Suppose you are considering a plot identified by an L.R. number.
The seller gives you a copy of the title and a deed plan. The deed plan shows an outline, an area and several survey figures. When you visit the land, however, you see a fence, a house and an access track that do not appear on the plan.
You want to know what the deed plan proves, whether the fence follows the surveyed boundary and how a surveyor relates the document to the land on the ground.
What is a deed plan?
A deed plan is an authenticated survey document used to identify a surveyed parcel of land.
It is prepared from the survey records for that parcel. Those records may include the survey plan, field notes and computations that show how the parcel was measured and connected to the survey framework.
The deed plan presents the parcel in a form that can be used with the land document to which it relates. It may show the parcel outline, dimensions or other numerical survey information, the stated area, adjoining boundaries and a description of the general locality.
It is not a drawing of everything currently found on the property. Its main purpose is to identify the surveyed parcel.
Start by matching the documents
Before going to the site, the survey team compares the deed plan with the title or other land record supplied for the property.
The identifying details should refer to the same parcel. Depending on the documents, these may include the L.R. number, deed plan number, locality, area and adjoining parcel references.
This first comparison can reveal a simple problem, such as a deed plan belonging to a different parcel, or a more substantial question that requires the official records.
The team also looks at the shape of the parcel and the numerical survey information. A visually similar outline is not enough. Two neighbouring plots may have comparable shapes but different survey measurements and different relationships to the surrounding parcels.
The area is another useful check, but it should not be read in isolation. The area shown on a deed plan is derived from the survey record and is expressed in the prescribed manner. It does not by itself locate the boundary on the ground.
The deed plan and the survey plan are not the same document
The deed plan is based on an authenticated survey plan.
The survey plan is part of the more detailed survey record deposited with the Director of Surveys. It is supported by the field notes and computations used to establish the parcel. These records allow the survey work to be checked and, where necessary, reconstructed.
The deed plan is the parcel-identification document that a landowner or buyer is more likely to see with the title records. It does not replace the underlying survey material.
This distinction matters when a question cannot be answered from the deed plan alone. The Survey Regulations provide that the evidence in the official copy of a deed plan, read together with the authenticated survey plan on which it is based, prevails.
For our example, the surveyor would not attempt to decide the fence position by measuring the printed outline with a ruler. The surveyor would obtain and interpret the relevant survey records, then use those records for the field investigation.
Why the building and fence may not appear
A common source of confusion is the absence of visible site features from the deed plan.
Under the Survey Regulations, topographical features and details of development are generally not shown on deed plans, apart from specified exceptions.
This means the house, fence, internal track, trees, drainage features and changes in ground level may be absent even though they exist on the land.
Their absence does not make the deed plan incomplete for its survey purpose. It also does not confirm that those features are correctly positioned.
If the buyer needs to understand buildings, roads, services, slopes or other physical features, that usually requires a separate site or topographical survey. If the question is whether the fence follows the parcel boundary, the surveyor must investigate the boundary itself.
The records search before fieldwork
Before carrying out a boundary survey, the surveyor obtains the information available from previous surveys of the land and the adjoining parcels.
That research may include the authenticated survey plan, earlier field notes, computations and information about nearby survey marks. The adjoining records matter because a parcel does not sit alone. Its boundary must fit the established survey relationship with neighbouring parcels.
The cadastral map or a filed plan may also help the team understand the parcel's registered setting. A cadastral map is the official parcel map maintained for land registration. A filed plan is a plan kept with the land records for the property or area.
The Land Registration Act allows an applicant, on payment of the prescribed fee, to obtain an official search and certified copies of documents, the cadastral map or a filed plan referred to in the register.
These records help answer three practical questions before the field visit:
- 1. Which parcel is being investigated?
- 2. What survey information originally defined it?
- 3. Which surrounding marks and parcels can be used to check its position?
What happens on the ground
At the site, the survey team does not begin by accepting the fence as the boundary.
