Surveying and land measurement

Expert precision for the legal security of your project or trial

A topographic survey is the field measurement that establishes a property's real area, its boundaries and its features, referenced to official coordinates. It is the document required by the SAG, the Municipal Works Department, the Ministry of National Assets and the courts in order to subdivide, regularize land, legalize buildings or resolve a boundary dispute. Field measurement takes a day on most plots; the plan and its processing, around 30 days.

For your real estate project or legal defense to succeed, technical precision is indispensable. Our comprehensive team of surveyors and architects, backed by state-of-the-art technology, ensures that the physical description of your property is accurate and legally unassailable.

We conduct topographic surveys and provide architectural consulting essential for partition trials, boundary rectifications, subdivisions, and land plotting. We provide rigorous expert reports and plans that grant total legal security to your projects and comply with all required regulations.

When a survey is needed

Whenever an institution has to rule on the land. A regularization before the Ministry of National Assets cannot be filed without a plan. Neither can a subdivision before the SAG. Legalizing buildings before the Municipal Works Department requires planimetry, and a boundary dispute is won or lost on the technical report filed with it.

It is also worth doing before buying. The deed describes an area and boundaries that may not match the existing fences, and that difference only comes to light by measuring. It is common to find plots that on paper have 400 square metres and in reality enclose 600, or the other way round.

What it means for a plan to be georeferenced

It means that every vertex of the plot is tied to an official coordinate system, today SIRGAS, and not to local references that disappear. Old titles describe boundaries with expressions such as "as far as the big thorn tree" or "following the course of the stream", and those landmarks dry up, fall down or shift course over the decades.

A georeferenced plan makes it possible to reconstruct the boundaries at any point in the future, even if the fence is long gone, and it is what gives the measurement evidentiary value before a court or before the Registrar. A plan without that anchoring is good for talking to your neighbour, not for litigating.

Rectification of area and boundaries

When the measurement reveals that the deed does not correspond to reality, the procedure that brings the two into line is the rectification of area and boundaries. It requires the survey, the amendment of the title and its registration at the Real Estate Registrar.

Until that discrepancy is corrected, it blocks sales, mortgage loans and any subdivision project. We explain the full procedure in our guide to rectifying area and boundaries.

Surveying for subdivision

Subdivision projects are where the difference between a well made plan and an improvised one shows most. The SAG checks that each resulting lot meets the minimum area, that access is viable and that the division does not create an irregular urban settlement. A plan with badly calculated areas or poorly resolved access comes back with observations and adds months.

We prepare the planimetry both for subdivisions under DL 3,516 and for the family exception under the Sabag Law, which allows lots of between 500 and 1,000 square metres to be transferred to a first degree relative.

What we deliver

The engagement ends with the plan signed by a qualified professional, in the format required by the receiving institution, plus the explanatory memorandum where applicable. If the procedure calls for it, we also handle filing the plan at the Registrar, which is what gives it registry existence.

We work in coordination with the legal team, so that the survey is designed with the procedure that follows in mind and not as a loose product that later has to be redone.

Accurate topographic surveys
Architectural advice and subdivision projects
Technical rectification of boundaries

Frequently asked questions

Why do I need a topographic survey?

It is essential to know the exact boundaries of your land, subdivide plots, or present official plans to the Municipal Works Directorate (DOM) and the SAG.

How long does the field measurement last?

On plots or sites smaller than 10 hectares, data capture with our RTK technology typically takes only a couple of hours. Then we process the information in the office.

Are the plans they provide useful for legal procedures?

Absolutely. We deliver certified plans signed by a competent professional, ready to be presented to notaries, Conservators, SAG or National Assets.

Is the plan attached to my old deed good enough?

Rarely. Plans predating georeferencing describe boundaries by physical landmarks that have usually disappeared, and their areas were calculated with less precise methods. They serve as historical background, but institutions today require a current survey tied to official coordinates.

What if my neighbour disagrees with the measurement?

The survey reflects what exists on the ground and what the titles say, not an opinion. Where there is a discrepancy between what was measured and what the neighbour maintains, the technical report is precisely the evidence that allows it to be resolved, whether in a negotiation or in boundary proceedings.

How much does a topographic survey cost?

It depends on the size of the plot, the slope, the access and the state of the boundaries, so it is quoted case by case. Write to us on WhatsApp with the location and the approximate area and we will price it for you.

Do you have an inquiry?

We assist you directly. No intermediaries, no delays.

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