A licensed land surveyor is the only person who can legally determine and mark the position of land title boundaries. In Victoria, licensed surveyors are registered
under the Surveying Act for the purpose of upholding the integrity of the cadastre, which can be described as the database of polygons that represent land parcels along with their directly associated written documentation.

The higher the quality of licensed surveyors, the higher the integrity of the cadastre.

A cadastre with high integrity minimises land disputes, underpins a stable property market and has flow-on benefits for the community and economy.

As at June 2023, there are just over 400 practising licensed surveyors in Victoria. You can check if the person you are dealing with is registered as a licensed surveyor by visiting the Surveyors Registration Board of Victoria website.

To become a licensed surveyor, a degree qualification approved by the board, practical training and theoretical assessments must be completed. Strength in maths is imperative along with a good grasp of technology. Language and communication skills, both verbal and visual, are important, along with the ability to navigate and identify relevant legislation.

Licence surveyors collaborate with landowners, property developers, government, architects, engineers, builders and essentially anyone who has a relationship with land. They are experts in spatial measurement and utilise the gamut of measurement technologies and tools from global navigation satellite systems orbiting the earth to the standard measuring tape.

Despite huge advances in technology, it is the long-standing methodology of verification of measurements that makes a licensed surveyor the authority on spatial measurement.

A specific task undertaken by a licensed surveyor is a title boundary re-establishment survey, when the location of boundaries are required for new fencing or structures to understand the extent of land being sold or purchased, for the subdivision of land or for an application for a planning or building permit.

Watch this video to learn more about title boundary re-establishment surveys and if you require a survey, watch this video to see how Ariva Consulting provides this service.

My name is Michael and I’m a licensed surveyor. Please feel free to get in touch as I’d be happy to further discuss surveying with you.