The team searches for the relevant survey marks and other reliable evidence identified from the records. It takes measurements to relate the parcel to the surrounding survey framework and checks whether the observed positions agree with the recorded survey information.
The work may involve more than the corners of the plot. A mark outside the property can be important if it provides the control needed to establish the parcel's position. Measurements to adjoining marks can also show whether an apparent corner has been disturbed or whether a fence was erected away from the surveyed line.
The observations are recorded and checked. Survey regulations require survey work to include appropriate checks, and the deposited survey material enables the Director of Surveys to require corrections or further work where necessary.
For our buyer, the result may show that the fence follows the surveyed boundary. It may also show that the fence is inside the parcel, crosses the boundary or cannot be relied upon without additional investigation.
The deed plan helps identify the parcel being tested. The field survey tests how that surveyed parcel relates to the physical evidence on the site.
Does every line on a land plan have the same legal effect?
No. The Land Registration Act distinguishes between approximate boundaries and fixed boundaries.
Unless a boundary has been fixed under the Act, the cadastral map and any filed plan indicate only the approximate position of the boundary. The Registrar may determine and fix a boundary through the statutory process when an interested person applies.
The Act also provides that where parcel dimensions and boundaries are defined by reference to a plan verified by the survey authority, the land register should note that fact and the boundaries are treated as fixed.
This is why the surveyor checks the register and the supporting plans instead of assuming that every printed line has the same status. The document set and the survey record must be read together.
Authentication is more than a signature on a copy
Survey plans must be authenticated through the survey system before the land is treated as surveyed or resurveyed for the purposes of the Survey Act.
For a deed plan, authentication includes the required signature, date, printed name and official seal. A signed copy is deposited with the Director of Surveys and becomes the official copy.
Authentication connects the deed plan to the official survey record. It does not mean that every fence, building or occupation line later placed on the property was approved or checked.
Before registration, the Director of Surveys may cancel the authentication of a plan if the survey is inaccurate or does not comply with the conditions under which a subdivision was approved. The regulations also provide for cancellation of a deed plan when the related dealing is withdrawn, with the deposited copy marked as cancelled and other copies withdrawn or destroyed.
This is one reason an old loose copy should not be assessed only by appearance. Where there is doubt, the official record should be checked.
What if the deed plan is missing?
A missing owner's copy does not necessarily mean the survey record has disappeared.
The official copy is deposited with the Director of Surveys. If a deed plan has been lost or destroyed, the Director may issue a certified true copy on proof of the loss or destruction and payment of the prescribed fee.
The surveyor can also use the underlying authenticated plan and deposited survey records when investigating the parcel.
What the surveyor can report to the buyer
The scope of the instruction determines the final deliverable. For a pre-purchase boundary check, the surveyor may provide:
- the documents and official survey records reviewed;
- the survey marks found or not found on the site;
- the measurements taken and the checks completed;
- how the observed fence or occupation lines relate to the surveyed boundary;
- any inconsistency between the supplied documents, official records and field evidence; and
- the next survey step required if the position cannot be confirmed from the available evidence.
The deliverable should separate what the records show from what was observed on the ground. If a boundary mark is missing, the answer is not to place a new mark from the printed deed plan alone. The surveyor must use the official survey evidence and the applicable boundary process.
Reading the deed plan with the right question
A deed plan is valuable because it connects a parcel described in land records to an authenticated survey.
It can help identify the parcel, its surveyed shape, its stated area, its adjoining boundaries and the survey information used to define it. It does not normally show all current developments or prove that a visible fence is the boundary.
For the buyer in our example, the practical sequence is clear. Match the deed plan to the title, obtain the relevant official survey records, carry out the necessary field measurements and compare the site evidence with the authenticated survey.
That process turns a printed plan into an informed answer about the particular plot on the ground.
Ask about the plot before you buy
Send the L.R. number, location, a copy of the title and the deed plan supplied for the property.
Tell us what you saw on the ground and what you need the surveyor to confirm. Property verification →