Plat Map: What It Shows, How to Read One and Find Yours

A plat map is a scaled drawing that divides a tract of land into lots, blocks, streets and easements. A licensed surveyor prepares it, the city or county approves it, and the county records it. Once it is recorded, a deed can describe a lot by its number on the plat instead of by measurements.

Pillar, a land research software company, wrote this guide. Platting law is state law, so each statute below is an example from the state named. We checked every source on November 13, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the rules for your property with a licensed surveyor or attorney in your state.

What is a plat map?

This guide is about subdivision plats, which people also call plats or plat maps. "Plat" can also name other survey drawings, such as the Illinois plat of survey covered below. Washington defines a plat as "a map or representation of a subdivision, showing thereon the division of a tract or parcel of land into lots, blocks, streets and alleys, or other divisions and dedications" (RCW 58.17.020). Ohio's definition is shorter: "a map of a tract or parcel of land" (ORC 711.001).

Three parties make a plat official:

• A surveyor prepares it. Ohio has the land surveyed and the plat "made by a competent surveyor" (ORC 711.01).
• The local government approves it. Where an Ohio city planning commission has adopted a plan for major streets and parks, no plat of land in that city may be recorded "until it has been approved by the city planning commission and that approval endorsed in writing on the plat" (ORC 711.09).
• The county records it. The office has different names. Ohio plats go to the county recorder (ORC 711.06). Under Texas's municipal platting chapter, which covers land in a city or its extraterritorial jurisdiction, a plat "must be filed and recorded with the county clerk" (Tex. Local Gov't Code 212.004). A Washington final plat is filed with the county auditor (RCW 58.17.020).

The recorded sheet is the official version. Florida makes every plat say so: the plat "as recorded in its graphic form, is the official depiction of the subdivided lands described herein and will in no circumstances be supplanted in authority by any other graphic or digital form of the plat" (Fla. Stat. 177.091).

What are the types of plats?

The names vary by state. Each one below comes with one state's definition.

• Preliminary plat. In Washington, "a neat and approximate drawing of a proposed subdivision showing the general layout of streets and alleys, lots, blocks, and other elements of a subdivision consistent with the requirements of this chapter." It is the basis for approving the layout. It is not the recorded document (RCW 58.17.020).
• Final plat. In Washington, "the final drawing of the subdivision and dedication prepared for filing for record with the county auditor" (same section). This is the plat a deed refers to.
• Short plat or minor plat. Washington's short plat maps a division into four or fewer lots. A city or town may raise that limit to nine, and so may some counties inside urban growth areas. Ohio lets some small divisions be approved without a plat. The division must run along an existing public street, open, widen or extend no street or road, and leave no more than five lots once the original tract is fully divided. The owner submits it to the planning authority, which must find that it does not conflict with the platting, subdividing, zoning and other regulations that apply. The deed is then stamped "approved by (planning authority); no plat required" (ORC 711.131). Local rules adopted under division (B) can change the test, and division (C) excludes some parcels.
• Replat. A new plat of land that was already platted. For land in a Texas city or its extraterritorial jurisdiction, a replat controls over the earlier plat without vacating it if only the owners of the replatted property sign and acknowledge it, the city's platting authority approves it, and it "does not attempt to amend or remove any covenants or restrictions" (Tex. Local Gov't Code 212.014).
• Amending plat. A correction. Texas's municipal chapter limits it to listed purposes, such as fixing "an error in a course or distance shown on the preceding plat" (section 212.016).
• Vacating plat. An instrument that cancels a plat. Under Texas's municipal chapter the owners may vacate a plat "at any time before any lot in the plat is sold," by a signed, acknowledged instrument that is approved and recorded the way the original plat was. After a sale, all the lot owners must apply and get the same approval. Once the instrument is signed and recorded, "the vacated plat has no effect" (section 212.013).
• Plat of survey. In Illinois this is the drawing of a boundary survey of one parcel, not a subdivision map. State rules say a boundary survey includes "a plat of survey" unless the client asks otherwise (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1270.56). DuPage County calls it a drawing of "a single property that has been surveyed in the field" and says plats of survey "are rarely filed with the County Recorder of Deeds" (DuPage County GIS).

