Suppose you are buying Apartment 4B. The brochure describes a 2-bedroom home of about 92 square metres, with a balcony, Parking Bay P12 and access through a shared lift lobby. You can see each space, and the seller says the apartment will have its own title.
The next question is not whether the apartment looks complete. It is what the registered unit includes: the rooms, balcony, parking bay, corridor, staircase, roof and land beneath the building do not necessarily have the same legal treatment.
The sectional plan is the document that connects the physical apartment to the land-registration record. It divides the building into identifiable units, relates them to the parcel and distinguishes each unit from the common property.
What is a unit in a sectional property?
A unit is a space within a building described on the sectional plan by reference to its floors, walls and ceilings. It also carries a proportionate share in the common property.
Apartment 4B is therefore not identified only by its door number or brochure name. The plan assigns the registered unit number and shows its position on the relevant floor. The plan, unit register and certificate of title or lease should all identify the same unit.
What does the surveyor need before preparing the plan?
The surveyor starts with the parcel on which the building stands. The Sectional Properties Act, 2020 requires proof of ownership before the plan is prepared, and the work must use a building plan approved by the county government.
- Parcel and ownership records: The parent title and the available cadastral map, deed plan, earlier survey plan, coordinates and adjoining-parcel information.
- Approved building information: The architectural or building plans showing the arrangement approved by the county government.
- The completed building: Access to compare the documents with the units, boundaries and shared spaces that physically exist.
The Survey Regulations require available information from previous surveys of the parcel and adjoining land to be obtained before the survey. A marketing layout is not a substitute for that evidence or for checking the building on the ground.
How is the building connected to the parcel?
The site and building location plan shows the external parcel boundaries, the building’s external limits and the measurements that connect the building to the parcel boundary.
These tie measurements position the structure within the surveyed land. The plan may also show easements, utility rights of way, exclusive-possession areas and the extent of the common property. The surveyor’s endorsement confirms that the structure is within the parcel and addresses any required easement where guttering projects beyond it.
What happens during the building survey?
The survey team relates the parcel survey to the completed structure. It measures the building’s external position and dimensions, records the tie measurements, and identifies the walls, floors, ceilings, doors and other features that separate a unit from neighbouring units or common areas.
The units shown on the plan must correlate with the existing structure. Measurements and observations are recorded in field notes, calculations are checked, and the resulting information is used to prepare the site plan, floor plans and unit schedule.
What does the floor plan show?
Each floor plan illustrates and consecutively numbers the units on that level. It shows the unit boundary, the relationship to neighbouring apartments and shared spaces, the approved use and the approximate floor area recorded to 0.1 square metres.
For Apartment 4B, the useful comparison is between the measured unit on the plan and the apartment being sold. The brochure’s 92 square metres should not be accepted without checking the registered unit number, plan boundary and approximate area together.
Where does the apartment boundary run?
Unless the sectional plan states otherwise, a boundary described by reference to a floor, wall or ceiling includes only the finishing material on the unit’s interior side. That can include plaster, panelling, gypsum board, flooring or another finish attached to the surface. The same rule applies to a load-bearing wall within the unit.
Doors and windows form part of the unit unless the plan says otherwise. These rules help distinguish the privately owned space from the structural or shared parts of the building when alterations, repairs or responsibility for a boundary feature are considered.
What is common property?
Common property is the part of the parcel not included in a unit shown on the sectional plan. Depending on the plan, it may include shared corridors, staircases, lift areas, grounds and major plumbing, electrical, mechanical or structural installations.
Every unit owner holds a proportionate share in the common property. Buying Apartment 4B is therefore not the purchase of an isolated box: the registered interest includes the unit and its recorded share in the common property.
Is the parking bay or balcony part of the unit?
A parking bay, balcony, patio, store or garden should not be assumed to belong to the unit because it appears in a brochure or has been allocated by the seller. It may form part of the unit, remain general common property or be common property reserved as an exclusive-possession area for a particular owner.
Parking Bay P12 must be traced through the plan and related documents. The same check applies to the balcony and any separate store: exclusive use is not automatically separate ownership.
What does the unit factor mean?
The sectional plan schedules each unit’s number, unit factor, approved use and approximate floor area. The unit factors for all units on the parcel add up to 10,000 and determine each owner’s proportionate share in the common property.
The unit factor and floor area are different. Floor area describes the measured size of the unit; the unit factor allocates its proportional share. Floor area, value, location or a combination of equitable considerations may be used, although the prescribed form recommends the floor-area method as the general approach.
Who confirms that the plan matches the approvals and the building?
The proprietor signs the plan. The surveyor endorses it and gives the required survey certification. The county government certifies that the proposed division has been approved; the application for that endorsement uses Form SP 3.
The surveyor also certifies that the units correlate with the existing structure. The completed sectional plan is submitted to the authority responsible for survey for authentication before it is presented for registration.
What happens when the sectional plan is registered?
The parcel register described in the plan is closed and a separate register is opened for every unit. A certificate of title is issued for a freehold unit, or a certificate of lease for a leasehold unit, with the unit’s proportionate share in the common property.
The plan receives its number in the Sectional Plan Register, and registration creates the owners’ Corporation responsible for the common property and the functions assigned to it under the Act.
What should a buyer check?
- Does the sectional plan identify Apartment 4B as the unit you inspected?
- Do the floor plan, approved use, approximate area and physical layout agree?
- How are the balcony, Parking Bay P12, store and any other promised space recorded?
- What unit factor is assigned, and what proportionate share follows from it?
- Do the plan, unit register and certificate of title or lease identify the same unit?
- If registration is incomplete, which survey, county, authentication and registration stages remain?
A discussion floor plan is not the same as an authenticated and registered sectional plan. The physical unit, approved building records, survey plan and registration documents should tell one consistent story.
What should you send to Walterland?
Send the parcel number, building name and seller’s unit number, together with the parent title, sectional plan or draft, approved building plans and any sale document showing the apartment, parking, balcony or store offered. If a unit title or certificate of lease exists, include it and the sectional plan number.
Explain whether you want to confirm the area, identify the unit boundary, trace a parking bay, compare the plan with the completed building or establish what remains before a separate register can be opened.
Related Walterland services and guides
- Cadastral surveys: Connect the completed building and its units to the registered parcel.
- Land verification: Check the parcel, title and survey evidence before relying on an apartment transaction.
- The evolution of sectional properties in Kenya: Understand the law, origins and benefits of separately registered units.
Buying an apartment or reviewing a sectional plan?
Send the parcel and unit details, the available plan and the seller’s documents. Walterland can compare the physical apartment with the survey and registration evidence.
Need to verify the parent parcel first? Explore land verification →
Legal references
General guidance, not legal advice or a determination of a particular apartment. Check the registered plan, unit register, approved building records and current registry requirements for the specific transaction.