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What is Cadastral Surveying?

If you’re not in the surveying industry, chances are you’ve never heard of cadastral surveys. Even if you have, you might not know exactly what they are or what they’re used for. In short, cadastral surveys are boundary surveys.

They’re used to determine the legal boundaries of a piece of land, as well as any easements or rights of way that exist on the property. Licensed professional surveyors typically conduct cadastral surveys. In the UK it would be the Chartered Surveyors from RICS. If you’re considering conducting a cadastral survey on your property, read on to learn more about what they are and what to expect.

What is a cadastral survey?

A cadastral survey is a land surveying process that creates an official record of the dimensions and location of property boundaries. It is usually conducted by a licensed surveyor, who will use specialized equipment to measure the property and create a detailed map.

This map can then be used to determine the land's ownership and any easements or encumbrances that may be attached to it.

The history of cadastral surveys

Cadastral surveys are surveys of land that are used to establish property boundaries. They are usually conducted by government surveyors or licensed private surveyors.

The history of cadastral surveys dates back to ancient times when people first began dividing up land for ownership and cultivation. In the early days, these surveys were often crudely done, with little regard for accuracy or precision. But as civilization progressed and the land became more valuable, the need for more accurate surveys grew.

Government surveyors in many countries have long been responsible for conducting cadastral surveys. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for surveying and mapping public lands in the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also conducts surveys of some privately owned lands.

In America, cadastral surveys were common by the 19th century. The U.S. federal government conducted its first survey project in 1785 on Long Island (the property was owned by New York State). This was a simple survey that helped identify who owned what parcels of land and how much they were worth—termed a "cadastral survey."

Cadastral surveys play an important role in our modern world. They provide the legal framework for property ownership and development, and help to ensure that land is used efficiently and fairly. With the increasing value of land, we can expect that cadastral surveying will become even more important in the years to come.

How are cadastral surveys used today in the UK?

Cadastral surveys are used to establish, mark and record the position of land boundaries. They are also used to create a legal record of who owns which parcel of land, and for what purpose.

In the UK, cadastral surveys are usually carried out by licensed surveyors (chartered surveyors) on behalf of the government, or a private company or individual. The survey results are then used to produce a map showing the location of all the boundary markers (known as 'monuments'). This map is known as a 'cadastral plan'.

The cadastral plan is an important legal document, as it provides evidence of who owns each piece of land. It can be used in court if there is ever a dispute over ownership or boundaries.

Sometimes the land surveyors are required to attend to provide their expert witness on their findings on how they came to the conclusion of the plot of land's ownership.

Cadastral surveys are also used for other purposes such as planning applications, environmental impact assessments, and infrastructure projects.

Who conducts cadastral surveys in the UK?

There are a number of private firms who conduct cadastral surveys in the UK. The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the government body responsible for mapping and surveying Great Britain and is also involved in cadastral surveying.

Cadastral surveys involve the accurate measurement and description of land boundaries. They are used to create, update or amend property titles and can be required for a number of reasons such as changing the use of land, subdividing it or selling it.

All new properties must be registered in England and Wales with HM Land Registry (HMLR). This includes a record of who owns the property, what restrictions or charges are attached, and a description of its boundaries.

Cadastral surveys carried out by private companies can be expensive, so if you're thinking of buying a property it's worth checking with HMLR to see if there is already an up-to-date record of its boundaries. This will save you money as you won't need to commission your own survey.

What equipment is used for cadastral surveys?

Cadastral surveys are used to establish the boundaries of land parcels. The surveys are used to create maps of the land parcels that show their size, shape, and location. The surveys are also used to determine the ownership of the land parcels.

The equipment that is used for cadastral surveys includes GPS receivers, lasers, and total stations. The GPS receivers are used to determine the exact location of the boundaries of the land parcel. The lasers are used to measure the distance between the boundary markers. The total stations are used to measure the angles between the boundary markers. You can learn a bit more about land surveying equipment here.

