Suppose you bought a plot several years ago. When you visited with the seller, you were shown the four corners. You are now ready to fence it, but you can only find three of the beacons.
The corner beside the hedge is missing. You remember roughly where it was, and your neighbour remembers it slightly differently.
You need to establish where the boundary runs and whether the missing mark can be restored. This is the kind of assignment a survey team can investigate using the property’s survey records and the evidence still on the ground.
A boundary beacon is a physical survey mark identifying a point on a property’s boundary. It may mark a corner or another point along the boundary. Its position can be checked against the records of the survey in which it was established.
What does the surveyor need before visiting?
The starting information is the parcel number and location. Any title copy, previous survey plan, deed plan or documents from an earlier subdivision will help identify the records needed for the work.
The team examines how the plot was originally defined and whether its boundaries have changed through an approved subdivision or other recorded process.
The records may contain distances, directions, descriptions of boundary marks and coordinates. Coordinates are numbers used to describe a position within a particular reference system. Together with the other survey information, they help the team relate the recorded boundary to the site.
Information about adjoining plots can also be important. A survey mark on neighbouring land may help check the position of your plot, particularly where some of your own marks are missing.
The Survey Regulations require the available information about previous surveys of the property and adjoining land to be obtained before carrying out the survey. The records search therefore forms part of the assignment.
How does the team look for the missing beacon?
At the site, the team identifies the marks that can still be found and checks how they relate to the survey records. It also records relevant fences, walls, buildings and other features around the boundary.
In our example, the three visible beacons provide places to begin checking. Their positions need to be examined before they can be relied on to locate the missing corner.
The team takes measurements and uses the earlier survey information to work out where to search. The original mark may still be present below soil or vegetation. Other evidence, such as a recorded reference mark nearby, may help establish its position.
A reference mark is a separate mark whose recorded relationship to a boundary beacon helps the surveyor find or check that beacon.
The search itself is documented. Where a beacon cannot be found, the Survey Regulations require the surveyor to record that fact and provide measurements and observations showing that the search was made in the right place.
Can the position be taken from the parcel map?
A Registry Index Map, usually called a RIM, shows the arrangement of parcels and their relationship to neighbouring land. It helps identify the plot and the surrounding boundaries.
The surveyor also needs to establish what level of boundary information the records provide.
For land whose boundaries have not been formally fixed, the Land Registration Act treats the cadastral map and filed plan as indicating the approximate boundaries and position of the parcel. Cadastral map is the term used for the official map of land parcels.
A fixed boundary has its precise position defined through the relevant survey and registration process. The register and approved plan provide the information needed to establish that status.
This affects how the missing corner is investigated. The team considers the map alongside the relevant survey records, surviving marks and other boundary evidence.
How is a missing beacon restored?
Once the evidence supports a position and the applicable procedure allows the work to proceed, a replacement mark can be established at that position. This is called beacon re-establishment.
For our plot, the team would use the checked survey information and measurements to establish where the missing corner belongs. The resulting position must be considered together with the other boundary evidence.
The work produces field notes, calculations and a report. Field notes record the observations and measurements made during the survey. The calculations show how those measurements were used to establish positions. The report explains the evidence and the work carried out.
Under the Survey Regulations, a surveyor re-establishing a missing beacon submits those records to the Director of Surveys. The submitted information allows the work to be examined and retained as part of the survey record.
When commissioning the assignment, ask whether the quotation includes the records research, site work, replacement mark, preparation of the report and the required submission.
What happens when the remaining marks disagree with the records?
Sometimes the investigation finds a visible beacon in a materially different position from the one indicated by the previous survey.
The surveyor checks that the difference is real and gathers the evidence that may explain it. This includes searching the recorded position for an older beacon or reference marks and recording nearby buildings or development.
For example, a mark near the hedge may look like the missing corner, but its measured relationship to the other marks may not agree with the earlier survey. The team needs to establish what that mark represents before using it.
The Survey Regulations provide for this situation. Where the circumstances allow, the surveyor sends a full report to the Director of Surveys and requests instructions before taking further action.
The owner should be told what has been established, what remains uncertain and whether further records or instructions are needed to complete the work.
When does the Land Registrar become involved?
A missing mark may lead to a wider question about the position of the boundary, especially where neighbours disagree or the boundary needs to be formally determined.
For boundaries dealt with under the land-registration procedure, an interested person can apply to the Land Registrar to have a missing or disputed boundary ascertained. The Registrar issues notices to affected people and, for a boundary dispute, involves the office responsible for surveying land.
The process allows the parties to be heard and the survey evidence to be considered. Where boundaries are formally fixed, the required plan is filed and the position is recorded in the land register.
The Land Registration Regulations provide an application form and a notice form for these proceedings. The application identifies the boundary question to be addressed, while the notice brings the affected parties into the process.
Where boundaries have already been fixed by reference to a verified survey plan, the Land Registration Act directs the determination of an uncertain boundary position back to the Survey Act procedure. The survey team therefore checks the boundary status before advising which process applies to the property.
What should you receive after the work?
Ask for a written explanation of the findings and a plan or sketch identifying the marks being described. It should be clear which beacons were found, which were re-established and whether any boundary position remains unresolved.
Where records have been submitted, keep the submission references and copies of the documents provided for your file. If a Registrar’s determination or another approval is still outstanding, that should be identified in the progress report.
You should also be shown the relevant positions on the ground so that you can relate the written explanation to the plot.
For our fencing example, the team should explain which boundary positions have been established and whether anything remains to be resolved before the proposed fence line can be set out.
What should you send to Walterland?
Send the parcel number, location and any title, survey plan, deed plan or earlier boundary report you already have. Explain which marks you can find, which appear to be missing and what work you intend to carry out on the property.
Mention any disagreement with a neighbour or earlier boundary proceedings, and include the relevant notices or decisions where available. These details help the team identify the records to obtain, the site investigation needed and the process relevant to your boundary.
Related Walterland services and guides
- Boundary verification: Compare the parcel records and surviving marks with the occupation and features found on site.
- Cadastral surveys: Investigate boundary marks and prepare survey records for the applicable cadastral process.
- What a land surveyor does in Kenya: Understand the difference between verification, subdivision and other survey assignments.
- How subdivision works: See how a proposed portion becomes a surveyed and registered plot.
Missing a beacon before you fence?
Send the parcel number, location, the marks you can still find and any title or survey records you have. Walterland can advise on the records search, site investigation and applicable re-establishment or boundary process.
Not sure which survey you need? Read the land-surveyor guide →
Legal references
General guidance, not a determination of any particular boundary or legal advice. A licensed surveyor should check the records and the applicable procedure for the parcel.