Survey Types
Boundary Survey
The survey that answers one question: where does my land actually stop?
A boundary survey locates the legal corners of a parcel, marks them on the ground, and produces a signed drawing showing where the lines run. It is the most commonly ordered survey in Oklahoma and the one most people mean when they say they need a survey.
What the surveyor actually does
Field work is only part of it. Before anyone drives a pin, the surveyor pulls the record. That means your deed, the deeds of every adjoining parcel, the recorded plat if the property sits in an addition, and any prior surveys filed with the county. Around Tulsa that research happens at the county clerk’s office for whichever county the land sits in.
Then they go looking for evidence on the ground. Original iron pins, old stone corners, fence lines that have been accepted for decades, road monuments set by the county. Oklahoma boundary law gives weight to what was actually monumented on the ground, which is why an old pin can outrank a modern measurement that disagrees with it.
Where evidence is missing, the surveyor reestablishes the corner using accepted procedure and sets a new monument. You end up with physical markers you can see and a drawing that explains how they got there.
When you need one
- Before building a fence, wall, driveway or outbuilding near a line
- Buying vacant land or acreage where nothing is obviously marked
- A neighbor is using ground you believe is yours, or claims you are using theirs
- Splitting a parcel, deeding off a piece, or combining two lots
- A title company flagged a boundary problem during closing
- Applying for a permit where the city wants setbacks shown from the real line
What you get at the end
A boundary survey delivers physical monuments at the corners plus a plat of survey. The drawing shows the parcel, its dimensions, the monuments found or set, and usually any visible encroachments like a shed sitting over the line or a driveway crossing it. It carries the surveyor’s seal and signature, which is what makes it usable by a title company, a court, or a permit office.
Not the same as a mortgage inspection. A mortgage inspection report is cheaper, faster, and explicitly not a boundary survey. It does not set corners and you cannot rely on it to build a fence. Here is the difference in plain terms.
What it costs around Tulsa
Price depends on parcel size, shape, terrain, how much record research is needed, and how much evidence still exists on the ground. A platted city lot in a subdivision with good corners is straightforward. Forty acres of brush in Creek County with a description written in 1948 is not.
| Situation | What drives the price |
|---|---|
| Standard platted city lot | Recorded plat, short lines, corners often recoverable |
| Large or irregular residential lot | More corners, more line, sometimes missing monuments |
| Rural acreage | Long lines, brush clearing, section corner recovery, travel |
| Disputed or gap and overlap | Deep record research, adjoiner deeds, possible retracement of an entire section |
Rather than publish a number that will be wrong for your parcel, we have the surveyor quote you directly after looking at the legal description. More on how survey pricing works.
How long it takes
For a typical residential parcel, expect field work within one to two weeks of scheduling and the drawing a few days after that. Weather moves things. So does the county, if the records you need are old or poorly indexed. Rush work is usually possible for a fee if you are up against a closing date.
Questions worth asking your surveyor
- Will you set permanent monuments at every corner, or only at the ones I asked about?
- Does the price include a recorded plat of survey, or is that extra?
- Will you show encroachments and improvements, or only the boundary?
- If a neighbor disputes the result, what does your firm do next?