FAQs

Surveying is the determination of position.

What?

No really, it’s as simple as that.  Surveying is the determination of position, on land, on water, under water, underground, in the air.  Down to the millimetre, or the metre.

Well, you can get positions from your GPS, but it won’t be accurate enough for defining boundaries.  It’ll get you to your driveway, or on the right bike track, but it won’t find a peg in the middle of a paddock.  In addition, it can be tricky relating your GPS to the historic survey data that defines the boundaries.

In New Zealand surveying is much more than just determining position.  Typically, New Zealand Surveyors are involved in the following:

• Cadastral (Boundary) Surveys
• Topographical (site) surveys
• Building setout
• As-built surveys
• Subdivision Design and Consent Applications
• Resource Consent Applications
• Subdivision Engineering Design
• Project Management

Cadastral surveys are concerned with the definition of ownership and subdivision of land.  In New Zealand only a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor can submit a survey to LINZ for approval.

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) are the government department responsible for holding the records of land ownership.

A ‘topo’ survey is carried out to produce a digital model, plan or computer model of a piece of land or a structure.  The plan will indicate natural features (such as trees, streams and banks) and manmade features (such as buildings, fences, and driveways).  Normally this plan forms the basis for some other process such as designing a house, designing a subdivision or some other form of development.

Local and Regional Councils control the use of land or erection of structures through their District Plans.  Certain activities are permitted as of right, but some activities are controlled, and to carry out these activities you require a resource consent.  Activities that may require consent may be as simple as building slightly closer to your boundary than permitted, or it might be as complex as establishing a new shopping centre.

Subdivision is when a parcel of land is split into multiple parts.  It normally refers to the complete process of acquiring Council consent, meeting the conditions of their consent, carrying out the cadastral survey, and submitting the survey to LINZ.  A subdivision will require a subdivision consent from the Local Council.  Larger subdivisions will require additional consents from Local and Regional Councils.

It depends. A simple subdivision can be carried out in 4-6 months. A large subdivision may take some years.

There are various stages in the process where responses are required from the Council and/or LINZ.  They are dictated by statutory timeframes, and typically comprise 3 months for a small subdivision.  Please contact us to receive our “De-Mystifying the subdivision process” booklet for more information.

It depends.  There are application/submission fees to be paid to the Council and LINZ and Councils will also require Development Contributions.  Our own professional fees depend on the nature of the proposed subdivision and the underlying historical survey work carried out in the area of the site.  We would be happy to prepare a no obligation estimate of fees associated with your proposal.

A Surveyor is the only person who can submit the final plans to LINZ.  However, we believe that by involving a surveyor early in the planning of your subdivision you will achieve significantly better outcomes.  That’s because surveyors historically have been responsible for all facets of land development so they are familiar with the pitfalls (and the shortcuts), and can steer your proposal through the development process.

A Certificate of Title (CT) is the record of legal interests in a parcel of land.  It will show the legal description of the land, who owns the land and any other interests or encumbrances on the land such as easements or mortgages.  Some interests are beneficial (i.e. additional rights which increase the value of ownership), other interests are restrictive (called encumbrances) they provide rights to other parties or restrict the use of your land in some way.

A Deposited Plan (DP) is a survey plan of a subdivision.  Most parcels of land in New Zealand are described as a particular ‘Lot’ number on a DP e.g. Lot 1 DP345678.  This description is called the ‘appellation’ or ‘legal description’.  This information can be found on your rates demand.

Google Earth is a great resource, combining a variety of data including photos and heights into one package but the accuracies involved mean it’s only useful for preliminary large-scale planning.  See our blog post about Google Accuracy