Which States Require a Survey to Be Recorded

In much of the western United States the survey does not end when the plat lands in your inbox. The surveyor has a statutory duty to file it with the county, on a clock that starts at fieldwork rather than at delivery, and in three states a county surveyor examines the map before it is accepted. This page sets out what each state requires, what the statute calls the document, what triggers the obligation, how many days there are and what the county charges, with the citation for every row. We have read the statute in 13 states and the fee schedule in 9. The other 37 states are not researched, and this page says nothing about them.

States checked13 of 50
Any boundary survey4
Conditional8
Corners only1
Tightest deadline45 days, Oregon
Loosest deadline365 days, Colorado
Filing fee spread$5 to $1,299

The Table

Sorted by deadline, tightest first. "Any boundary survey" means the statute imposes the duty on the survey itself, with no discrepancy test to argue about. "Conditional" means it fires only when the survey sets a corner or contradicts what is already of record. "Corners only" means the state wants a corner document rather than a survey map.

State Document Trigger Days Statute Filing fee
Oregon survey map Any boundary survey 45 ORS 209.250 $475
New Mexico boundary survey plat Any boundary survey 60 NMSA 61-23-28.2, 61-23-33 Not researched
Alaska Record of Survey Conditional 90 AS 34.65.030, 34.65.040, 34.65.050 Not researched
Arizona Record of Survey Conditional 90 A.R.S. 33-105 $24-$44
California Record of Survey Conditional 90 Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 8762, 8773 $711-$1,299
Idaho Record of Survey Conditional 90 Idaho Code 55-1904 $5-$15
Nebraska Record of Survey Any boundary survey 90 Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-8,122.01 Not researched
Nevada Record of Survey Conditional 90 NRS 625.340 $17-$27
Utah map of boundary survey Any boundary survey 90 Utah Code 17-23-17 $10-$40
Washington Record of Survey Conditional 90 RCW 58.09.040 $424
Wyoming Corner File Corners only 90 W.S. 33-29-903 (Corner Perpetuation and Filing Act), 33-29-801 Not researched
Montana Certificate of Survey Conditional 180 MCA 76-3-404 $25-$30
Colorado land survey plat Conditional 365 C.R.S. 38-50-101, 38-53-104 $10-$40

Every citation was read on 2026-09-09. Statutes are amended: confirm current wording before relying on a row. Filing fees are read from the county schedule or the statute cited under each state below, for 9 of the 13 states; they are the fee to file, not the cost of producing the map. "Not researched" means we have not looked, not that the filing is free.

The Fee Splits the States in Two, and Not by Geography

The obvious guess is that recording costs more in expensive states. It does not. What decides the fee is whether a county surveyor has to examine the map before it is recorded, or whether it simply gets filed.

Examined first: hundreds of dollars

  • Oregon $475
  • California $711-$1,299
  • Washington $424

A licensed county surveyor checks the mathematics and the compliance of every sheet before it is accepted, and returns it if it fails. Los Angeles County even publishes a resubmittal fee of $221.70 per sheet for maps needing extensive re-examination.

Simply recorded: tens of dollars

  • Arizona $24-$44
  • Idaho $5-$15
  • Nevada $17-$27
  • Utah $10-$40
  • Montana $25-$30
  • Colorado $10-$40

The recorder indexes the map and files it. Nevada, Idaho and Montana fix the amount by statute so it is identical in every county; Arizona, Utah and Colorado leave it to the county, within a range that stays small.

Which means the fee is a poor guide to what the filing actually costs you. In the recorder states almost the whole expense is the surveyor's time drafting the plat to the county's format, and no firm publishes a price for that. We do not publish one either, because we would be inventing it. What this table can tell you honestly is the fee your surveyor will pass through, and whether an examination step stands between the survey and the record.

Why "Conditional" Usually Means "Yes" on an ALTA Survey

Read the conditional statutes and they all turn on roughly the same hinge: the duty fires when the surveyor sets, resets or restores a boundary corner, or when the survey contradicts a map already of record. It is easy to read that as an exception that will probably not apply to you. On a lender-driven ALTA survey it usually does apply, and the reason is Table A item 1.