Digital theodolite
Total station
GPS
Laser scanner
GIS (geographic information system) software and equipment, such as a computer and specialized software called CAD or CAD-CAM that can work with scanned maps. Cadastral maps are used during cadastral surveys to show land boundaries, property lines, easements for utility companies, rights-of-way for roads or railroads etc., lot numbers and legal descriptions of all parcels within a survey area. They may also include aerial photographs or satellite images. A cadastral survey plan is an important document prepared by an engineer that shows all boundary lines between properties in an area along with parcel numbers and lot sizes within each parcel.

How accurate are cadastral surveys?

Cadastral surveys are highly accurate and precise surveys of land parcel boundaries. They are typically performed by professional surveyors using sophisticated surveying equipment and techniques. The resulting cadastral survey maps are used for a variety of purposes, including property ownership and taxation records.

The accuracy of cadastral surveys is crucial, as these surveys are used to establish property boundaries. If a cadastral survey is inaccurate, it could lead to disputes over property ownership or taxation. Inaccurate cadastral surveys can also interfere with the development or use of land parcels.

There are a number of factors that can affect the accuracy of a cadastral survey, including the skill of the surveyor, the quality of the surveying equipment, and the type of terrain being surveyed. However, if done correctly, cadastral surveys can be accurate.

Are there any disadvantages to cadastral surveys?

There are a few disadvantages to cadastral surveys. Firstly, they can be quite expensive. Secondly, they can take a long time to complete. Thirdly, cadastral surveys can be complex and thus require the expertise of a surveyor. Finally, cadastral surveys may not be necessary for all land parcels.

it all depends on the amount of data that you have to determine the divisions of the land as the survey method throughout the years have changed and the landmarks may have been destroyed or moved.

When would you need to do cadastral surveys?

There are a few situations where you might need to do a cadastral survey. One is if you're buying or selling land, as the survey will show the property's boundaries. Another reason you might need one is if you're planning to build on the land, as the survey can show any easements or rights of way that might restrict your construction. And finally, if there's any dispute over the boundaries of your land, a cadastral survey can be used to settle the matter.

You may need to undertake a cadastral survey when you:

Buy or sell real estate.
Develop land.
Plan to build a structure on your property (e.g., an extension or garage).
Plan to make changes to a structure or building already built on the property (e.g., adding an extension).

What is a Title boundary?

A Title boundary is a line that defines the boundary of a property. That may sound simple, but it can get complicated very quickly. This is also called a title plan and you can get one here. We've been using them for a very long time.

Title boundaries are typically drawn on a plan by a surveyor or architect to determine where the property lines lie. If you have ever bought real estate in recent years, you've probably seen many plans and drawings that show title boundaries as if they were simple lines drawn on paper. In reality, these boundary lines are not as clear-cut as they appear to be; there are many factors that need to be taken into account when drawing them up. Some examples include:

What type of terrain do you want to include in your new plot? Hilly land? Flat land? Forested areas? Water features like rivers or ponds? All these things will affect how much space you get and how much money you will take to purchase those spaces.
How far away from your neighbors' homes can their property lines extend before crossing into yours?
How close does this plot border another one owned by someone else who might not agree with its current size limits?

What is a Building boundary?

The boundary of the building is defined as the outermost limits of all construction, such as walls and foundation. This includes all doors and windows, but does not include any parking spaces, driveways or lawns.

The boundary of the land on which the building is located is an imaginary line separating your property from your neighbors. The actual location may vary depending on who owns what land before it was subdivided into individual plots, but this boundary remains in place regardless where buildings have been constructed since then.

Both these boundaries are important to surveys because they help establish who has rights over different areas within a property—for example: if you want access through another person’s yard to reach your own driveway (or vice versa), it's important to know where those boundaries lie so you don't accidentally trespass into their private space while walking between yours!

What is a Rural boundary?

A rural boundary is the boundary between two parishes. The parish boundaries are the boundaries between parishes. These are determined by parcel boundaries that have been surveyed by the government and put into an official document called a cadastre. A cadastre is a type of public survey that records land ownership and describes properties in a particular geographic area. Cadastral surveys can be done for many reasons, but they all include some form of surveying and mapping out parcels of land to create accurate maps or inventories of property values in areas like counties or states.

Who needs a cadastral survey?

