Schedule B Exceptions on Your ALTA Survey
Schedule B-II of a title commitment lists everything the insurer will not insure against — easements, rights of way, covenants, access limitations. The main job of an ALTA survey is to take that list and answer, one item at a time, "where is this, and does it touch my property?" This page covers what you have to give the surveyor to make that possible, what happens to exceptions that cannot be drawn, and why exception count moves the price.
The Commitment Is an Input, Not a Deliverable
Section 4 of the 2026 standards is titled Records Research, and it is written as a list of things the surveyor must be provided with. Four items:
- Complete copies of the most recent title commitment — or, where no commitment exists, other title evidence satisfactory to the insurer.
- The current record description of the property. For an original survey of land never separately described, the description of the parent parcel.
- Recorded easements benefitting the property (appurtenant — rights you hold over someone else's land).
- Recorded easements, servitudes or covenants burdening the property (rights others hold over yours).
Optionally, you can supply unrecorded documents you want the survey to reference. Note the asymmetry that catches people out: it is not enough to send the commitment. The commitment refers to recorded documents by book and page; the surveyor needs the documents themselves, because the plotted location comes from the description inside each one.
If those documents are not provided, §4 says the surveyor must instead perform whatever research the jurisdiction statutorily requires, plus whatever is negotiated in the contract. That is billable work you could have avoided, and it is slower than you handing over a file you already have.
What Changed in 2026
Under the 2021 standards, §4.C.i listed "the current record descriptions of any adjoiners to the property to be surveyed, except where such adjoiners are lots in platted, recorded subdivisions" among the documents the surveyor must be provided with. The official 2021-to-2026 redline shows that item struck. The surveyor still needs adjoiner information — §6.B.vii requires contiguity, gaps and overlaps to be shown — so obtaining it now sits with the surveyor rather than arriving with the title evidence.
The practical effect for a borrower is timing. Get the commitment and its referenced documents to the surveyor early. Also note §2: your survey request must specify that a "2026 ALTA/NSPS LAND TITLE SURVEY" is required and which Table A items are included. And where entry is needed, §2 puts the obligation on you: "the client shall secure permission for the surveyor to enter upon the property to be surveyed, adjoining properties, or offsite easements."
How Exceptions Reach the Drawing
Under §6.C.i the plat must show the location, width and recording information of every plottable right of way, easement and servitude — both those burdening your property and those appurtenant to it — as evidenced by the documents supplied.
Visually, this is why plats carry numbered bubbles. Each burdening matter is keyed to its Schedule B-II exception number and annotated with its recording data, so someone holding the commitment can reconcile it against the drawing without reading survey notation. Working out how those keys map to the rest of the plat is covered in how to read an ALTA survey.
A drawn easement is also cross-checked against what is physically there. §5.E.i requires the surveyor to locate "evidence of any easements or servitudes burdening the surveyed property as disclosed in the documents provided to or obtained by the surveyor pursuant to Section 4 and observed in the process of conducting the fieldwork" — so a documented easement and the visible infrastructure inside it are both recorded, and can be compared. A sewer easement whose strip contains its manholes agrees with the ground; one whose manholes fall outside the strip does not. The surveyor will not rewrite a recorded document over it, but §6.C.ii(c) requires a note where there was no observed evidence at all, and a mismatch is exactly the sort of thing a buyer wants surfaced before closing.
The Eight Conditions: Why an Exception May Have No Line
This is the part that generates the most client questions, and the standards answer it precisely. §6.C.ii requires a summary of all rights of way, easements and other survey-related matters burdening the property, listing each one's record information and whether it lies within or crosses the property — plus a note for each of the following conditions where present:
| §6.C.ii | Condition (per the standard) | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | its location is shown | The normal case. It is drawn, dimensioned and keyed to the exception number. |
| (b) | its location cannot be determined from the record document | The document exists but describes no locatable strip — the most common reason an exception has no line on the plat. |
| (c) | there was no observed evidence at the time of the fieldwork | Nothing visible on the ground corroborated it. The easement may still be valid. |
| (d) | it is a blanket easement | It burdens the whole parcel rather than a defined strip, so there is nothing to draw. |
| (e) | it is not on, does not touch, and/or does not affect, the surveyed property | Based on the record description, it lands elsewhere. Useful for clearing exceptions off the commitment. |
| (f) | it limits access to an otherwise abutting right of way | An access-control line. This one has direct value consequences. |
| (g) | the documents are illegible | Common with mid-century recordings. You may need a better copy from the recorder. |
| (h) | the surveyor has information indicating that it may have been released or otherwise terminated | Clarified in 2026: easements end by several mechanisms, not only a recorded release. |
So an exception with no line on the plat is not an omission — it should carry one of these notes. If it carries neither a line nor a note, that is a genuine gap to raise with the surveyor. Where the property is made of multiple parcels, the summary must also say which parcels each matter crosses or touches.
Condition (h) reflects a 2026 clarification worth knowing: easements can terminate through several legal mechanisms, not only a recorded release. A surveyor with information suggesting termination notes it; whether the right actually ended is a question for your attorney and insurer.