Item 1 is Monuments: monuments placed at all major corners of the boundary unless they are already marked or referenced. Of the 7 lender programmes in our requirements database, 7 require it. All of them. So the ordinary commercial ALTA survey sets monuments by design, and setting monuments is exactly what the conditional statutes are looking for. Budget for the filing rather than hoping to fall through the exception.

Nebraska removes the argument entirely. Its statute lists the survey types that must be filed and names "American Land Title Association and National Society of Professional Surveyors land title survey" among them, alongside subdivisions, replats and lot splits. It is the only statute we found that names this survey type outright.

The schedule risk is larger than the money. Deadlines run from the completion of fieldwork or the setting of monuments, not from the day you receive the plat, and they run from 45 to 365 days across these states. A survey delivered three weeks before closing can still have an unfulfilled statutory filing attached to it. If the recorded document matters to your title company or your lender, ask when it will be filed, not merely whether it will be.

State by State

Oregon

Any boundary survey

Survey map filed with the county surveyor. Due within 45 days of establishing or reestablishing the boundary monument.

Mandatory whenever a registered professional land surveyor establishes or reestablishes a boundary monument. There is no discrepancy test to fail: monumenting the boundary is the trigger.

Filing fee: $475 to file a survey in both Washington County and Multnomah County, the latter adding $50 per page from page four. Washington County also takes an $860 deposit before assessing the fee. Washington County, OR, Survey Payments and Fees, effective 2026-07-01 · Multnomah County Surveyor's Office, Fees and Deposits

All in: One practising surveyor publishes $1,500 to $2,000 as what the CA and OR Record of Survey requirement adds to a job, all in. ALTALandSurvey.com, recorded here as the alta-land-survey provider row and verified on-site 2026-08-02. First-person commentary from one practitioner, not market data and not a published tariff. It is the only corroboration found for any of the five all-in figures this file used to carry, and it covers only California and Oregon.

ORS 209.250 · ALTA survey cost in Oregon · Oregon survey firms

New Mexico

Any boundary survey

Boundary survey plat recorded with the county clerk. Due within 60 days of completion of the survey.

A boundary survey that shows existing tracts of record and creates no division of land must still be recorded, titled "boundary survey" and carrying the surveyor's printed certification. Surveys that do create a division follow the Subdivision Act on the same clock. Surveys in or bordering a community land grant additionally require certified-mail notice to the grant's trustees before recording, and a plat recorded without proof of that notice is not a valid filing.

NMSA 61-23-28.2, 61-23-33 · ALTA survey cost in New Mexico · New Mexico survey firms

Alaska

Conditional

Record of Survey, plus a Monument Record. Due within 90 days of completion of the survey.

A record of survey is mandatory when the survey discloses material evidence or a physical change not on a recorded plat, a material discrepancy with a plat of record, or evidence suggesting alternate boundary positions. A monument record is separately required whenever the surveyor establishes, reestablishes, restores or uses a monument as control, unless it is already substantially described in a filed record.

AS 34.65.030, 34.65.040, 34.65.050 · ALTA survey cost in Alaska · Alaska survey firms

Arizona

Conditional

Record of Survey. Due within 90 days of completion of the survey.

Mandatory for a survey that establishes points or lines relating to land boundaries where it discloses a material discrepancy not appearing on a map already recorded with the county recorder, county engineer, ADOT or the BLM, or evidence that by reasonable analysis might result in alternate positions of lines or points.

Filing fee: $24 for the first image plus $20 for each additional image, for a survey map at 18x24 or 24x36 inches. Pima County Recorder, recording fee schedule, section VI Maps and Plats

A.R.S. 33-105 · ALTA survey cost in Arizona · Arizona survey firms

California

Conditional

Record of Survey, plus a Corner Record for PLSS corners. Due within 90 days of setting boundary monuments or completing the field survey, whichever is first.

Mandatory when the field survey discloses material evidence or a physical change not on the record, a material discrepancy with a recorded map, or evidence that by reasonable analysis might put lines or points somewhere else. A separate Corner Record is mandatory for every public land survey corner and accessory found, set, reset or used as control in any survey.

