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As-Built Surveys in Santa Barbara, CA | As-Built Survey Specialists

Santa Barbara Land Surveyor has spent more than 30 years documenting what actually got built, not what the plans said would get built, for permit close-out and certificate of occupancy sign-off across the South Coast. Every as-built we deliver gets tied to the same California Coordinate System control the original construction staking ran from, so a discrepancy shows up as a real, measurable number instead of a guess. That precision is what separates an as-built survey a plan checker will actually accept from a rough field sketch.

An as-built survey measures structure locations and dimensions, finished elevations, utilities, and hardscape, then checks all of it against the approved drawings, with particular attention to anything sitting near a setback or an easement. A grading and pad certification works the same way for a building pad: we confirm the constructed elevation matches the approved grading plan before the foundation goes in, catching a problem while it is still cheap to fix. What follows covers what we measure, how this survey closes out a permit or a lender's file, and how the same data feeds a future design.

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What an As-Built Survey Covers

  • What an As-Built Survey Records

    An as-built survey measures structure locations and dimensions, finished elevations, utilities, and hardscape exactly as they exist on the ground, then compares every one of those measurements against the approved plans. We tie the survey to the same benchmark and coordinate system the original design used, so an inch of difference reads as an inch of difference, not an artifact of two surveys using different reference points. Anywhere the built condition differs from the drawing gets flagged, whether that is a foundation a few inches off its plotted line or a fence that ended up on the wrong side of a setback.

  • Permit Close-Out and Certificate of Occupancy

    County and city final inspections often call for an as-built confirming the building landed where the permit said it would, and a grading and pad certification is frequently part of that package, confirming the pad elevation matches the approved civil plans within tolerance. Without that documentation, a finished building can sit in limbo without a signed-off certificate of occupancy.

  • Lender and Agency Sign-Off

    A lender or an agency financing part of the project sometimes requires an as-built of its own before releasing final funds or closing out its own file, particularly on a construction loan where the lender's inspector wants confirmation the collateral matches what was financed. We deliver the same measured survey in whatever format that lender or agency asks for.

  • Feeding a Future Design or Renovation

    An as-built survey does not stop being useful once the permit closes. When an owner comes back years later for an addition or a renovation, the as-built is the accurate starting point the next design team works from, tied to the same coordinate system, instead of re-measuring the whole property from scratch.

Our As-Built Survey Process

  • Review of approved plans.

    We start from the plans the permit was actually issued against, so we know what we are measuring the built condition against.

  • Field measurement of completed work.

    We measure the structure, elevations, utilities, and hardscape as they actually exist, tied to the project's original control.

  • Comparison against approved drawings.

    Every measurement gets checked against the approved plans, line by line.

  • Flagging discrepancies near setbacks or easements.

    Anything that landed differently near a setback or an easement gets called out specifically, with the actual measured offset.

  • Drafting the as-built.

    We draft the finished as-built survey to the format the permit close-out requires.

  • Delivery for close-out.

    You receive the finished as-built ready to submit for permit close-out or a certificate of occupancy.

As-Built Survey Service Area

Most of our as-built survey work covers permit close-outs in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria. A California Professional Land Surveyor license covers this work statewide, so if your project sits outside this immediate area, ask and we will scope it.

Two surveyors measuring the setback between a wooden fence and a newly built stucco structure, one holding a GNSS pole at the fence while the other stretches a tape to the building, with foothills behind

Why Choose Us for an As-Built Survey

  • Every measurement checked against the actual approved drawings, not assumed
  • Setback and easement issues flagged before they become a problem
  • Fast turnaround built around your close-out deadline
  • Digital deliverables you can reuse for a future design or renovation
  • More than 30 years of South Coast permit close-out surveys
Start Your As-Built Survey
Call (805) 691-0076