Cadastral Surveying- introduction

• This is the definition, identification,

demarcation, measuring and mapping of new
or changed legal parcel boundaries.

• It usually includes the process of re-

establishing lost boundaries and sometimes
resolving disputes over boundaries or other
interests in real property.
 CADASTRAL SURVEYING- Introduction

• There are always specific regulations regarding training and

experience for surveyors wishing to carry out cadastral surveys
because they have a professional responsibility to society.

• Cadastral surveys are carried out by governmental officials and

private surveyors or by a combination of both.

• Special certification is required and this can be administered either

by the state or by a professional society.

Which organisation is responsible for certification of Land Surveyors

in Zimbabwe?
 Cadastral surveying- introduction
• In Zimbabwe cadastral surveying is supervised
by the Surveyor General. (Land Survey Act)

• Licensed private Land Surveyors are in most

cases responsible for carrying out surveys
whilst licensed government Land Surveyors
are responsible for survey examination and
approval.
 Cadastral surveying- introduction
• Four key cadastral processes support the cadastral system in Zimbabwe.

• These are
 subdivisions,
 consolidations,
 sectional title surveys and
 whole parcel transfers.

• Key institutions
 Planners,
 Local Planning Authorities (LPA),
 Land Surveyors,
 Department of the Surveyor General (DSG),
 Notaries
 Registry of Deeds (RD
Cadastral Surveying
 Land Tenure
• In Roman Dutch law all that is physically contained within the land parcel
is called the SOLUM.

• The SOLUM include-

 THE Ground surface,

 The SUBADJACENT SOIL below the ground surface ( otherwise one would
be trespassing if the roots of one’s vegetables grew below the ground
level), and

 The SUPERADJACENT AIRSPACE above the ground surface ( for otherwise

one would be trespassing by building a house above the ground).

 The SOLUM is seen conceptually as extending from the centre of the earth
upwards to the sky.
 Land Tenure
• The SOLUM is often referred to as a PARCEL, and what is implied is
that several elements are wrapped up together.

 The land parcel comprises:

 The ground itself (including ground which is covered with water for
all or part of the year).
 All trees and other plants growing on the land.
 Everything fixed to the ground including buildings.
 Anything below the ground. ( pipes, cables, rocks, minerals e.t.c)
 The airspace above the ground.
 Any servitudes or other real rights registered against the property.
 Land Tenure
• The boundaries of a land parcel may be defined as being vertical
surfaces, extending from the centre of the earth upwards to the
sky.

• BOUNDARY LINES are then the intersection of vertical boundary

surfaces with the topographical surface of the earth.

• In urban areas in Zimbabwe, these lines are usually demarcated (

marked on the ground) by iron pegs and other markers at the
turning points.

• In England and some other countries beacons are seldom left at

turning points of the boundary, instead a hedge, ditch or fence may
point to the existence of a boundary.
 Beacons and boundaries
• A boundary line is defined as the intersection of a vertical boundary surface with
the topographical surface of the earth.

• Another definition is the imaginary line which marks the confines or line of
division of two contiguous properties.

• Legally speaking boundaries are the limit of the legal rights which attach to the
physical land parcel.

• A legal right is an interest conferred by and protected by the law entitling one person to claim that another
person(s) either give him something or do a particular act for him or refrain from doing an act.

• Security of tenure is an important building block of a stable society, and so the

survey/ legal system must endeavour to produce the most certain and least
ambiguous definition possible of boundaries.

• If the verbal definition on a survey diagram or title deed describes a durable

physical feature as a boundary – the middle of a certain river for example- then
definition (i.e verbal description) and demarcation ( physical existence on the
ground) are neatly tied together.
 Beacons and boundaries
• But if we cannot readily use physical demarcation of the actual line of the boundary, then the most natural
alternative is to adopt an imagined line between two physical objects or beacons.

• What is a beacon?
• A beacon is a monument or a mark on the ground that marks the corner point of a boundary.
• A beacon should therefore have unique coordinates.

• Coordinates serve two roles:

 Cadastral mapping.
 Boundary redefinition.

• As a general rule in Zimbabwe monuments take precedence over coordinates.

• Characteristics of beacons
• It must be durable and long-lasting.
• It must be stable.
• It must be safe from disturbance.
• It must be safe to work at.

• The material and the marking used on monuments placed to mark boundary corners are often subject to state laws
or statutes (see section 22 of the Land Survey Regulations).

• Boundaries can either be:

• Rectilinear -an imaginary straight line between two beacons
• (provided no new boundary is more than 6000 metres in length (Sect 18(2) LSR).

• Curvilinear – a boundary that follows a physical feature or object) e.g. the middle of a river.
 Boundaries and beacons
• Boundary types

• Common alternatives for demarcating and delineating ( i.e depicting on a diagram)

the extent of land parcels are, or in some cases have been in the past.