Filing fee: $711 first sheet plus $119 each additional in San Diego County; $745.20 to examine plus $13 to record a one-sheet map in Los Angeles County; $1,299 flat in Santa Clara County. Corner records: $18 in Los Angeles County, $15 in Santa Clara County, no charge in San Diego County. San Diego County, Office of the County Surveyor, Land Survey Review Fees, effective 2026-07-15 · Los Angeles County Public Works, Records of Survey Examination Fee (County Code 21.20.080), effective 2026-07-01 · Santa Clara County, Planning and Development surveyor fee schedule

All in: One practising surveyor publishes $1,500 to $2,000 as what the CA and OR Record of Survey requirement adds to a job, all in. ALTALandSurvey.com, recorded here as the alta-land-survey provider row and verified on-site 2026-08-02. First-person commentary from one practitioner, not market data and not a published tariff. It is the only corroboration found for any of the five all-in figures this file used to carry, and it covers only California and Oregon.

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 8762, 8773 · ALTA survey cost in California · California survey firms

Idaho

Conditional

Record of Survey. Due within 90 days of completing the survey.

Mandatory on any of five triggers: a material discrepancy with previous surveys of record, boundary lines or corners not previously existing or of record, monumenting a previously unmonumented corner of record, evidence varying from the public land survey record or a lost or obliterated corner, or monuments set at easement or lease area corners.

Filing fee: $5 per page, set by statute. Idaho Code 55-1909

Idaho Code 55-1904 · ALTA survey cost in Idaho · Idaho survey firms

Nebraska

Any boundary survey

Record of Survey filed in the survey record repository. Due within 90 days of completion of the survey.

Nebraska is the one state whose statute names this survey type outright: an "American Land Title Association and National Society of Professional Surveyors land title survey" is listed alongside subdivisions, replats, lot splits and irregular tract surveys as a survey that must be filed. Any survey referencing the Public Land Survey System is covered too. There is no discrepancy test to argue about.

Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-8,122.01 · ALTA survey cost in Nebraska · Nebraska survey firms

Nevada

Conditional

Record of Survey. Due within 90 days of establishing the points or lines.

Mandatory when the survey discloses a boundary line adjustment, new parcel boundaries, material evidence or a material discrepancy against the record, evidence suggesting alternate positions, or newly established lines not shown on existing records.

Filing fee: $17 for the first page plus $10 for each additional page, set by statute and the same in every county. NRS 625.370

NRS 625.340 · ALTA survey cost in Nevada · Nevada survey firms

Utah

Any boundary survey

Map of boundary survey. Due within 90 days of establishing or reestablishing the boundary.

Mandatory for every land surveyor making a boundary survey to establish or reestablish a boundary line, or to gather data for a map showing one. No discrepancy test applies. Failing to file is an infraction, and the state board may revoke the licence.

Filing fee: $40 per page in Summit County. Counties set their own: reported schedules run from about $10 to $40 per sheet. Summit County, UT, Recorder / Surveyor fees, survey filing under Utah Code 17-73-103

Utah Code 17-23-17 · ALTA survey cost in Utah · Utah survey firms

Washington

Conditional

Record of Survey. Due within 90 days of establishing, reestablishing or restoring the corner.

Permissive in general ("a land surveyor may file"), but mandatory after establishing, reestablishing or restoring a corner on a boundary between two or more ownerships or a General Land Office corner, and when the survey shows corners materially varying from the record, new property corners, an ambiguous description, or a reestablished lost government corner.

Filing fee: $423.50 for the first page plus $5 for each additional page in King County. King County Recorder's Office, surveys, plats and condos fee table, effective 2024-01-01

RCW 58.09.040 · ALTA survey cost in Washington · Washington survey firms

Wyoming

Corners only

Corner File (no general record of survey requirement). Due within 90 days of the corner work.

Wyoming does not require a record of survey for an ordinary boundary survey. What it does require is a Corner File for every public land survey corner and accessory established, reestablished, monumented, remonumented, restored, rehabilitated, perpetuated or used as control in any survey. Any map or plat filed in a public office must be certified by a registered surveyor.

W.S. 33-29-903 (Corner Perpetuation and Filing Act), 33-29-801 · ALTA survey cost in Wyoming · Wyoming survey firms

Montana

Conditional

Certificate of Survey. Due within 180 days of completion of the survey.

Mandatory when the survey provides material evidence not on any map filed with the county clerk and recorder or in BLM records, reveals a material discrepancy, discloses evidence suggesting alternate locations of lines or points, or establishes lines not shown on a recorded map that cannot be worked out from the map without trigonometry. Preliminary surveys and surveys destined for a subdivision plat are exempt.

