What does 'N 45° 30' E' mean on a survey?

This is a bearing, which tells you the direction of a property line. Reading it: start facing North, rotate 45 degrees and 30 minutes toward the East. Bearings always start from North or South and rotate toward East or West. The number tells you how far to rotate from that starting direction.

What is the difference between a plat and a deed?

A deed is the legal document that transfers ownership of property from one person to another. A plat is a map, recorded separately, that shows the layout of a subdivision including lot lines, dimensions, easements, and rights-of-way. Your deed often references the plat by citing a book and page number where the plat is recorded.

What does 'found 1/2 inch rebar' mean on a Florida survey?

It means the surveyor located an existing iron rebar pin at that corner during their fieldwork. 'Found' means they did not set it; it was already there from a previous survey. The size (1/2 inch) describes the diameter of the rebar. Florida surveyors note found monuments versus set monuments so you know the history of each corner marker.

What does P.O.B. mean on a survey?

P.O.B. stands for Point of Beginning. It is the starting point of the legal description. The metes and bounds description starts at the P.O.B., traces all the boundary lines in sequence, and then closes back at the P.O.B. to complete the description of the parcel.

How do I find where my property corners are on the survey drawing?

Look for small symbols at the intersections of your boundary lines, typically a dot, an X, or a small square. The legend will tell you what each symbol means: whether it is a set iron pin, a found pin, a concrete monument, or a PK nail. Each corner symbol should have a note next to it describing what was found or set at that location in the field.

How to Read a Land Survey: A Plain-English Guide

Why It Helps to Understand Your Survey

A land survey is a legal document. Most homeowners receive one at closing and put it in a drawer without looking at it closely. But knowing how to read it helps you understand your property, spot issues, and have informed conversations with surveyors, contractors, and neighbors.

You do not need to understand every technical detail. This guide covers the parts that matter most for property owners, with a focus on what you will actually encounter on a Florida residential survey.

The Parts of a Survey Drawing

A typical Florida land survey consists of a single large-format sheet (or sometimes multiple sheets for a larger property). The main elements are:

The boundary drawing: The graphic in the center or upper portion of the sheet showing your property lines, dimensions, and features
The title block: Usually in a corner, showing the property address, parcel ID, survey type, surveyor's name, license number, date, and scale
The legend: A key that explains what every symbol and line type on the drawing means
The legal description: The written text describing the property boundaries, often referencing a plat book or using metes and bounds language
Notes: Written statements clarifying what the survey does and does not show, assumptions made, and references used
The certification: A signed and sealed statement by the licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper, certifying who the survey was prepared for and what standards it meets

Understanding the Legend

Start with the legend before trying to read anything else. Surveyors use a variety of symbols and line types, and they are not standardized across the profession. What one surveyor uses to indicate a concrete monument, another may draw differently.

Common symbols you will see on Florida residential surveys:

Symbol	What It Means
Solid dot or filled circle	Property corner, usually an iron pin or rebar
Open circle or small square	Found monument (not set by this surveyor)
X in a circle	PK nail or concrete nail set at corner
CM	Concrete monument
IP	Iron pipe
IR	Iron rod or rebar
LS or PSM number	License number of the surveyor who set the monument
Dashed line	Often indicates an easement or setback line
Arrows or tick marks along a line	Often indicates a right-of-way or easement boundary

If you see a notation like "FIR 1/2" it means "Found Iron Rod, 1/2 inch diameter" and the surveyor located that existing pin during fieldwork. "SIR" means "Set Iron Rod," meaning the surveyor placed a new marker at that corner.

Reading Bearings and Distances

Each boundary line on your survey has two pieces of information: a bearing and a distance. Together, they describe the direction and length of that line.

Distances

Distances on Florida surveys are measured in feet and decimal feet. A line labeled 125.50' is 125 feet and 6 inches long (since 0.50 feet equals 6 inches). Distances are always the horizontal measurement, not a slope measurement.

Bearings

A bearing describes the direction of a line. Bearings are written in a format like N 45° 30' 15" E. Here is how to read it:

The first letter is either N (North) or S (South). This is your starting direction.
The degrees, minutes, and seconds tell you how far to rotate from that starting direction.
The last letter is either E (East) or W (West), telling you which way to rotate.

