A Matter of Land | What surveying service do you need? –Part 2

We continue to explore what surveying services you may need from your land surveyor, as people oftentimes have no clue what they need. They call the surveyor and tell him they need a survey done, and it’s up to the land surveyor to find out what exactly should be done.

Last time we looked at surveying services, surveyor’s reports, SIT confirmation reports, and boundary reopening and repegging.

A cadastral survey plan is basically a property boundary survey. It is primarily carried out for legal purposes in order to accurately establish land ownership boundaries and usage.

Cadastral surveys show the boundaries of properties between neighbours and may include items such as easements, which are the right to cross or use someone else’s property for a particular reason.

These three terms essentially refer to the same thing. It is most commonly called a survey diagram or survey plan. It is also referred to as a prechecked plan. A survey diagram is a plan that is prepared by a commissioned land surveyor after he conducts a cadastral (boundary) survey on a property. This process involves an adjudication component where he, by this process, determines where the boundaries are. This is done by investigation from previous plans, marks on ground, old fences, and human input from neighbours to the subject property.

After he is satisfied with the information, he then goes ahead and marks the boundaries and conducts his fieldwork data gathering. The data gathered are then used to prepare a plan, which is then submitted to the National Land Agency (NLA) for checking and approval. The final approved plan is called a diagram.

BUILDING SETTING OUT

This is needed when you have construction carried out on a building or any structure, whether residential, commercial, or some other type. The surveyor comes in and sets out the positions of the extremities of the building.

A building is set out in order to clearly define the outline of the excavation and the centreline of the walls, so that construction can be carried out exactly according to the plan. The survey will do this with exact precision and to a much greater accuracy than if just tapes and levels are used, especially for really large buildings or for buildings to be constructed on very steep or undulating terrain.

SUBDIVISION SURVEY

A subdivision is the process of dividing a piece of land into smaller parts for a particular outcome. There are a few different reasons why a property would need to be subdivided. A commissioned land surveyor is necessary for this process. This may involve the usage of small areas of land to reduce taxation or for selling off different parts of land. The subdivided land can also be transformed to increase profitability in residential, industrial or commercial spaces.

There are different objectives for subdividing a property. Some of these objectives are:

i). To gain profit from selling a piece of your land.

ii). To increase the value of your property.

iii). To apportion property according to gift from a will or of a benefactor to beneficiaries.

iv). To commercialise the land on your property.

v). To make a profit from your property or some portion of your property.

vi). To develop towns/cities.

vii). To construct different types of buildings in certain parcels.

viii). To distinguish and differentiate each part of the land from the other.

There are times when you may just need to identify your property and its boundaries, so you can just engage the services of your land surveyor to do a boundary verification for you. He can locate your property and boundary for you so that you will know exactly where your property is and where the boundaries are.

I hope I have assisted you in understanding the different types of surveys available and what it is that you need from your land surveyor. So next time you call him or her, you will be able to adequately determine what you need and instruct him or her accordingly.

Keep sending your questions and comments. Let’s continue to explore A Matter of Land.

Until next time, walk good.

- Craig Francis is a commissioned land surveyor and managing director of Precision Surveying Services Ltd. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and craig_r_francis@yahoo.com.