Test Your Knack for Real Estate Acronyms

The Office of Historic Preservation began in 1953 with the establishment of the History Section of the Division of Beaches and Parks (the precursor to today's California State Parks). Eventually, in 1975, the Office of Historic Preservation was officially established within the offices of the Director of California State Parks. The formation of the OHP was an outgrowth of the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which called for the creation of a state agency to implement provisions of the law, including the preparation of a comprehensive historic preservation plan and a statewide survey of historical resources.

Rough Grade, also known as Rough Grading, is the earthwork involved to achieve the grade that conforms approximately to the engineered plan. Building pads and street sub-grade are graded to within +/- one-tenth foot from the engineered elevations.

The American Land Title Association or ALTA, is a national trade association representing the interests of the abstract of title and title insurance industries. In addition to active members engaged in the title industry, associate members cover a wide range of businesses and occupations relating to real estate law, sales, development, design, construction and financing.

An Environmental Impact Report is a study of all the factors which a land development or construction project would have on the environment in the area, including population, traffic, schools, fire protection, endangered species, archeological artifacts, and community beauty. Many states require such reports be submitted to local governments before the development or project can be approved.

Community Facilities Districts, more commonly known as Mello-Roos, were created by the California State Legislature in 1982. That Community Facilities Act allows any county, city, special district, school district or joint powers authority to establish a Mello-Roos Community Facilities District (a “CFD”) which allows for financing of public improvements and services

The Army Corps of Engineers is a U.S. Federal agency under the Department of Defense and a major Army command made up of some 36,500 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency. Although generally associated with dams, canals and flood protection in the United States, ACE is involved in a wide range of public works throughout the world, including the Hoover Dam as shown.

A common thermoplastic resin used in a wide variety of manufactured products, including drain piping, conduits for wiring, building materials such as siding and flooring, rainwear, and garden hoses.

An assessor's parcel number, or APN, is a number assigned to parcels of real property by the tax assessor of a particular jurisdiction for purposes of identification and record-keeping.

A Joint Development Agreement generally contains the intention of the parties to develop the land, sourcing of funds, time schedule for completion of the project.  These agreements clearly stipulate the duties, responsibilities, and obligations of the parties.  JDAs can be agreements between two or more developers with a common interest, or between a developer and a municipality.

Quaternary alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, which has been eroded by water and placed along streams or low lying areas.  Only the “Q” is capitalized and refers to Quaternary in age, which is the most recent period of the geologic time scale.