What Is a Plat Map?
A plat map is the recorded survey drawing that created your lot — it shows lot lines, dimensions, easements, rights-of-way, and dedicated streets as officially filed with the county. It is the legal picture of your property boundaries. Engineers and architects pull the plat (and the underlying subdivision map) at project start to confirm what can be built where.
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Plat vs. survey vs. legal description
The plat is the recorded subdivision drawing; a boundary survey is a licensed surveyor's field-verified measurement of your specific lot; the legal description is the written text (lot/block or metes and bounds) that references them. For permitting, the site plan is drawn from the plat dimensions and verified by survey. Title reports list the plat book and page — that is how you find it at the county recorder.
What the engineer reads on it
Easements are the critical read: utility, drainage, and access easements shown on the plat restrict where structures, footings, and grading can go. Setback lines, floodplain notes, and dedicated (but unbuilt) rights-of-way also appear. Building a footing or a retaining wall inside a recorded easement is a violation the city will make you remove.
When you need a new survey
Order a current boundary survey when the plat is old and monuments may be lost, when building near a property line, when easements are unclear, or when the lender or title company requires an ALTA survey. For most residential additions, a plot plan based on the plat plus a spot survey of the existing house is enough — the full boundary survey is reserved for tight or disputed lines.
The bottom line
The plat map is the recorded legal picture of your lot — pull it first, read the easements, and get a field survey when building near lines or easements.
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