Filing fee: $25 plus 50 cents per tract or lot, set by statute for the county clerk. MCA 7-4-2631, fees of county clerk

MCA 76-3-404 · ALTA survey cost in Montana · Montana survey firms

Colorado

Conditional

Land survey plat deposit, plus a Monument Record. Due within 365 days of accepting or setting the monument in the field.

A surveyor who accepts a monument during a monumented land survey must prepare and deposit a plat if that monument is not already of record in the county. Separately, a monument record must go to the state board for any PLSS corner or federal control monument used, unless it is already substantially described in a filed record.

Filing fee: County-set deposit fee, from $10 in Douglas County to $40 per page in Eagle County. C.R.S. 38-50-101 caps it at the subdivision plat recording fee in C.R.S. 30-1-103(2)(f). C.R.S. 38-50-101(4)(a), which sets the cap · Douglas County Clerk and Recorder, flat fee schedule, effective 2025-07-01

C.R.S. 38-50-101, 38-53-104 · ALTA survey cost in Colorado · Colorado survey firms

Common Questions

Does an ALTA survey have to be recorded?

It depends on the state, and in 13 of them we have read the statute. 4 require a filing after any boundary survey. 8 require one only when the survey sets a boundary corner or contradicts the record, which on a lender-driven ALTA survey is usually what happens anyway. Nebraska is the clearest case: its statute names an "American Land Title Association and National Society of Professional Surveyors land title survey" outright as a survey that must be filed.

How long does a surveyor have to file the record of survey?

Ninety days is the most common deadline. The range across the states we checked runs from 45 days in Oregon to 365 days in Colorado. The clock usually starts at completion of the field survey or at the moment monuments are set, not at the date you receive the plat, so a filing can still be outstanding after your closing.

Why does a conditional requirement still end up applying to me?

Because of Table A item 1. It puts monuments at the boundary corners, and every lender programme we track requires it. In the 8 conditional states the trigger is generally the setting or resetting of a boundary corner, so selecting item 1 is what trips the obligation. Treat the filing as part of the cost of the survey rather than an edge case.

What does recording the survey cost?

The filing fee is published, and it splits the states in two. Where a county surveyor has to examine the map before it is recorded, it runs into the hundreds: $711 for the first sheet in San Diego County, $475 in Washington County Oregon, $424 for the first page in King County Washington. Where the survey is simply recorded, it is trivial: $17 in Nevada and $5 a page in Idaho, both fixed by statute. Across the 9 states we have fee schedules for, the range is $5 to $1,299. What none of that includes is drafting the plat to the county's format, which is the surveyor's time and which no firm publishes a price for.

My state is not on this list. Does that mean there is no requirement?

No. It means we have not read that state's statute yet. We publish a state only once we have the statutory text in hand, so the absence of a state here is a gap in our research rather than a finding about the law. Ask your surveyor, who is licensed in that state and carries the obligation personally.

Method and Limits

  • Each row was read from the statute linked in the table, on 2026-09-09. Where the statutory language distinguishes permissive from mandatory filing, the distinction is preserved: Washington's chapter opens with "a land surveyor may file" and only becomes mandatory on specific triggers, so it is recorded as conditional rather than as a blanket requirement.
  • Filing fees were read on 2026-09-09 from the county fee schedule or the statute linked beside each state. They replaced a single hand-set "recording and preparation" figure per state, and going looking for a source for those figures mostly falsified them: they ran $1,800 in California down to $800 in Arizona, a smooth west-coast gradient, against real fees of $711 to $1,299 in California and $17 in Nevada. Two survived. A practising surveyor publishes $1,500 to $2,000 all in for the California and Oregon requirement, and that is shown on those two rows, labelled as one practitioner's commentary. Washington, Nevada and Arizona had nothing behind them, so their figures were dropped rather than kept, and no all-in number is published for any state without a source.
  • 37 states are not researched. They are absent from this page rather than marked "no requirement", because we have not looked. Nothing here should be read as a finding that a state has no rule.
  • The trigger, deadline and citation for every state live in alta-survey-factors.json in this repository with a per-row verification date, so the 13 state cost pages and this page cannot disagree.
  • This is not legal advice. Your surveyor holds the statutory duty personally, is licensed in the state, and is the right person to confirm what will be filed and when.

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