The contract is the decision document
Paragraph 6C of the Texas Real Estate Commission's current One to Four Family Residential Contract addresses the survey. If the seller's existing survey and accompanying affidavit or declaration are delivered on time, the title company and lender decide whether they will accept them. If they do not, the contract states which party bears the cost of a replacement.
The 2025 TREC form change added the T-47.1 declaration as an alternative to the notarized T-47 and changed the buyer option from "shall" to "may" obtain a survey. That is more precise than the common claim that every Texas closing requires a survey.
What the seller should find before listing
The documents requested in paragraph 6C make the existing survey and its accompanying declaration the useful starting point. Check the current contract form, then gather:
- The signed survey from the last purchase, refinance, addition, pool, or fence project.
- The legal description and title documents.
- Records of changes made after the survey date.
- Any known fence, drive, improvement, or boundary issue.
Do not alter the old survey or certify that nothing changed unless the transaction form allows you to make that declaration. Give the document to the title company early enough to review.
When a new survey is the cleaner choice
Expect a new survey question when no prior work exists, the old survey does not match the current property, improvements were added, the lender or title company rejects it, or a boundary issue must be resolved. The Texas board's land-surveyor roster can be used to verify the responsible RPLS.
Seller checklist
Use paragraph 6C of the current contract to ask which option was selected, what delivery date applies, whether the existing survey is acceptable, which declaration is needed, and who pays if replacement work is required. Those answers come from the signed transaction, not from a statewide slogan.