If you are buying or selling land, planning to build on it, or planning to change the use of land—or even just curious about what your property is worth—you will likely require a cadastral survey. A cadastral survey gives information about the location and boundaries of a property and any encumbrances that might be attached to it. This includes easements (rights-of-way), restrictive covenants (restrictions on what can be done with a piece of real estate), or other restrictions on use such as building setbacks from roadsides.

A cadastral survey is an invaluable tool for land owners, buyers and developers.

A cadastral survey is an invaluable tool for land owners, buyers and developers. This is because it provides a legal description of the boundaries of a property. It also allows for accurate measurements to be taken so that if there are disputes over the boundaries of your land or property, you will have evidence to support your claim.

This can come in handy when determining who owns what if two properties share a boundary line (such as in cases where one person claims ownership over part or all of their neighbor’s backyard). Since it only takes one side to sell off their share in order for things to get messy, having evidence showing exactly where each line falls could help prevent future arguments from arising around shared areas like this one—and save people money on lawyers fees too!

Another way that this type of survey can be beneficial is when planning construction projects such as building homes or businesses on vacant lots within large residential areas; by adding these types of markers into any new structures being built along with plans filed with local governments ahead-of-time before construction begins upon completion means more time spent planning something new instead which helps reduce costs associated with time management issues down the road while providing us insight into what kind

Conclusion

Cadastral surveys are an important tool for measuring and managing land ownership and boundaries. They help to establish property lines and can be used to resolve disputes between neighbors. If you're thinking about buying or selling property, it's important to understand cadastral surveys and how they can impact your transaction.

Who are stakeholders in a land surveying business

A stakeholder is an individual or group that has an interest in an organization, project, or system. The term can be used in a number of different ways, but most commonly, it is used to refer to a person or group that has a vested interest in the outcome of a project or initiative.

There are many different types of stakeholders, and they can be categorized in a number of different ways. For example, they may be categorized by their level of involvement, their level of interest, or their level of influence.

It is important to identify and assess the needs of all stakeholders of your land surveying business before beginning a project or undertaking any type of change initiative. This will ensure that everyone involved is aware of the project's potential impact and that their needs are taken into account. It will also help to avoid any conflict or disruption down the line.

What is a stakeholder?

A stakeholder is an individual or organization that has an interest, concern or influence in the outcome of a project or activity. Stakeholders can be internal (e.g., employees) or external (e.g., shareholders).

Projects often have multiple stakeholders with different objectives, so it’s important to identify and assess them early on. This will help you understand their needs and how they might be impacted by the project. It will also allow you to manage expectations and build relationships with key stakeholders.

The different types of stakeholders

There are four different types of stakeholders: primary, secondary, internal, and external.

Primary stakeholders are those who are directly involved in the project or organization. They have a vested interest in the success or failure of the venture.

Your clients
the architect
the planner

Secondary stakeholders are those who are indirectly involved in the project or organization. They may be affected by the outcome of the venture, but their level of involvement is not as high as that of primary stakeholders.

Occupants of the property you're surveying
Your local Council

Internal stakeholders are those who work within the organization but are not directly involved in the project. They may be interested in its success or failure, but their main concern is with how it affects their work within the organization.

your employees
your directors

External stakeholders are those who are not directly involved in the project or organization, but who may be affected by its outcome.

your bank

How to identify stakeholders

When you think about a project or business, it’s important to understand who your stakeholders are. A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in what you’re doing. This can be customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, the community, the environment – really anyone that will be affected by your actions.

There are many different ways to identify stakeholders. You can start by thinking about who will be using your product or service. Who will be impacted by your work? Who will be affected by any changes you make?

Another way to identify stakeholders is to look at who has a vested interest in your project or company. This can include people with financial interests, like shareholders or investors. It can also include people with emotional ties to your work, like employees or members of the community.

Once you’ve identified your stakeholders, keeping them informed and involved throughout the process is important. Good communication is key to maintaining relationships with stakeholders. You should also make sure you take their needs and concerns into account when making decisions about the project or business.

The benefits of engaging with stakeholders

There are many benefits to engaging with stakeholders, including:

1. improved communication and understanding between the organization and its stakeholders;
2. greater transparency and accountability;
3. increased buy-in and support for the organization's programs, projects, and decisions;
4. identification of potential issues early on; and
5. Strengthen relationships.