A tax map or GIS parcel viewer is not a plat

County assessors draw their own maps, and people often call them plat maps. They are a different record. Sacramento County, California says its assessor parcel maps "are prepared for assessment purposes only," that "Assessor Maps are NOT surveys," and that the parcels on them are "not necessarily" legal parcels (Sacramento County Assessor). Use a parcel viewer to find the plat. Use the plat for the lot's record dimensions.

How to read a plat map: one real plat, item by item

The example is Adena Pointe Section 4, a two-sheet subdivision plat in Marysville, Ohio, recorded on May 5, 2015 in Plat Book 5, pages 363 A-B. We took it from Union County's subdivision plat search. Open the PDF beside this list. Sheet 1 holds the text and signatures. Sheet 2 holds the drawing.

1. Title block and recording data. The name runs across the top of both sheets. The recorder's label in the top right corner of sheet 1 gives the instrument number, the date and the time. "Pl. Bk. 5 Pg. 363 AB" is handwritten at the bottom right. The name plus the book and page are what a deed cites.
2. Where the land is. The first paragraph on sheet 1 places the land in Union County, Paris Township, the City of Marysville and Virginia Military Survey No. 2256, "containing 8.178 acres of land, more or less," and names the deed the owner took title under. A table on the right splits the area: 4.170 acres in lots, 2.512 in reserves and 1.496 in right-of-way.
3. North arrow and scale. On sheet 2 the north arrow sits at the top left and points toward the left edge. North is not the top of this sheet. The bar scale is under the legend. Use the bar, because a print or a screen changes the drawing's size.
4. Lot numbers. The legend says the four-digit italic number is the lot number and the upright "Adr." number is the house address. This plat has 18 lots, numbered 6689 to 6693 and 6712 to 6724. Ohio's plat statute has lots "numbered in progressive numbers, or by the squares in which situated" (ORC 711.02). Florida's statute also allows lots "progressively numbered in each block" (Fla. Stat. 177.091), which gives a description such as "Lot 5, Block 2."
5. Bearings and distances. Every lot line carries a direction and a length. Lot 6713 fronts Woodline Drive for 70.00 feet. Its side lines run S84°55'17"W for 130.00 feet. Its rear line is 70.00 feet along a line bearing N05°04'43"W. The two bearings are exactly 90 degrees apart, so the lot is a rectangle: 70 by 130 feet, or 9,100 square feet by our arithmetic. Our metes and bounds guide explains how to read a bearing.
6. Curve table. Curved lines get a label, C1 to C12 here. A table at the bottom right of sheet 2 gives each curve's radius, delta (the central angle), arc length, chord and chord bearing. C8 rounds the corner of lot 6712 where two streets meet: radius 25.00 feet, delta 90°00'00", length 39.27 feet. You can check it: a quarter of a circle with a 25-foot radius is 39.27 feet long.
7. Monuments. The legend separates what the surveyor found (an open circle is "Iron Pin Found") from what the surveyor set (a solid circle is "Iron Pin Set"). A note on sheet 1 describes the pins: iron pipes thirty inches long, capped with the surveyor's registration number.
8. Easements. On this plat, dashed lines inside the lots are easements, each with a width: "10' Esmt" along the street frontage, "10' Drainage Esmt" at the rear of some lots, and "PCD5E" along shared side lines. The text on sheet 1 says what each allows. Areas labeled "Easement" are for "all public and quasi public utilities above, beneath, and on the surface of the ground." In a drainage easement, "no above ground structures, dams or other obstructions to the flow of storm water runoff are permitted" unless the city engineer approves. PCD5E is a 5-foot private drainage easement that the lot owners maintain. A hatched strip marks older easements that this plat releases. Our utility easement guide covers what an owner can build in one.
9. Building setback lines. A solid line labeled "30' Building Line" runs across the front of each lot. A table on sheet 1 gives the zoning setbacks at the time: front 30 feet, side 7.5 feet with 17.5 feet total, rear 35 feet.
10. Dedications and reserves. The owner dedicates Adena Pointe Drive, Glen Oaks Drive and Woodline Drive "to the public use forever." Reserve "B" (2.405 acres) and Reserve "C" (0.107 acre) are not lots. Note "B" says the homeowners association will own and maintain them as open space.
11. Plat notes. Read every one. Here, Note "C" warns buyers that the neighboring land is farmed. Note "D" says the zoning limits are shown "for reference only" and that the current zoning code controls. Note "F" says cable and telephone providers had not yet supplied their easement needs, so more easements may sit in the recorder's records. Note "G" cites the flood map panels of the time. Check today's.
12. Certificates and approvals. The surveyor certifies, with a seal and a signature, that the firm surveyed the land and that the plat is correct. "Basis of bearings" names the line the bearings come from. The owner's signature is notarized. The planning commission chairman, the city engineer and the mayor each signed an approval in April 2015, and the county recorder certified the recording on May 5, 2015.