So N 45° 30' 15" E means: start facing North, rotate 45 degrees, 30 minutes, and 15 seconds toward the East. A bearing of S 88° 00' 00" W means start facing South and rotate almost all the way toward West, nearly due West.

Florida surveys sometimes use azimuths instead of bearings. An azimuth is measured from 0 to 360 degrees clockwise from North. An azimuth of 90 is due East, 180 is due South, 270 is due West. If you see numbers over 90 without N/S/E/W notation, you are looking at azimuths.

What Metes and Bounds Means

Many Florida properties, especially older ones and rural parcels outside of recorded subdivisions, use a metes and bounds description in the deed and on the survey. This is simply a written description that traces the property boundary line by line, starting at a known point and returning to it.

A simple example: "Beginning at the Northeast corner of Section 12, Township 28 South, Range 19 East; thence S 00° 15' 30" W, 330.00 feet; thence N 89° 44' 30" W, 660.00 feet; thence N 00° 15' 30" E, 330.00 feet; thence S 89° 44' 30" E, 660.00 feet to the Point of Beginning."

This traces a rectangle: go south 330 feet, then west 660 feet, then north 330 feet, then east 660 feet back to start. The survey drawing shows this same path graphically, which is usually much easier to follow than the written description.

If your property is in a platted subdivision, your deed likely references a lot and block number instead of metes and bounds. The plat itself contains the metes and bounds for the entire subdivision.

Finding Your Property Corners on the Drawing

Your property corners are the most important points on the drawing. To find them:

Look at the boundary of your parcel on the drawing. Every point where two boundary lines meet is a corner.
Each corner should have a symbol. Check the legend to identify what type of marker is at each corner.
Next to each corner symbol, you will see a note like "FIR 1/2" (found iron rod) or "SIR 1/2 PSM 1234" (set iron rod, capped with surveyor license 1234).
On the ground, these corners are marked with metal pins or concrete monuments. Some may be at grade level, others may be slightly buried.

The corners define where your property legally ends. The boundary lines connecting them are the property lines themselves.

Common Florida Survey Notations

Florida surveys use some notations you may not see elsewhere. Here are the ones that appear most often:

PSM: Professional Surveyor and Mapper, the Florida license designation for a licensed land surveyor
O.R.B.: Official Records Book, referencing a document recorded in the county official records
P.B.: Plat Book, the book number where the subdivision plat is recorded
Pg. or Pg: Page number in the plat book
R/W: Right-of-way, the strip of land dedicated for a road or utility corridor
U.E.: Utility easement, an area where a utility company has the right to access and maintain infrastructure
D.E.: Drainage easement, reserved for stormwater flow or drainage infrastructure
T.P.O.B.: True Point of Beginning, used when the legal description starts at a different reference point before reaching the actual property boundary
N.T.S.: Not to scale. Some portions of the drawing, particularly inset details, may not be drawn to the same scale as the main diagram.

Easements on the Drawing

Easements are rights that someone else has to use part of your property for a specific purpose. They appear on surveys as shaded areas, dashed lines, or hatched zones. The survey will typically note the type of easement and reference the document where it is recorded.

Common easements you might see on a Florida survey:

Utility easements: Allow power, water, sewer, gas, or cable companies to install and maintain infrastructure
Drainage easements: Preserve stormwater flow paths across private property
Access easements: Give a neighboring property owner the right to cross your land
Conservation easements: Restrict development in designated areas, common in Florida near wetlands and preserves

You can build over some easements and not others. Before placing any structure in an easement area, check with the easement holder and your local building department.

The Scale Bar and North Arrow

Every survey drawing includes a north arrow showing which direction is north on the drawing, and a scale bar showing what a given distance on paper represents in real-world feet. If a scale bar shows one inch equals 30 feet, you can use a ruler on the drawing to measure approximate distances.

Note that the north shown on a survey is often not exactly true north or magnetic north. Surveyors may use the plat's assumed north or a state plane coordinate bearing. The drawing will note which north reference was used.

Find licensed surveyors near you by browsing the directory by county, where you can connect with professionals who can answer questions about your specific survey.