Organizations that engage their stakeholders on a regular basis tend to be more successful in achieving their goals. Furthermore, by involving stakeholders in decision-making processes, organizations can increase ownership and buy-in for their initiatives.

The risks of ignoring stakeholders

When you ignore your stakeholders, you are essentially choosing to not listen to the people who have a vested interest in your company or project. This can be risky, as these individuals may have valuable insights that could help you avoid potential pitfalls. Additionally, by ignoring your stakeholders you may miss out on key opportunities to build relationships and create mutual value. Furthermore, neglecting your stakeholders can erode trust and goodwill, damaging your reputation and making it difficult to secure future funding or support.

Conclusion

A stakeholder is an individual or group that has an interest in the outcome of a project, and can be either internal or external to the organization. Stakeholders can have a positive or negative impact on the project, and it is important to identify them early on so that their expectations can be managed. Proper communication with stakeholders is critical to the success of any project.

What is a lesson learnt workshop?

A lesson learnt workshop is a meeting in which members of the project team get together to identify problems with a particular project. It is important to diagnose any errors before they are repeated so that they do not impact future projects. A lesson learnt workshop helps in identifying the root causes for both successful and unsuccessful projects and helps to implement necessary changes in future projects.

When running your land surveying company you would come across this when you've failed or have done something wrong in delivering the project requirements. Whenever this happens the company and individuals involved will need to set the issues aside and learn from the problems from scope to delivery of the works.

What is a lesson learnt workshop?

A lesson learnt workshop is a process to identify the lessons learned from a project. It is a workshop conducted by those involved in the project, with the aim of identifying what went well and what areas need improvement.

The purpose of a lesson learnt workshop is to:

Identify all of the factors that have contributed towards success or failure in your project and identify where improvements could be made for future projects
Share expertise between people who may not have worked together before, so they can learn from each other's experiences

The importance of attending such workshops

The main reasons why you should attend such a workshop are:

Improved quality of work. The workshop helps to improve the quality of your work by making you more aware of problems and better at identifying areas that need improvement.
Improved efficiency. The lessons learnt workshop also encourages people to be more efficient and effective in their jobs by identifying ways to move forward and get things done without wasting time or effort on unnecessary tasks, which reduces costs for the company and makes them more profitable overall.
Improved morale among workers. Another benefit is that it will improve morale among your staff since they'll feel empowered from knowing what they can do better themselves rather than relying on someone else's direction all the time (which can be frustrating). This also means that there'll be less stress involved too because everyone has something valuable to contribute towards improving themselves!

Benefits of attending lesson learnt workshops

There are many benefits of attending a lesson learnt workshop, which include:

Learning from the mistakes of others. The lessons that were learned can be very valuable and help you improve your skills and avoid the same mistakes.
Identifying the root causes for both successful and unsuccessful projects. This may also help you identify risks in future projects so that they can be avoided or reduced as much as possible.
Applying necessary changes in future projects by learning from other people’s experiences.

How to initiate a lesson learnt workshop

Invite the right people, usually directors and upper management depending on the level of dispute that has arisen within the project team.
Set a date and time, and a location.
Write a brief agenda of what you would like to cover in this workshop. Ideally don't bring up the causality of the issue and blaming individuals. it should be brushed over amicably.
Prepare for the workshop. It's helpful to have an introductory slide deck prepared with key messages, resources and links that will help set the context for your lesson learnt workshop. You could also make use of other materials such as photos or videos that will further support your key messages. You may also want to consider having some materials on hand for participants to take away after the session (e.g., sticky notes).
Go through sample solutions and discuss potential ideas on resolving it if it happens.
At the end of the meeting identify key take aways to implement new or modify processes in your business.

Who should attend the workshop?

A lesson learnt workshop is a great opportunity to get all of the people who are involved in the project together. This means including those who were involved in the project, those who weren’t, and anyone else that you think might have an opinion about what happened.

It’s also important to include people from different business units or departments that are not directly related to your project. They can bring fresh ideas and new perspectives on things that have happened before or since your project began.

