A survey plan is a map of a property, which shows you the boundary of a land. It is the primary document you receive from your Land Surveyor after he has completed the survey of your land. It determines and indicates boundary locations, building locations and physical features and other items of special importance, giving an accurate measurement, and description of the piece of land. In running a search on a property, the survey plan is what will be taken to the land bureau for geographical verification of the property. The land survey plan is used by the government to identify a person as the legal owner of the land. While charting a Survey Plan can be done by private individuals or organisations, it is also one of the procedures involved in the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy or Governor’s Consent to persons who have applied for them at the State Land Bureau.

A survey plan is attenuated and ratified in Nigeria by the Survey Plan Act 1990.

WHY SHOULD YOU GET A SURVEY PLAN ?

The major reason why a land is being surveyed is to get the land information – its boundaries and size. It is a very important document and is required for almost all land transactions. It is needed for many other processes such as deed preparation, confirmation of record copy submission, land information certificate processing, title processing, transfer of title, obtaining of loan from bank, mortgage processing etc. A survey plan is attached to a deed of assignment also in the processing of certificate of occupancy.

A survey plan will save you lots of stress and prevent wastage of resources in buying land or houses built on land with wrong boundaries. Many lands are actually in places that the Government will take over in the future. Those properties are designated as Committed or Under Government Acquisition. When this happens, the occupiers of the land lose out on any compensation from the government.

Another advantage of the Survey plan is that if the land has been designated for other purposes outside residential such as Agricultural Purpose, one would know in advance.

Depending on Loan requirement in some agency, a survey plan can also be tendered as a requirement for a loan

TYPES OF SURVEY PLANS IN NIGERIA

Provisional Survey Plan

The provisional survey plan contains the size of the land, boundary, and coordinates, but is not a legal document in itself. It is only used in place of survey of a particular boundary and can be used to create a building plan.

Registered Survey Plan

This is a legal document carried out by a Registered Surveyor which is lodged in the Office of the Surveyor-General of the State is considered a Registered Survey. The register survey contains, Starting Point, Land Area, Beacon Location and Identification Number, Land Boundaries Distance and Coordinates, Landmarks, Surveyor’s Name, and Signature, Survey Plan No. and Registration of Survey Plan with Government.

HOW SHOULD YOU GET IT

Survey plans are gotten from a Land Surveyor after he has completed the survey of your land. The cost of producing a survey plan differs from location to location and the size of the land. Also, the cost of the survey is regulated by the Nigeria Institution of Surveyors and Surveyor Council Of Nigeria. The price of a survey plan in Lagos varies from one zone to another.

INFORMATION IN A SURVEY PLAN

The Survey Plan shows the following information:

The title of the survey (name of the owner)

The location or address of the land

The size/area of land

The status of the land (especially for Lagos survey plans)

The drawn out portion as mapped out on the survey plan document – the boundary beacons

The date it was drawn

A stamp showing that the land is either free from government acquisition or not.

Consent no. (If the land is under government acquisition ).

Bearings to the nearest minute of arc and distances (in metres) to the nearest second decimal place.

The plan number.

The Surveyor detail – name, surveyors address, seal and signature.

The boundary of land.

Things to look out for to avoid being scammed or given wrong survey

Check the name on the Survey which should have the name of the property owner on it.
Registered seal of the Surveyor; scammers will not have it. Always check if it is there.
Proper Address of the property
Check and make sure the area and local government where the land is located is correctly written.
Survey plan number must be on the survey plan. You can use it to check the ownership of the land.
Check the date the survey plan was done. Very important.
Check the registered stamp and logo of the surveyor. All registered surveyors have them.
Make sure the size of the land is correctly written on the survey plan.
Check the beacon number.If you have seen some numbers written on 4 blocks at the 4 corners of a land,that is a beacon number.
Take the survey to the state’s surveyor general office to confirm. The office is located in Obafemi Awolowo way.

In Nigeria, there are bodies that regulate the activities of surveyors such as Nigeria Institution of Surveyors and Surveyor Council of Nigeria. To this end, it is necessary to retain the services of a professional surveyor who is duly registered to carry out surveys of a land. This is to enable the owner of the land to have detailed information about the land and to be advised on the best part of the land to build on to reduce the possibility of breaking building regulations as well as make projections on certain problems that might be encountered in future while using the land.