CadLapThe 2026 ALTA/NSPS standards at the drafting table: what actually changed in the drawings
The 2026 ALTA/NSPS Minimum Standard Detail Requirements took effect on February 23, 2026, superseding the 2021 standards for surveys commenced on or after that date. Most of the commentary published since has been written for attorneys and lenders. This guide is written for the people who have to put the changes on a sheet: survey drafters and the surveyors who review them.
1. Table A Item 20: the encroachment summary is now a drafting deliverable
The headline change for drafting is the new Table A Item 20. When negotiated, the surveyor must identify and locate potential encroachments: improvements crossing boundary lines, intrusions into easements, setbacks and rights-of-way, apparent third-party use without a record easement, and access that exists only through commonly owned adjacent land.
On the sheet, this works best as a summary table cross-referenced to the plotted conditions: one row per condition, with a key number that also appears at the plotted location. Two drafting rules keep it defensible. First, describe conditions physically: the fence lies 0.4 feet over the northerly line, the pavement extends into the utility easement. Second, never let the table language drift into legal conclusions. The 2026 text is explicit that the surveyor identifies conditions without expressing opinions on ownership or legal consequence, so words like encroaches should be used the way the standard uses them, and words like trespass should never appear.
2. Renumbering: the catch-all moved to Item 21
Because Item 20 is new, the negotiated catch-all items shifted to 21(a), 21(b) and so on. This is trivial until it is not: templates, proposal boilerplate and note blocks that still cite the 2021 numbering will mislabel the client's scope. Worth a one-time sweep of every ALTA template in the office.
3. Item 15: imagery is allowed, with strings attached
Revised Item 15 permits certain features to be depicted from aerial or satellite imagery, but only where the surveyor and client agree in writing, and the drawing must reference the imagery source and its date. For the drafter, that means a standard note slot: source, vendor or program, capture date, and the scope of what was taken from imagery versus located on the ground. A sheet that mixes imagery-derived and field-located features without saying which is which is the new easy way to fail a review.
4. Fieldwork notes that now land on the drawing
- Monuments: each monument description now states its relationship to the ground surface: flush, protruding, or below grade with depth. Monument note blocks need the extra clause, and crews need to be shooting the information.
- Utilities: in addition to the familiar ten-foot rule for poles, other utility features on or within five feet of the boundary are to be identified. Expect more labels near lot lines and plan label presentation accordingly.
- Possession and occupation: evidence of possession or occupation along the perimeter is noted regardless of proximity to the line or apparent conflict. More observation notes on the face of the drawing, which means the note style and placement convention matter more.
- Parol statements: verbal statements from interested landowners or occupants about title or boundary matters are now noted. These belong in the survey notes in careful, attributed language.
5. Records research: the burden shifted
Under the 2026 standards, title insurers are no longer obliged to furnish adjoining deeds; the surveyor obtains them. The current title commitment or acceptable title evidence must still be provided to the surveyor. For production workflow this changes the intake checklist: an ALTA package is not complete until the adjoiner research is in it, and a drafting partner should be flagging that gap at intake, not at delivery.
6. Smaller changes a reviewer will still catch
- Relative Positional Precision was redefined in plainer language; the measurement discipline behind it is unchanged.
- Certifications may extend to a lender's successors and assigns on request, so certification blocks need a ready variant.
- The standards now acknowledge administrative rules, not just statutes and ordinances, as sources of recording requirements, and they describe technology in terms of professionally accepted practice rather than named tools.
A drafting checklist for 2026 ALTA sheets
- Table A list uses 2026 numbering; Item 20 summary table present when negotiated, physical language only.
- Imagery note with source and date wherever Item 15 imagery was used, and a written client agreement on file.
- Monument notes state flush, protruding or below grade.
- Utility features within five feet of the boundary identified; poles within ten feet as before.
- Possession and occupation evidence noted along the full perimeter.
- Parol statements recorded in attributed, neutral language.
- Adjoiner deeds in the project file; commitment current; every Schedule B-II item plotted, listed or dispositioned.
- Certification block matches the 2026 language, with the successors-and-assigns variant available.
CadLap drafts ALTA/NSPS sheets to the 2026 requirements nightly for surveying firms across the US. If your office wants the checklist applied by people who use it every day, see the ALTA drafting service or send a job as a free trial.