A lesson learnt workshop helps identify the root causes for successful and unsuccessful projects and helps implement necessary changes in future projects.

A lesson learnt workshop also involves discussions on how other projects can use lessons learnt.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have seen that a lesson learnt workshop is a highly valuable resource for any organisation. It helps identify the root causes for successful and unsuccessful projects and helps implement necessary changes in future projects. This will help you save money and increase your efficiency and effectiveness.

This is part of the client care of your land surveying (or any surveying) business.

How to write a SWOT analysis for land surveying company?

A SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, is a tool that can help you assess the current state of your land surveying company. It’s a good way to determine where your business stands in relation to competitors and what areas need improvement. The goal is to identify both internal and external factors that impact your business as well as potential opportunities for growth.

There are many ways to approach producing a SWOT analysis but I'll cover just a sample for this blog entry.

What is SWOT?

SWOT is an acronym for a framework that helps you analyze the internal and external factors that affect your business. It stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis tool helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses so that you can develop strategies to eliminate or reduce your weaknesses, and promote your strengths.

A SWOT analysis involves determining what makes your business successful in terms of both tangible (physical) and intangible (professional) assets. You may also want to look at how other companies are performing in the same industry as well as how they are growing their business using different marketing techniques.

A SWOT analysis is an important tool to use as you grow your land surveying business and stay competitive.

A SWOT analysis is a technique for identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It can help you identify the internal and external factors that affect your business. A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for measuring the effectiveness of an organization's strategy.

For example, let's say you are launching a new land surveying business and want to use this tool as part of your marketing plan. You could use it to determine whether or not there is enough demand for land surveyors in your area—that would be an opportunity! You could also identify potential threats such as competitors offering similar services at lower prices or government regulations that affect how much money people are willing to spend on surveying services.

To write your own SWOT analysis:

1. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your business. This can be done by brainstorming questions such as: What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? What opportunities do we have? What threats do we face?

2. List each one of these factors across the four quadrants of a table (see example below).

5. Consider how your strengths can help you overcome weaknesses or threats (e.g., if you are a small company that doesn’t have access to capital from banks).

6. Finally, consider what you can do to increase the impact of your strengths and reduce the impact of weaknesses or threats on your business.

Develop the strengths of your land surveying company.

Strengths are things that your competitors don’t have. These strengths can be tangible (i.e., a website with lots of traffic and good SEO) or intangible (i.e., great reviews from previous customers).

You can also define your internal training and setup as your strength as it is fairly unique if this is not available outside your company. But you have to also review if it is of quality to make you stand out. If your training or onboarding of new staff isn't as special as any other company I would not consider it as a strength.

Try to link your internal activities that you do that you feel is exceptional as your strength. As mentioned above, anything such as your internal system or process can be your strength as long as it is unique to your business.

Get feedback from customers and internal stakeholders.

Another way to identify internal weaknesses is to ask your customers and internal stakeholders to give you their feedback on how they perceive your company. You can do this by setting up interviews, or asking the customers a few questions after they receive their project results.

You will want to ask them about the following topics:

What are the strengths of your company?
How could you improve?
What did their experience with your products and services feel like?

Take the time to understand the market.

Understand the market you are in: You may be an expert in your field, but that doesn't mean you can understand every market. Your customers will have expectations from their interactions with other businesses and organizations. If you're not aware of what those expectations are for a land surveying company, then you may have some trouble meeting them.
Understand the competition: You need to know who the competitors are in your industry and how they compete with each other (if at all). The best way to find out about this is through online research—Google is your friend!
Understand your customers: It's important that you understand as much as possible about who are clients are and what they want when they hire a land surveying firm like yours. This will help guide some decisions regarding pricing structure and marketing strategy moving forward so that everything aligns with where customers want or need it most (and where they're willing to pay for it).

Focus on the opportunities for your land surveying company.

The second step in writing a SWOT analysis is to focus on the opportunities for your land surveying company. This will help you understand what opportunities are available, as well as which ones are most important and should be prioritized.

The opportunity is something that is external to your land surveying company. Have you identified a GAP in the market such as a unique way of deliverying the service or identified a customer segment to target that you believe has just arisen from a change in law or requirements (BIM would have been one in the last couple of years). It is still one but I think you need to refine your offering if you're going to enter it now.

