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King County, Washington
Land Surveying in King County, WA
Boundary, topographic, and construction staking surveys that put the design on the ground accurately the first time. King County is covered on a project basis through our Seattle, WA regional hub.
- Dispatched from
- Seattle, WA regional hub · project-based staffing
- Lead time
- Scheduled by phone or proposal; lead time confirmed when the scope is set
- Laboratory
- Sugar Land, TX laboratory under chain of custody, or a mobile laboratory for large projects
- Reporting
- Reviewed and issued under a documented quality system; formatted for owner, engineer, and building-official review
- Serving
- King County, WA — Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma
- Coverage
- Washington statewide · 27 regional hubs
- Technicians
- ACI- and NICET-certified field staff; licensed professionals in Washington
- Call us
- (346) 420-5425
Scope
Survey services in King County
- Boundary and title surveys for acquisition and permitting
- Topographic surveys for civil design
- Construction staking: building corners, utilities, paving, and grades
- As-built surveys for closeout and conveyance
Full scope, standards list, and pricing basis: Land Surveying.
Local conditions
Survey conditions in King County
King County encompasses everything from dense urban infill in Seattle's eastern neighborhoods to steeply sloped hillsides, glacially deposited terrain, and shoreline parcels governed by critical-area ordinances and shoreline master programs. Getting survey control established correctly before a shovel turns is not a procedural formality here — it is how you avoid expensive redesigns when topography, setback lines, or easements conflict with the permitted plans. Our field crews, dispatched through the Seattle regional hub, provide boundary surveys, topographic surveys, and construction staking for commercial, multifamily, civil, and industrial projects across King County. We work from established horizontal and vertical control, produce deliverables in formats your design team can use directly, and coordinate scheduling to keep pace with grading and foundation timelines. The goal is accurate, defensible survey data delivered before each phase of work needs it.
King County's glacially influenced soils — including areas with significant slope, fill over native ground, and proximity to wetland buffers — mean that topographic survey elevations and property line locations often directly affect critical-area setback determinations and grading permit submittals. Wet-season conditions from roughly October through April can affect both access to remote portions of a site and the stability of hubs and stakes, so scheduling buffer time into survey phases is a practical consideration on projects that run through winter.
FAQ · King County
King County critical-area ordinances reference setbacks from steep slopes and wetlands — can your survey capture the features I need to document those buffers?
Yes. A topographic survey can locate and depict natural features — top and toe of slopes, ordinary high-water marks, drainage swales, and vegetation lines — at the precision your civil or environmental consultant needs to plot buffer boundaries. We note which features are observed and surveyed versus estimated, so your team and the county reviewer have a clear basis for setback calculations.
How does the wet season in western Washington affect construction staking, and what should I plan for?
Persistent rain from fall through spring can make stakes difficult to hold in soft or saturated ground and can restrict equipment access to low-lying or steep areas of a site. We recommend scheduling staking phases with enough lead time to allow re-staking if initial marks are disturbed by grading equipment or weather. Flagging, lath height, and hub protection methods are selected based on conditions at the time of the visit.
My project is in an unincorporated part of King County with no recorded plat — how do you establish boundary without clear monumentation?
In areas without platted subdivision control, boundary is established by research into recorded deeds, right-of-way records, and county assessor data, combined with a field search for original monuments, occupation evidence, and adjoiners' corners. The licensed land surveyor of record evaluates the weight of evidence under Washington State RCW Chapter 58.09 and the Manual of Surveying Instructions before resolving the boundary.
Which office covers survey in King County, WA?
Field work in King County is dispatched through the Seattle, WA regional hub. Laboratory testing is performed in Sugar Land, TX under chain of custody, or in a mobile laboratory mobilized to large King County projects.
Are the technicians you send to King County certified?
Field sampling and testing in King County are performed by our ACI- and NICET-certified technicians. Survey engineering and professional services are delivered with professionals licensed in Washington, coordinated under one proposal.
Scheduling & proposals
Need land surveying in King County?
Call to schedule a technician, or send project documents for a written proposal.