When the Survey Finds Something the Commitment Missed
§6.C.viii is short and consequential. If, while preparing the survey, the surveyor becomes aware of a recorded easement not listed in the title evidence provided, they must advise the insurer before delivering the plat. Unless the insurer provides evidence that it was terminated or extinguished, the surveyor must show or explain it on the face of the plat, with a note that the insurer has been advised.
Related, §6.B.vii: where the property adjoins others, the plat must show the relationship — contiguity, gaps, overlaps — and where gaps or overlaps are found, the surveyor must disclose them to the insurer and client before or upon delivery. A gap between your parcel and your neighbour's is a strip of land neither deed covers, and it is far cheaper to discover before closing.
Why Exception Count Drives Cost and Schedule
Acreage is the cost driver everyone anticipates. Exception count is the one that surprises. Each burdening matter has to be read, located where locatable, drawn, dimensioned, keyed and summarised; each appurtenant easement has to be plotted as well, sometimes beyond the boundary (Table A Item 18). Two parcels of identical size can differ several-fold in exception count — a single greenfield tract against a downtown site assembled from historic lots with layered utility, rail and access rights.
This is the structural reason a survey quote issued before the surveyor has seen the commitment is provisional. Acreage, building count and location are known at quoting time; exception count is not. If you want a firm number, send the commitment with the request for quote. You can model the other variables with the ALTA survey cost calculator.
A Practical Checklist Before You Order
- Order the title commitment first, and ask the title company for copies of every document referenced in Schedule B, not just the schedule.
- Send the commitment, the referenced documents and the current legal description together.
- State in writing that you require a 2026 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey and list the Table A items — use the Table A configurator to match your lender.
- Arrange access permission for the property, adjoining parcels and any offsite easements — §2 makes that the client's job.
- When the plat arrives, walk Schedule B-II against it item by item and confirm every exception has either a line or a note.
- Send anything unresolved to your attorney and insurer, not to the surveyor — location is the surveyor's question, effect is not.
Section references are to the 2026 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys, effective 23 February 2026. Where a jurisdiction imposes stricter requirements, §3.B makes the stricter requirement control. This page describes the survey standard; it is not legal advice on the effect of any exception.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an ALTA survey be started without a title commitment?
Not a complete one. Section 4 of the 2026 ALTA/NSPS standards states the surveyor must be provided with complete copies of the most recent title commitment, or other title evidence satisfactory to the title insurer if a commitment is not available. Fieldwork can sometimes begin without it, but the surveyor cannot plot the Schedule B-II exceptions, cannot produce the required summary of burdening matters, and therefore cannot deliver a compliant plat. In practice a late commitment is one of the most common causes of a survey missing a closing date.
Why is one of my Schedule B exceptions not drawn on the survey?
Because it could not be located, and the standards require the surveyor to say so rather than guess. Section 6.C.ii requires a summary of every burdening right of way, easement and survey-related matter in the title evidence, with a note recording which of eight conditions applies. Those include that the location cannot be determined from the record document, that it is a blanket easement burdening the whole parcel, that the documents are illegible, that no evidence was observed in the field, or that based on the record description it does not touch the property at all. An exception with no line on the plat should always have a corresponding note.
What is a blanket easement?
A blanket easement burdens the entire parcel rather than a defined strip of it. A utility company might hold the right to run and maintain lines anywhere across the property, without the recorded document fixing where. There is nothing for the surveyor to draw, so it is flagged as a blanket easement in the summary required by Section 6.C.ii(d). It is not a defect in the survey, but it is a real title condition, because it means no part of the parcel is provably clear of that right.
What documents does my surveyor need from me?
Section 4 lists four things: complete copies of the most recent title commitment or other title evidence acceptable to the insurer; the current record description of the property, or of the parent parcel for an original survey; every recorded easement benefitting the property; and every recorded easement, servitude or covenant burdening it. Optionally, any unrecorded documents you want the survey to reference. If items are missing, the surveyor must fall back on whatever research the jurisdiction requires plus whatever is negotiated in the contract, which costs time and money you would otherwise not spend.
What happens if the surveyor finds an easement that is not in the title commitment?
Section 6.C.viii covers this directly. If the surveyor becomes aware of a recorded easement not listed in the title evidence provided, they must advise the insurer before delivering the plat. Unless the insurer produces evidence that the easement was terminated or extinguished, the surveyor must show it or explain it on the face of the plat, with a note stating that the insurer has been advised. This is one of the ways a survey adds value beyond the commitment rather than merely illustrating it.
Does the number of Schedule B exceptions affect what an ALTA survey costs?
Yes, and it is one of the least predictable cost drivers. Every burdening matter has to be read, located where locatable, drawn, dimensioned, keyed to the plat and entered in the summary — and every appurtenant easement has to be plotted too. A parcel assembled from several historic lots can carry many times the exception count of a single greenfield parcel of the same acreage. That is why a quote given before the surveyor has seen the commitment is provisional: acreage is known up front, but exception count is not.
Related Pages
Requirements verified against the official 2026 ALTA/NSPS Minimum Standard Detail Requirements (NSPS, effective 23 February 2026) on 2026-08-11.