To identify opportunities from the SWOT analysis you need to look at the internal and external factors that are driving the market. For example, you might identify emerging trends like cloud computing that could affect how you process your survey. If there's no threat of competition for the time being then it may be worth entering a new market segment.

The third step is to identify threats that could put your business at risk and then develop strategies to mitigate them.

One of the most important external threats is competition. You need to be aware of competitors that offer similar services and find out what their strengths and weaknesses are. It's also worth looking at prices as well as any benefits they might be offering customers. If there are a lot of competitors, you should also take into account how much it would cost to compete with them by creating your own website or setting up social media accounts. This can allow you to keep track of changes in the market so you can stay one step ahead!

Another important external factor is government regulations on land surveying companies like yours. Government legislation may require businesses like yours to follow certain rules when carrying out work on behalf of clients such as monitoring or reporting activity levels related to safety hazards found during site visits (e.g., asbestos). You could also find yourself having problems if your employees don’t have proper training for working with hazardous substances because this could lead someone being injured badly enough to never work again.

Health and safety is always an oversight when looking at your SWOT analysis.

Competition (direct or indirect)

Competition is one of the most common threats that a business faces. It can be either direct or indirect, but it always makes you feel like your business is in danger.

Example of indirect competition: The client has already signed a contract with another firm and they are already working on the project, so they don't need our services anymore.

Example of direct competition: A similar company offers better services at lower prices, which means we have to reduce our prices in order to win more clients or lose clients who were loyal to us until now.

Carrying costs

Carrying costs include the cost of holding staff when there is no work and can be a significant economic cost for a business. For example, if you have 2-3 staff on payroll doing nothing, those are carrying costs because they are not generating revenue or profit. Carrying costs may be reduced by:

reducing your payroll staff;
using subcontractors; or
increasing turnover (numerous times per year).

Major suppliers

If you are a land surveyor, it is very likely that most of the tools and equipment used in your business are purchased from suppliers. The same applies to software, hardware and other products. Knowing who these suppliers are, how much they charge you for their services, what kind of services they provide and how dependable or unreliable they are can help you determine if there are any external threats facing your company.

The major supplier threats include:

Supplier price fluctuations: If a supplier’s prices change suddenly due to an increase in costs or other circumstances beyond its control (such as war), this will cause a strain on your finances as well as lead time for purchases made by other departments within the organization. This would require immediate action on your part so as not to cause delays in production or delivery dates promised by other departments.
lack of finance to obtain new equipment
inability to repair equipments on time (* cough* * cough FARO)

Government regulations, taxes and economic situation.

The government regulations, taxes and economic situation of your area are very important for you to consider. You need to know what your business will be up against when it comes to regulations. The same goes for taxes, especially if you want to own multiple properties and hire employees. The economic situation is always changing so be sure get a clear picture of where your company stands at this moment in time.

The risk associated with these factors can have a huge impact on the success of a land surveying business.

Reduce the risks to your land surveying company.

Your land surveying company is likely to face a number of risks. With the right tools and strategies in place, you can help reduce the risks that your business could face.

A SWOT analysis can help you identify potential threats, threats that are already present and opportunities for your land surveying company. By identifying these elements, you will be able to develop a plan to manage them effectively.

The key here is planning ahead - make sure that you have a backup plan if things go wrong or an alternative option if something isn't working out as well as it should be. This way, if anything does go wrong with your business or marketing strategy then there won't be any issues because everything has been thought through in advance!

Take action to eliminate weaknesses in your land surveying company.

In order to develop a plan on how to improve your land surveying company, you will need to first make a list of the weaknesses that you want to address. You can do this by simply writing down all the possible problems you think your business has and sorting them in order of priority.

Then, identify the root cause behind each weakness and develop an action plan for how you will address each one. Finally, take action immediately so that your land surveying company’s weaknesses don’t become bigger problems later on!

Conclusion

Now that you have completed your SWOT analysis, it’s time to take action! Use this information to develop a plan of action that aligns with your goals and helps you achieve them. This can be done through business planning or brainstorming sessions with your team.