OFFICIAL SITE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Survey Section - Standard Scope of Work
Current Scope of Survey Services – Effective July 1, 2023
Thank you for your interest in New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program. The current Scope of Survey Services became effective July 1, 2023. This document provides the standard detail requirements for all NJDEP Green Acres Surveys. This edition is intended to be a useful and inclusive manual, incorporating all material that was formerly part of a separate document detailing policies for approval of survey. It includes guidance regarding use of GPS and reporting of coordinate values. (A list of what has changed from the 2021 Scope of Survey Services is available here.)
Changes in requirements for NJ DEP Green Acres Surveys over the years assure a more consistent format and presentation of information as to the many matters which might be discoverable from survey and inspection of real property, and which may or not be evidenced by the public records.
The survey plan serves as the compiled record of field conditions at the time of the survey and the corresponding metes and bounds deed description that calls for the survey, following recordation of the deed, removes the parcel from development pressure by assuring that it is preserved as public open space. Since the specific content and format needs of the Green Acres Program and others who are acquiring lands for a for the same purpose are not fully met by other published standards such as the minimum land survey standards and requirements by NJSA 45:8–27 et seq. and NJAC 13:40-1.1 et seq., even when supplemented by the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements of ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys, specific standards were necessary to insure that a similar work product would be produced no matter which surveyor completed the work.
The earliest standards were written in 1980, updated several times over the years that followed. Essentially, the requirements were expanded to address issues as they were encountered so that the State of New Jersey, the seller of the property, the title insurer, and any acquisition partners who rely on surveyors to conduct surveys and prepare corresponding but separate metes and bounds deed descriptions could be assured that the work would be of professional quality and appropriately uniform, complete, and accurate.
To that end, and in the interests of the general public, the surveying profession, and title insurers, the State of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program has further enhanced previous versions of their Green Acres Scope of Work for Professional Land Surveying Services by incorporating the efforts of the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors, Inc. (NSPS), who jointly promulgated minimum standard of performance for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys.
The Minimum Standard Detail Requirements of ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys (used by permission; currently effective version dated February 23, 2021) served as the model for the present organization of the Green Acres Scope of Work, primarily in a effort to provide a broader base of reference for the many surveyors already familiar with the format of the ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys. New Jersey statutory and regulatory survey requirements, applicable sections of ALTA/NSPS detail requirements and agency-specific requirements are incorporated herein to more fully address NJDEP/Green Acres Program survey needs.
2023 Scope of Survey Services
The Green Acres Scope of Survey Services includes information about content, format, and final deliverables. This is the document to which all surveys for State land acquisitions (either fee or easement) must conform, and which any surveys that will involve Green Acres funding or participation must conform, including surveys for local units and non–profit organizations.
The entire Scope is downloadable as a single file.
We have provided the following Sample Forms from Section 10 of the Scope of Survey Services as Word documents to simplify their use:
For surveys for State land acquisitions:
For surveys for nonprofit or local land acquisitions:
For a summary of minimum requirements for all NJDEP surveys, please click here. (PDF)