How a lot-and-block description points back to the plat

A deed to lot 6713 does not need to repeat those bearings. It can identify the land by the lot number, the subdivision name and the plat's recording reference: lot 6713 of Adena Pointe Section 4, Plat Book 5, pages 363 A-B, Union County, Ohio. The plat supplies the lines, easements and notes, so you cannot read such a deed without it. Land that was never platted is described by metes and bounds or by township and range.

Plat map vs. survey: what is the difference?

A plat records how a tract was divided on the day it was approved. A survey reports what a surveyor found on one property on the day of the fieldwork.

Loudoun County, Virginia puts it this way: "Plats typically show the boundaries and dimensions of multiple parcels but do not include improvements or constructed features, like buildings. Surveys typically show the property with locations of ground features and improvements, such as buildings, fences, water features, and driveways" (Loudoun County plat FAQ, undated).

• Recorded plat. Shows the lot as created: record dimensions, the easements and dedications the plat made, and its notes. Use it to read a legal description and for a first look at the buildable area.
• Boundary survey. Locates the lines and corners of one parcel on the ground. Order one when you need to know where the lines are, for example before you build near one. DuPage County says neither a subdivision plat nor a tax map "can be a substitute for a plat of survey" (DuPage County GIS). See our boundary survey guide.
• ALTA/NSPS land title survey. A survey made to a national standard written for title insurers, who use it when asked to insure title without a survey exception. The 2026 standard requires it to show "platted setback or building restriction lines that appear on recorded subdivision plats" and the titles and recording data of the recorded plats it represents (2026 standards, Sections 1, 6.C.v and 6.C.vii). See our ALTA survey guide.

A plat also cannot show an easement granted after it was recorded.

How to find the plat map for a property

1. Read the legal description on the deed. Look for a subdivision name, a lot number (and a block, if there is one) and a plat book and page or an instrument number. If the current deed has no plat reference, trace back through earlier deeds. Maryland's state archives notes that deeds "almost always reference a plat when there is a new survey" but later deeds can leave it out (Maryland State Archives).
2. Search the county's recorded plats. Go to the recorder, clerk, register of deeds or auditor, whichever keeps land records in that county. Search by subdivision name or by book and page. Some county GIS and assessor sites also link the plat from the parcel record.
3. Look for later changes. Search the same subdivision name for a replat, an amending plat or a vacation. For a plat vacated under Texas's municipal chapter, the county clerk writes "Vacated" on it and adds a reference to the vacating instrument (Tex. Local Gov't Code 212.013).
4. If the description names no subdivision, the land may never have been platted. Look for a prior survey, or order one.

Three systems, checked November 13, 2026:

• Union County, Ohio. The subdivision plat search lists each subdivision with its plat book, pages and year, a link to the plat PDF and a link to the subdivision on the county map. The page carries a note: "Not All Subdivision Plats Are Available Online."
• Collin County, Texas. The appraisal district's plat maps page gives two routes. Open the property on the interactive map and use the "Click Here to Download Plat" link. Or open the county clerk's records search, change the department from "Property Records" to "Plats," and search the subdivision name.
• Maryland, statewide. Look up the address in the state's real property search. A plat reference may appear under "Location and Structure Information"; if it does not, check the deed and earlier deeds. Then go to plats.net, the state's plat archive, choose the county and search by that book and page or plat number.

What a plat map tells a land buyer before an offer

The plat answers questions that a parcel map cannot.

How much of the lot you can build on

Take lot 6713 again. It is 70 by 130 feet, 9,100 square feet. The setbacks on the plat take 30 feet off the front and 35 feet off the rear, which leaves 65 feet of depth. The side yards must total 17.5 feet, which leaves 52.5 feet of width. By our arithmetic the building envelope is 52.5 by 65 feet, or 3,412.5 square feet. That is 37.5 percent of the lot. As we read the drawing, the easements on this lot sit inside the setbacks, so they take nothing more. On another lot a drainage or utility easement can reach past the setback, and then the easement sets the limit.

