the surveyor early. They can tell you which items fit the deal and which ones add cost without adding value.
Consider Item 6 When Zoning and Setback Data Matter to the Transaction
Item 6 covers zoning. It has two parts.
Item 6(a) asks the surveyor to note the zoning classification, use restrictions, and other requirements tied to the property, based on a zoning report or letter given to the surveyor.
Item 6(b) covers building setbacks, height limits, floor-space restrictions, and parking counts required by zoning, again based on that same zoning report or letter.
This item matters most on commercial deals. If you’re buying a property to redevelop, add on to a building, or change its use, zoning limits can shape what you’re allowed to build. A buyer planning a new addition needs to know the setback lines before design work starts.
Under the 2026 standard, the surveyor cannot list or plot this zoning information without a property-specific zoning report or letter. That report has to come from a zoning professional, a title company product, or the local jurisdiction. The surveyor is not the source of zoning research. They plot what the report tells them.
If your deal does not involve new construction, a change in use, or an addition, Item 6 may not be worth the added cost.
Use Items 7, 8, and 9 When the Existing Site Layout Affects Due Diligence
Three items focus on what already exists on the ground.
Item 7 covers the dimensions and footprint of buildings on the property. This tells a buyer the exact size and placement of structures, which matters for square footage disputes, insurance values, or renovation planning.
Item 8 covers substantial features observed during the survey, such as retaining walls, cemeteries, or other visible site conditions that could affect use or value.
Item 9 covers parking. It asks the surveyor to count striped parking spaces and note the type, such as regular, handicap, or loading spaces.
These three items come up often on developed commercial property. Think of retail centers, office buildings, industrial sites, or apartment complexes. A buyer looking at an older shopping center wants to know the exact building footprint before signing a lease amendment. A buyer looking at an apartment complex wants a real parking count, not the number from an old site plan that may not match what’s built.
For raw land or a single-family home purchase, these items usually add little. Save them for properties where the physical layout drives the deal.
Look Beyond the Parcel With Items 14, 17, and 18
Some Table A items look past the boundary lines and into the area around the property. Three worth knowing:
Item 14 asks the surveyor to measure the distance from the property to the nearest street intersection. This helps with access planning and can matter for signage rules, traffic studies, or simply describing the site in a deal.
Item 17 covers two things: any proposed changes to street right-of-way lines, if that information is available from the local jurisdiction, and any recent street or sidewalk work the surveyor observes in the field. A pending road widening project could take a strip of frontage. A buyer planning a new driveway or entrance wants to know about that ahead of time.
Item 18 extends the survey to plottable offsite easements that benefit the property, when those easements are disclosed in documents given to or found by the surveyor. This applies to properties that depend on rights outside their own boundary, such as a shared driveway, a utility line crossing a neighbor’s land, or an access easement across an adjoining parcel.
These items fit properties where something outside the parcel affects value, access, or future plans. A landlocked parcel that depends on an easement for its only entrance is a clear case for Item 18.
Decide Whether Item 20 Will Make Potential Encroachments Easier to Review
Item 20 is new under the current standards and works differently than most other Table A items. It calls for the surveyor to summarize certain observed or otherwise identified conditions and potential encroachments in a table on the face of the survey, in addition to showing them graphically.
This can cover boundary line conflicts, documented rights-of-way or easements, applicable setback issues, and certain access or adjoining-use conditions.
The value of Item 20 is speed. A buyer, lender, title reviewer, or attorney can scan one table instead of studying the whole drawing line by line to spot problem areas. On a busy commercial site with several buildings, fences, and shared drives, that table can save real review time.
One point matters here. The surveyor summarizing a condition in the Item 20 table is not the same as a legal opinion on who owns what. The surveyor reports what they observed or found in the record. Whether that observation creates a legal claim is a question for an attorney or the title company, not the surveyor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to select every Table A item for an ALTA survey?
No. Table A items are optional. The right selections depend on the property, the transaction, any lender or title requirements, and applicable jurisdictional rules.
Can a lender or title company tell me which Table A items to request?
Yes. The ALTA/NSPS standards expect the client, insurer, and lender to weigh in, so their requirements should be worked out before the survey scope is set.
Can the wording of a Table A item be changed for a specific project?
Yes. Under the 2026 standards, the wording and fee for any of the first 20 items can be negotiated between the surveyor and the client, within applicable requirements. Additional negotiated items fall under Item 21.
Which Table A item can help identify possible encroachment concerns more clearly?
Item 20. It summarizes specified potential encroachments and access-related conditions in a table and shows them on the survey when observed or otherwise identified.
Should Table A items be chosen before the surveyor begins fieldwork?
Yes, generally. The 2026 standards state that the survey request must specify which optional Table A items, if any, are included, so the surveyor knows the scope of work before starting.
