Whether you are acquiring land, designing improvements, or developing a residential or commercial property in Texas, land terminology can quickly become confusing. Two terms that are commonly mistaken, and often used interchangeably, are survey and plat.
“In this field, people often use these terms synonymously, but they fulfill completely different steps in the development process,” notes San Antonio-based Corey Campbell, RPLS, Geographic Discipline Leader Survey/Geospatial at Colliers Engineering & Design. “A survey gathers and documents the physical facts about the land on the ground, while a plat uses those facts to legally define how that land is divided and recorded for the future.”
Treating them as identical documents is a common mistake. A field-verified survey measures the site’s physical reality and hidden constraints, such as easements, encroachments, and rights-of-way. Conversely, a plat is an official, legally recorded blueprint that defines lots, blocks, dedicated streets, and utility corridors required by local jurisdictions. Because an approved plat depends entirely on accurate site data, a comprehensive Title Survey is almost always the required first step.
Navigating that transition from survey to recorded plat requires a complete end-to-end strategy. That is where Kelly Kephart, Senior Project Manager and Texas Platting Director for Survey and Geospatial Services at Colliers Engineering & Design, spends her daily time. Based in Houston and with 26 years of experience and over 1,000 completed plats, Kephart helps developers clear regulatory hurdles and manage the entire plating process from start to finish.
A Process That Changes With Every City Line
While the general platting path across Texas follows a familiar sequence—survey, draft, submit, address city comments, and record—the timeline and complexity vary dramatically depending on the municipality.
For example, Houston has no zoning, accepts fewer documents, and can turn a plat around in roughly two months. San Antonio is a completely different story. A routine plat there can pull comments from up to 20 city departments, requires formal certification letters, and involves public hearings and planning commission approvals. Start to finish, that process typically runs six to eight months.
“San Antonio has had their regulations set up and pretty strict for the last 50 years, and everybody else is just now catching up,” explains Kephart. She researches and discusses code with city planners, to advocate for clients and engineers, on their behalf.
Managing the Entire Job From Start to Finish
At many firms, platting is treated as a paper-pushing exercise where staff simply pass comments back and forth between a city reviewer and a drafter without understanding the underlying technical details. They often fail to recognize when a utility line needs an easement, misinterpret setback lines, or accept city comments that are not actually required by code.
Kephart’s team takes full ownership of the process from A to Z. They draw the plat, coordinate directly with clients and civil engineers, gather required documentation, manage municipal reviews, and flag critical red flags early, including encroachment agreements or right-of-way dedications. Catching these items early in the development process is vital, as missing strict platting deadlines can cost a client hundreds of thousands of dollars in project delays.
Comprehensive Survey and Platting Services
When platting is managed by professionals who can draft, defend plans before city officials, and interpret code, civil engineers are freed up to focus strictly on engineering rather than chasing signatures from one department to another.
Successful land development starts with accurate data managed by a trusted partner. Colliers Engineering & Design provides comprehensive survey and platting services throughout the state of Texas to help manage risk and accelerate approvals.
To learn more about our surveying and platting expertise, contact our Survey/Geospatial Geographic Discipline Leader, Corey Campbell.