Then check the date. This plat's Note "D" says its zoning figures were for reference only and that the current code controls. Read today's zoning as well as the plat, and ask the planning office how it treats a platted building line.

Whether the roads are public

The dedication tells you which streets the owner dedicated to the public. Wisconsin requires every road on a plat that is not dedicated to be marked "Private Road," "Private Street" or "Private Way" (Wis. Stat. 236.20). A dedication on the plat does not always mean the government has taken the road on. In Ohio, approval of a plat "shall not be an acceptance by the public of the dedication of any street" (ORC 711.09). Ask the road department whether it has accepted the street.

What the notes and reserves restrict

Plat notes can limit access, reserve land for an owners association or warn about neighboring uses, as the Adena Pointe notes do. They are not the whole list. Florida plats must carry this sentence: "There may be additional restrictions that are not recorded on this plat that may be found in the public records of this county" (Fla. Stat. 177.091). Covenants can sit in a separate recorded document, and under Texas's municipal chapter a replat made without vacating the old plat may not attempt to amend or remove them (section 212.014). Our deed restrictions guide shows how to find them.

Whether the lot was legally created

A parcel can have a tax number and still not be a lawful lot. In Washington, no building permit, septic tank permit or other development permit may be issued for a lot "divided in violation of this chapter or local regulations" unless the permitting authority finds that the public interest will not be adversely affected. The bar does not apply to "an innocent purchaser for value without actual notice," and a buyer may recover damages from the seller or rescind the sale (RCW 58.17.210). If a lot is not on a recorded plat, ask the planning office how it was created and whether it will issue permits for it.

Buying unplatted land

If you buy acreage to divide, the platting falls to you. What triggers it differs by state:

• Texas. An owner of land in a city's limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction who divides it into two or more parts for a subdivision, lots or streets "must have a plat of the subdivision prepared." A division into parts larger than five acres, where each part has access and no public improvement is dedicated, is not covered (Tex. Local Gov't Code 212.004). The city's platting authority must act on a plat "within 30 days after the date the plat is filed," and a city council that must also approve it gets its own 30 days. Where a groundwater availability certification is required, the 30 days begin when the applicant submits it. An extension has to be requested in writing and approved by the city, and each one is limited to 30 days (section 212.009).
• Washington. Unless a local ordinance raises the short plat limit, a division into five or more lots is a subdivision, which goes through a preliminary plat and a final plat (RCW 58.17.020). The local government generally has 90 days to act on a preliminary plat and 30 days on a final or short plat, unless the applicant agrees to more time. The 90 days can be extended by up to 21 days as RCW 58.17.095(3) specifies, and they do not count the time the local government spends preparing and circulating a required environmental impact statement (RCW 58.17.140).

Questions to answer before an offer

1. Is the parcel a platted lot, and has the plat been replatted, amended or vacated? Who answers: the deed and the county's recorded plats.
2. What easements, building lines and notes does the plat put on this lot? Who answers: the plat, both the drawing and the text.
3. Are the streets dedicated, and has the public accepted them? Who answers: the dedication and the road department.
4. Do covenants apply beyond the plat? Who answers: the title company and the recorder's index.
5. Do the corners on the ground match the plat? Who answers: a licensed surveyor.
6. If the land is unplatted, what will dividing it require? Who answers: the planning office.

Where Pillar fits

Pillar's property search shows a parcel's boundary on a map with the ownership, acreage, zoning and land use from its record. That helps you find the lot and the county that holds its plat. The parcel outline is not the plat.

Quick answers

What is a plat map? A scaled drawing, approved by the local government and recorded with the county, that divides a tract into lots, streets and easements.

Is a plat map the same as a survey? No. A recorded subdivision plat shows how land was divided into lots. A boundary survey locates one parcel's lines on the ground, and what else it shows depends on its scope. In Illinois the survey's drawing is called a plat of survey.

How do I find the plat map for my property? Read the legal description on your deed for the subdivision name and the plat book and page. Then search the county recorder or clerk's plat records, or the county GIS site.

What is a plat of survey? In Illinois, the drawing that comes with a boundary survey. DuPage County says these drawings are rarely filed with its recorder and that a subdivision plat is not a substitute for one.

Does a plat map show easements? It shows the easements the plat created or carried forward, with their widths. Easements granted later by a separate document will not be on it.