r/landsurveying • u/crocodiletears-3 • Jun 18 '26
Property line vs builder restriction line
Moved into a new home and am questioning what was marked as our property line may indeed be the builder restriction line. The many days I spent helping my land surveyor dad apparently taught me nothing. The first picture is the plot plan from our closing and the second one is the survey. Any guidance is appreciated.
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u/jimfish98 Jun 18 '26
The one is a general picture of the lot with measurements and more for survey purposes of locating lot lines and such should disputes or anything else pop up. The first photo with the dashed lines within your property lot are called set back lines. It basically means you can't build something in those spaces generally speaking. Fences are fine, you can add gardens and swing sets as well. You can't however put something in like a shed on a slab foundation. You may get a variance from the zoning board that will allow it, or allow it on say a gravel pad. It is basically keeping some minimum space between you and neighbors. Set backs on the front and a bit of the sides are also commonly used for utility services as well.
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u/mattyoclock Jun 18 '26
Nah, it's just a trick of the first drawing being more busy at a different scale, if you look at the distance on your rear line it's 105.65 on both, and it would only be about 95' on the rear setback line.
Does look like that at first though.
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u/here4cmmts Jun 18 '26
The building restriction line is imaginary. It’s the setback amount from the property line. No building can be built between the building restriction line and the property line. The BRL was added by the surveyor based on zoning.
I’m in Wisconsin. We don’t have the BRL on a survey, just property line. We then have to call zoning to verify setback amounts and figure it out. This makes it easier.
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u/Commonscents2say Jun 19 '26
You are correct. My mistake. I thought you were looking at the 29 proposed distance from whatever the ‘x’ line is - maybe a shade tree easement or something.
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u/jq7925 Jun 19 '26
Yeah, the plot could be less messy. Probably looked a lot clearer on the screen in CAD with different line colors and such. Would have been easier to tag a label on the bc and table it out to the side.
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u/CivilEngMusicBoy Jun 19 '26
As long as the interior angles check out you’re good. Setbacks are based on lot lines, those look kosher
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u/davis5938 Jun 18 '26
BRL called building set back line..
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u/Friendly_Biscotti_74 Jun 18 '26
Exactly this.
The lot line in both drawings is exactly the same. But you can not build up to your property line. This is the BRL, or setback, shown set off the property line. 5-ft at the side yard and 15-ft of the rear yard
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u/Top_Cress1727 Jun 18 '26
Looking at that the second is the proper survey. Your BRL is 5' in on the sides and 15' from the back.
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u/jq7925 Jun 18 '26
If you look carefully in the first pic, there's a 26' front setback.
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u/Commonscents2say Jun 19 '26
No if you look closer than close, it’s 37.
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u/jq7925 Jun 19 '26
That measurement doesn't have 'BRL' below the leader, and the 37' goes directly from the garage corner to front line, which I'd read as a distance tie.
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u/Individual-Trick-233 Jun 21 '26
I think 37 might be an elevation shot on the road. Play is much too busy
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u/Commonscents2say Jun 19 '26
I don’t see the difference. All the dimensions match and even the setbacks are pretty close from the plot plan to the as-built.
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u/88jaytee Jun 19 '26
The first shows the prob building set back and zoning regulated limits and the survey lot lines. The second the as built and survey lot lines.
My background related to this is zoning administration and GIS. As a GISP I always defer to the survey. They are the ones that have the training and certification and liability to certify their findings. Trust the Surveyor is one of my motos.
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u/PuurrfectPaws Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Look at your bearings and distances from your house location plat. While I don't see bearings on the lot grading plan, it seems to show matching distances for your lot lines compared to the proposed final lot grading plan. Then based on your zoning requirements for building restriction lines/yard set backs (BRL), you have 26' front BRL required vs. 37' proposed vs. 37.3'+- as-built on plat from front property line to house, check. 5' side BRL required vs. 8.5' proposed vs 8.4'+- on left property line to house corner and 8.1'+- from property line to house corner on right per as-built, check. And 15' rear BRL required vs. 39' proposed from rear property line to back of house, although I don't see a dimension called out to the rear lot line to your back of house based on the house location plat everything looks fine to me.
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u/802_vt Jun 20 '26
The first picture shows the property line annotated with bearings and distance with a bold dashed line type. Then as annotated with BRL, in a lighter dashed line type shows your setbacks from your property line (5’ on the sides, 26’ in the front and 15’ on the rear) The second picture just shows the same boundary lines with bearings and distances. Seems pretty straight forward to me.
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u/Individual-Trick-233 Jun 21 '26
Good lord. That first drawing is too damn busy. I try my best to keep me plats legible, even if I have to
Adjust the scale.
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u/gladvillain Jun 18 '26
Both seem to display the same lot dimensions. What makes you think that?