Contour Survey

Tahoe Vacant Lot Buildability Survey

A vacant Tahoe lot is only worth what TRPA lets you build on it. Before your buyer removes contingencies, we pull the parcel's IPES score and TRPA record, survey the boundary and topography, and show how much house the lot allows and what extra coverage would cost. Signed under PLS 9686.

(510) 543-2220 · send the APN and the contingency date

For realtors: one APN and a deadline is all we need to start. The desk review comes back first, so a lot with no IPES score or a tiny coverage allowance shows up before anyone pays for fieldwork. Contour Survey is not TRPA; formal coverage and IPES determinations remain TRPA's and the local jurisdiction's.

What the Package Includes

  • TRPA record pulled: IPES score, allowable coverage percentage, and past verifications
  • Jurisdiction confirmed: City of South Lake Tahoe or El Dorado County, and what goes to TRPA
  • Boundary and topographic survey with two-foot contours, trees over 14 inches, and rock outcrops
  • Coverage estimate: base allowable, transfer cap, and land bank cost of any shortfall
  • Setbacks, easements, and slope shown on one plan, so the building envelope is visible
  • Plain-language summary a buyer can read and an architect can design from
Point cloud of a site surface colored by elevation
Buildability

Buildability

What the lot allows, before the contingency ends.

IPES score and coverage from the TRPA record, plus boundary, topography, and setbacks from the ground.

IPESCoverage mathTopo + boundary

The Six Questions a Buyer Needs Answered

The listing rarely answers any of them.

Can a house be built here at all?

Does the parcel have an IPES score, and is it at or above the line for its county? In the City of South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County the line is 1; in Placer County it is 691. A parcel entirely inside a stream environment zone or its setback scores zero.

How big can it be?

The IPES score comes with a base allowable coverage percentage, between 1 and 30 percent. Multiply by the lot area (only a one-third-acre building site is scored on bigger lots) and that is the footprint budget for the house, driveway, decks, and walks combined.

Can more coverage be bought, and for how much?

Usually, up to TRPA’s transfer cap for the parcel size. At the California Tahoe Conservancy’s current South Shore price for Bailey 4–7 or IPES 726+ parcels, $7.50 per square foot, an extra 1,000 square feet is $7,500 plus transaction fees.

Where does the house actually fit?

Setbacks, easements, steep ground, rock outcrops, and large trees all shrink the usable area. The topographic survey shows them on one plan with the property lines.

Who issues the permit?

The City of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, or TRPA, depending on location and lake frontage. We confirm which before the buyer talks to a designer.

What can’t wait for spring?

The desk review can be done in any season. If the contingency falls in winter, the buyer knows right away what the records say and when the field survey can happen.

Why the Survey Comes Before the Architect

On a vacant lot, TRPA's IPES application already requires a topographic survey prepared by a licensed engineer or land surveyor. Doing that survey during escrow costs the buyer nothing extra later, because the same boundary and topography become the base map the architect designs on and the plan the permit is filed with.

Doing it early also catches problems while they can still change the price: a driveway that has to climb 20 percent, a 30-inch pine where the house wants to go, a utility easement down the middle, or a building site that only fits a small footprint once setbacks are drawn. For a first pass at the numbers, try the TRPA coverage calculator, and read what an IPES score means for a vacant lot.

How It Works

Records first, field second, answers third.

1

Desk Review (Days, Not Weeks)

Send the APN and the contingency deadline. We check Parcel Tracker for an IPES score and coverage percentage, look for prior verifications and permits, confirm the jurisdiction, and flag anything that stops the deal early, such as no IPES score or a parcel scored zero.

2

Boundary & Topographic Survey

On snow-free ground, we locate the property corners and survey the lot: two-foot contours, trees over 14 inches dbh, rock outcrops, drainage, and any existing disturbance or coverage, on the boundary and a benchmark.

3

Buildability Plan

A plan showing the boundary, easements, setbacks, contours, and constraints, with the base allowable coverage from the IPES percentage and the maximum coverage reachable through transfers.

4

Summary for the Buyer

A short memo: what the lot allows, what extra coverage would cost at current land bank prices, what the slopes and setbacks leave for a house, and what still needs a TRPA or county determination.

Tahoe Lot Buildability FAQ

Questions buyers and listing agents ask before closing on a vacant lot.

Because the price of a Tahoe lot depends on what TRPA lets you build there, and that is not on the listing. A lot’s IPES score sets its base allowable coverage, steep ground and big trees shrink the useful area, and setbacks take the rest. A buyer who learns this after closing can end up with a lot that only fits a small house, or needs coverage bought from a land bank. A buildability survey answers that while there is still a contingency.
Then stop and call TRPA before going further. TRPA’s Vacant Lots guide says to contact the agency if a vacant property shows no IPES score on Parcel Tracker. A parcel that lies entirely inside a stream environment zone or its setback scores zero. We check this at the desk-review stage, before any fieldwork is billed.
In the City of South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County, TRPA’s current IPES line is 1, so any parcel with a score of 1 or more is eligible to build (Placer County’s line is 691). Eligibility is not the same as a good building site. The score sets the base allowable coverage percentage, and the house still has to fit inside setbacks, around the slope, and within the coverage limit. Building also needs a topographic survey by a licensed engineer or land surveyor, which our survey provides.
No. TRPA and its partners make coverage, land capability, and IPES determinations. Our package tells you what the public record says, what the ground looks like, and what the coverage math produces, so you can price the lot and decide whether a formal determination or a design study is worth paying for. On lots over one-third of an acre, IPES scores only a one-third-acre building site, so the rest of the parcel may need TRPA’s allowable coverage determination.
The desk review, yes, any time of year. The field survey needs bare ground, because contours and corners are buried under snow. If the contingency period falls in winter, we tell you what the records show right away and schedule the field survey for the first snow-free window, and the buyer can negotiate the contingency around that.

Tahoe Coverage & Buildability Resources

Guides, a calculator, and survey services for TRPA land coverage on the California side of the basin.

TRPA land coverage surveysSite assessments, land capability vs. coverage verification, IPES, and legally existing coverage.Guide: Do you need a TRPA site assessment?When you need one, when you don’t, where to file, and what to submit.Guide: What an IPES score meansHow to look it up on Parcel Tracker and what it means for a vacant lot.TRPA coverage calculatorEstimate base allowable coverage and what a shortfall would cost at land bank prices.

Related Services

Site Plan Surveys

Stamped site plan surveys, boundary + topographic base maps, and existing-condition documentation for Bay Area permit submittals.

Topographic Surveys

Survey-grade topographic mapping for East Bay and Bay Area properties, captured with a Trimble terrestrial laser scanner (TLS).

TRPA Coverage Surveys

TRPA land coverage and site assessment surveys for the California side of the Lake Tahoe Basin, by a California Professional Land Surveyor (PLS 9686).

Call (510) 543-2220Get a Quote

Send the APN and the Deadline

We check the TRPA record, tell you what it means for the lot, and confirm the price and field date before any work starts. (510) 543-2220 · info@contour-survey.com

Get a Quoteor(510) 543-2220

Realtors and buyers welcome • Desk review before fieldwork • Response within 24 hours