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Easement Guide

The Part of Your Property That Isn't Quite Yours.

Utility easements are where most buried lines legally live, which makes them the most consequential strips of ground on any Texas property. This guide covers what easements are, why utilities cluster in them, and what that means before you build, fence, or dig near one.

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Utility corridor with multiple marked lines along a property edge
Where the Lines LiveEasements concentrate everything buried
Know ThemBefore you design
Respect ThemBefore you build
Locate ThemBefore you dig
Same-day or next-day mobilization
PDF maps & KMZ deliverables included
Private utility locating beyond 811 coverage
Plain-Language Basics

A right to use, running with the land

An easement gives someone else, usually a utility or a district, the right to use a defined strip of your property for a defined purpose: running lines, accessing them, maintaining them. It was recorded somewhere in the property's paper trail, it almost certainly predates you, and it stays with the land no matter how many times the lot sells.

Because installing utilities requires exactly these rights, buried infrastructure concentrates inside easements: along rear lot lines, front setbacks, and side strips. That makes easements simultaneously the most likely place to hit something and the place where hitting it creates the most complications.

  • Recorded rights that run with the land through every sale
  • Rear lot lines and setbacks: the classic easement corridors
  • Multiple utilities sharing the same recorded strip
  • Access rights that can reach structures built inside them
  • Plats and title documents as the record of where they are

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. For rights and disputes, that is what real estate attorneys are for.

Technician working at a utility access point along an easement corridor
Where It Bites

Three Ways Easements Surprise Projects

Most easement problems are discovered by excavators, which is the expensive way.

Building Over One

Structures inside easements risk removal when the utility exercises access, and lenders and title companies increasingly catch it. Know the strips before the slab is designed.

Digging Inside One

Easements hold the densest, most consequential lines on the property. Any dig in or near one warrants locating first, whatever 811 returns.

Buying Blind

Easements shape what a lot can hold. Reading the plat before closing beats discovering the rear easement after the pool contract is signed.

Common Questions

Easement Questions

How do I find the easements on my property?
Start with the recorded plat and your title commitment's exception schedule; both list recorded easements. County records hold the rest. What the paper cannot tell you is what is actually buried in them, which is where locating comes in.
Are all the utilities inside the easement strips?
No, and that is the trap in both directions. Easements concentrate lines, but private service, irrigation, and abandoned runs wander wherever installers put them. The easement tells you where to worry most, not where to stop worrying.
Can I build a fence or shed inside an easement?
Physically, often; wisely, it depends on the easement's terms and the utility's access rights, which can include removing what blocks them. Check the recorded terms and the utility's stance before building, and locate before setting posts regardless.
Does 811 mark everything in an easement?
It marks participating operators' lines, which easements are full of. It does not mark private lines, district infrastructure that does not participate, or anything abandoned, all of which easements also collect.
What happens if I hit a line inside an easement?
The same as anywhere, with extra contractual and legal weight, since easement terms and one-call compliance both come into play. The prevention is boring and cheap: locate before digging near recorded corridors.
Can you locate what is actually in our easements?
Yes, that is a standard scope: EM and GPR across the recorded strips, marks on the ground, and a map that shows what the paper never did.

Project touching an easement?

Send the address and the plat if you have it. We will locate what is actually in those strips.

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Ready to see inside the easements?

Send the property address and the project plan. We will locate the recorded corridors and everything else findable around them.

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Austin, TX & statewide Texas coverage
Easement corridor locating and mapping
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