1. A physical demarcation of CORNER POINTS of the property by natural or artificial

objects ( eg. Stones, hilltops etc.), with no comprehensive records or
measurements or diagrams to assist in replacing boundaries in the case of doubt
or dispute.

• This system has been used from antiquity, for example in the old testament where
dire consequences were attached to the sin of moving a neighbour’s corner stone.

• If corner stones or other markers go missing or are moved then there is nothing to
use to reconstruct them other than human memory, so this system is open to
fraud and subject to dispute.
 Boundaries and boundaries
2. The physical demarcation of BOUNDARY LINES ( hedges, walls etc.).

• In built up areas people tend to erect hedges, walls and fences over a period of time,
even if these are not on the original boundary they are what most people accept as
the boundary.

• In order to be replaced when there is doubt or dispute, and for purposes such as
taxation, these boundaries may need to be represented on a large scale
topographical map, digital or analogue.

• If the boundaries move over time, and if there are any subdivisions and
consolidations which alter boundaries or require new hedges or other demacators,
the large scale map needs to be updated, which can be expensive.

• Boundaries mutually recognised by abutting owners and usually ( but not always)
associated with a physical divider like a hedge or wall or fence, are often referred to
as GENERAL BOUNDARIES.

• This systems has proved viable for hundreds of years particularly in countries which
implemented cadastres ( land registers) when they already had long established, well
demarcated boundaries which were no longer likely to be the subject of much
dispute.
 Beacons and boundaries
• Examples of successful general boundary systems are to be found in
Thailand, where a large land titling project has been going on since
1981, and also the United Kingdom, where the majority of the
boundaries have been adequately demarcated for centuries.

• In Thailand, boundaries were already well established when the

land titling exercise began, and 80% of them showed up clearly
from the air.

• In the UK, in terms of the Limitation Act, after 12 years a physical

feature delimiting a property will automatically became the legal
boundary.

• A sound General Boundary system must be founded on the visible,

enduring demarcation of boundaries.
 Beacons and boundaries
3. A third boundary type is a purely verbal
description of each property, attempting to
relate a boundary’s position to features in its
vicinity which can be described.

• Clearly there may be insufficient features to

relate boundaries to, and verbal descriptions
are often very restricting.
 Beacons and beacons
4. A fourth possibility is a boundary system where boundaries are agreed to at a certain time and
thereafter stay fixed in that position.

• Re- establishment may be achieved by evidence of demarcation along the length of boundary or
demarcation at the boundary’s turning points, by measurements, photographs and maps, verbal
evidence or anything else which may assist in establishing the originally agreed position of the
boundary.

• This is known as the FIXED BOUNDARY system.

• In practice, apart from such things as river boundaries, and in special cases walls, fences etc.,
boundary demarcation is most often achieved by marking the corner points.

• In Southern Africa there is also a very well established tradition of keeping some form of survey
evidence of the limits of each property in relation to its monumented/beaconed corner points.

• In very old surveys this might just have been a diagram with measurements written along the
boundaries,

• Today in modern surveys a combination of diagram, working plan, and coordinates furnish a great deal
of information about property beacons and ancillary points, very often on the national grid system.

• The system is expensive and if used in areas of low land value may result in survey costs being
disproportional in relation to the value of the land.
 Beacons and boundaries
5. The fifth possibility is where coordinates only are given for corner
points, there are no beacons marking corner points in the
boundary, or if there are these have no legal status.

• It is of interest to note that in High Density Developed Townships in

Zimbabwe missing beacons may be replaced on their coordinate
values ( =-see section 15A of the Land Survey Regulations).

• One view is that mathematics will eventually take over from

monuments.

• Conceptually this is an important change from the usual practice of

reconstructing the most likely position that the beacon originally
occupied using other survey markers from the same survey as the
missing peg.
 Beacons and boundaries
• Zimbabwe’ system of boundaries

• Zimbabwe has adopted the fourth boundary system –viz.

boundaries fixed at a certain point in time, together with a
survey to enable relocation of the boundaries as originally
agreed.

• Usually turning points are marked with beacons (eg. Iron

pegs, often in concrete, sometimes with a cairn of stones),
and very often surveys bear a fixed relationship to the
national trigonometric system.

• However, boundaries are sometimes curvilinear features,

such as rivers.
 Beacons and boundaries
• Beacon replacement in Zimbabwe
• In terms of the Land Survey Act, Sect. 16(1), although anybody is
permitted to search for beacons, only a Registered Land Surveyor
may replace property beacons.

• In Zimbabwe the surveyor replacing a missing beacon attempts to

replace it as closely as possible in the position in which it was
originally fixed.

• Thus even if the description on the title deed is inaccurate or

ambiguous, and even if the previous surveyor was using equipment
which was inaccurate by today’s standards, the replaced beacon
ideally occupies exactly the same position that was agreed to by all
parties at the time of the original survey.