1. Must-knows about surveying and surveyors

Surveyors take land measurements for making survey maps, plans, and drawings. This is why they’re indispensable in civil engineering, agronomy, forestry, mining, and other industries. Survey drawings lay the basis for designers’ work. Without them, there’d be no buildings, neighbourhoods, roads, railways, or any other engineering structures. When locating key points in space, surveyors use traditional and state-of-the-art survey instruments, including GNSS, optical instruments (automatic and manual total stations, digital levels), laser measuring and levelling systems, 3D scanners, and LiDAR technology, and other similar equipment and tools for 3D modelling.

Therefore, surveying services include a wide range of activities, such as preparing survey documents, registering land with the land registry, determining the property boundary, marking and straightening the boundary, land readjustment, land reparcelling, registering ground under a property, registering in the land and utility line registries, arranging tenancy in common, drone surveying, and all similar tasks. Surveying services are regulated by laws on surveying, land registration, and utility line registration.

1.1. Surveying service

A surveying service is in charge of collecting, recording, managing, and maintaining the records obtained through land surveying across a country. The data include information on real estate, borders, spatial units, house numbers, and map and topographic elements.

1.2. Authority in charge of surveying and property ownership

This authority prepares regulations and guidelines within its competence; collects and maintains survey databases; provides professional education and training; performs administrative activities; issues licenses and decisions regarding building permits; and keeps a record of all licensed surveyors in a country.

1.3. National surveying centre

A national surveying centre carries out the surveying service’s orders. In municipalities, these orders are carried out by competent bodies and organizations maintaining local land registries, utility line registries, and topographic surveys.

1.4. Surveying businesses

Surveying services may only be provided by a state-licensed, officially registered agency, company, or organization. Such a business must have at least one professional surveyor in its employ, who holds all appropriate licenses, permits, and certificates for conducting such activities. They must work under a contract and have all the necessary technical equipment and tools. In a surveying business, one head surveyor is put in charge of one service.

2. Choosing a surveyor

What makes a good surveyor is, above all, proper education and training, being familiar and good with surveying equipment and instruments, and having great knowledge of legislation. Visit Daibau.ng to find experts who meet these criteria. Check out their profiles to see their past experience, references, and portfolio. If you’re in need of surveying services, take a few minutes to complete a form and send an enquiry. Available surveying businesses will send you their proposals. You can compare and examine them, and then choose those you consider the best.

3. Surveying services

Surveying services encompass numerous operations. The most important ones are described in the text below.

3.1. Survey map

This is actually a plan or drawing generated after a land survey, showing the features of a piece of land: houses, roads, road signs, power lines, channels, etc. This plan gives data about the terrain (landscape), buildings, soil, water, distant facilities, vegetation, etc. This map is a combination of data obtained from official records and those acquired through land surveying. These maps are drawn at a scale. A 1:1000 scale is used for buildings, while a 1:5000 scale shows larger engineering facilities. This map comes with a certificate of compliance with relevant legislation. At a later stage, design documentation is prepared based on the survey map.

3.2. Determining the boundary

When your property boundary isn’t exactly and unequivocally recorded, you may contact a surveyor to help you set the ‘determined boundary’. This can be requested by the owner, a state authority, or local authority. Once the necessary data are collected, land surveying is performed, followed by boundary determination in the presence of all the owners concerned. If all owners agree on the determined boundary, it’s recorded in the map, and if no agreement is reached, all versions are entered. A boundary dispute is first settled through mediation, and if this fails, the case is handed to a competent authority. If a satisfactory solution is not reached at this point either, the dispute goes to litigation.

3.3. Marking the boundary

Property line staking (positioning of stakes) means marking the exact boundary of a property both geometrically and mathematically, based on a land survey and the land registry data. Staking should be agreed by all neighbouring owners. Once staking is completed, a surveyor prepares a technical report for all owners and a surveying administrative authority.

3.4. Land reparcelling

After some time, as a result of splitting an inheritance or changes to an area, sometimes plots become so tiny that they are no longer usable. Reparcelling is a process of joining several plots, where a surveyor’s task is to merge them, and then split them again. What’s different is that this time, the land should be split in a more meaningful way, where all owners are happy with the space and value of their plot. At the end, a reparcelling map is made, along with a reparcelling agreement between all owners, who give their written consent, after which the resulting plots are registered in the land registry.

3.5. Land readjustment

Land readjustment is also a process of boundary adjustment, where plots are either merged or split. Before the process begins, it’s important that boundaries with neighbouring plots are precisely determined. The resulting boundaries and plots are then registered in the land registry.

3.6. Setting out

Before any building is actually constructed, its dimensions must be transferred onto the land accurately and precisely by setting out markers on the construction area, in compliance with the requirements specified in the building permit and plans. The surveyor should inform the competent administrative authority about the setting out. The first stage of a setting out process involves roughly marking the excavation dimensions, after which precise setting out is performed within the excavation. The markers must be protected against movement and damage. The infrastructure in the vicinity of construction works should also be set out.

3.7. Straightening the boundary

Owners of neighbouring plots may agree on straightening their shared boundary for the convenience of use of their respective properties. During this process, the smaller of the two plots must not be modified by more than 500 sqm.

3.8. Registering the ground under a property

Prior to registering a property, you must also register the part of the land where the property has been constructed. A surveying company can conduct surveying and make a map. Registration of the plot under a property may be requested by the owner, developer, holder of the right to occupy, or a user of a property which has several owners.

3.9. Registration in land registry

Sale, lease, gifting, loans, mortgage, applying for a permanent residence aren’t allowed unless the relevant property is registered in the land registry. Registration in the land registry must take place within 30 days after the completion of construction, or else you won’t get a house number. Registration can’t be performed without a survey map and a certificate of occupancy, which a surveyor uses to prepare a map for the registration and distribution of the ground under the property. This registration may be requested by the owner, developer, plot owner, property owner, holder of the right to occupy, or manager.

3.10. Tenancy in common

Tenancy in common can be arranged for properties with multiple owners. This helps establish the exact share in ownership, rights and obligations that individuals have over a part of the building, which is recorded in the land registry. In this procedure, a surveyor’s job is to perform surveying, and then make a drawing showing the respective shares, and to generate other maps required. This way, each part of the building is assigned an ID number, after which the owners make a tenants in common agreement. This agreement should be notarized and then submitted to the land registry by the notary public.

3.11. Registration of utility lines

The utility line registry keeps records of above-ground and underground lines with their respective plants and devices which legally require a building permit or a use permit, and which form part of a water supply, sewerage, hot-water, steam distribution, electric power, telecommunication, oil and gas pipeline, and drainage system. A utility line registry is kept based on the land surveying data obtained by surveyors and documentation managed by state authorities and other organizations.

3.12. Drone surveying

One of the latest surveying services is drone surveying. Footage which provides a view from above helps collect information from difficult-to-access areas. This information is further used to make 3D models, plans, and drawings.