When you purchase a home, you receive what’s called a plat map among all the other paperwork pertaining to the property. This document contains important information about the neighborhood. It’s drawn to scale and shows features like boundary lines, flood zones, nearby streets, and easements or rights of way. To learn more about these maps and the purposes they serve, take a look at the overview below.

What’s the Purpose of a Plat Map?

Created and maintained by licensed land surveyors, plat maps are like property blueprints that contain detailed information about a tract of land that multiple parties have a stake in. For example, a plat map is required when a piece of land is going to be subdivided into lots to build many homes, or if the land is going to be made into a public location like a park. 

Plat maps serve a number of purposes. In addition to providing an accurate overview of the features within a piece of land, such as boundary lines and access ways, they can also be used to prevent trespassing on private property, as well as ensure public use land remains public, property owners have access to utilities, and all zoning rules and restrictions are being followed by lot owners.

Who Needs to Use a Plat Map?

People who work on large-scale development projects, including real estate agents, oil and gas companies, and land developers, rely on plat maps to show them property dimensions, boundary lines, and other elements relevant to the land they plan to build on.  

But the information that plat maps contain can also be useful for homeowners. For example, if you’re getting ready to sell a home, you’ll need the property dimensions and divisions detailed in the plat map for the listing.

Or, if you’re thinking about building a storage shed on the property, you’ll need to check the plat map for boundary lines. Otherwise, you might accidentally end up building the shed on your neighbor’s land.

To learn more about plat maps and how they can help you as a homeowner, get in touch with Flynn & CYR Land Surveying in Berlin, CT. For more than 30 years, this licensed land surveying business has been providing a wide range of services to homeowners, construction workers, and landowners throughout Kensington and the surrounding areas. In addition to property line, boundary line, and FEMA surveys, they also provide hydrographic and subdivision surveys. Visit their website to learn more about their services or call (860) 828-7886 to speak with a surveyor today.