For information and reference only – not to be submitted as your own work.

This ENCE5214 cadastral surveying sample shows how a strong answer to a Unitec ENCE5214 Cadastral Surveying Assessment 4 portfolio could be structured: Cadastral Survey Rules 2021 questions, a 12d Model traverse case study and two title comparisons. It is abridged, uses APA 7 and labels every survey figure that is not in the brief as illustrative. For the thinking behind the structure, read our guide on how to approach an ENCE5214 cadastral surveying portfolio.

Planning table

The split above is a planning guide only, so check your own brief and marking rubric for the exact limits and mark weightings.

ENCE5214 cadastral surveying sample: model answer extract

Part 1: Cadastral Survey Rules 2021

Q1. Boundaries and adopted survey information (Part 3)

Part 3 of the Cadastral Survey Rules 2021 sets out how boundaries and boundary points are defined. A right-line boundary follows the shortest distance between two boundary points (Cadastral Survey Rules 2021, r 7).

A surveyor may adopt information from an approved cadastral survey dataset, from an estate record where suitable dataset information is absent, or from a recording-only dataset once it has been verified (r 14). Adopted information is copied from its source without change, apart from unit conversions or bearing adjustments (r 75).

The practical point is that adoption saves re-measuring, but the surveyor stays responsible for checking that the adopted lines fit the field evidence.

Q2. When a PRM is needed, and how many (Part 4)

A survey that defines new boundary points, or places new or old marks on a parcel boundary, must be connected to permanent reference marks (r 31). The survey must include at least three PRMs, and a referenced boundary point must lie within a distance set by its accuracy class (r 32; Toitū Te Whenua LINZ, n.d.-a).

A PRM must be durable, set in stable material and in a suitable position, and an adopted mark cannot be used as one (r 33). Height-limited points have their own extra requirements (r 34).

Q3. What the survey report must contain (Part 7)

Rule 72 lists the report content. In a model answer, group it so that the marker sees you understand the purpose rather than a copied list:

• the purpose of the survey and the statutory provisions that apply;
• how bearings were oriented, any bearing adjustments and the origin of levels;
• conflicts found in the definition, how they were resolved and why old marks were not relied on;
• reasons where boundary marking was impracticable, and details of any exemption;
• the equipment and methods used to meet the accuracy standards.

Add the correspondence items in rule 72 that apply to your survey, such as earlier LINZ correspondence (Cadastral Survey Rules 2021, r 72).

Q4. Occupation diagrams in a record of survey

Occupation information is shown in graphic form. For each feature the diagram gives its nature, its age, and its relationship to the boundary by vector, distance or description (r 81(2)). It applies to each new primary parcel boundary point and to existing points being marked, along with related boundary lines (r 81(3)). Where nothing occupies the boundary, a “No Occupation” annotation is recorded (r 81(4)).

Q5. Reading DP 542303

Here the marker wants you to read the plan, not summarise the rules. Name the symbol for each of the three marks you are asked about, state the line style used for observed, adopted and calculated vectors, and cite the symbol and line tables in Schedule 7 of the Rules (Cadastral Survey Rules 2021, sch 7). Quote only what you can see on the plan and in your copy of Schedule 7.

On bearing origin, good practice is to orient every bearing in terms of an official projection for the area and to use the same projection throughout the survey (r 16). Bearings are expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, clockwise from north (r 74(2)).

Part 2: 40 Lagoon Place case study

2a. Pre-calculation traverse spreadsheet in 12d Model

12d Model provides traverse tools with several adjustment methods, including Bowditch and least squares (12d Solutions, n.d.). Your portfolio needs each block described by source, content and order, with screenshots. The organisation below is illustrative, so use the three blocks named in your brief.

1. Block 1, control and basis: PRMs and the coordinate or bearing basis taken from the existing plans.
2. Block 2, boundary lines: adopted bearings and distances copied from the source plans.
3. Block 3, traverse and check: the lines to be observed, with computed coordinates and a closure check.

The figures below are illustrative only and do not come from the case study. They show the standard compass (Bowditch) rule working on a closed five-leg traverse.

Sums are taken from unrounded values, so a one-millimetre rounding difference on the displayed legs is normal. The linear misclose is the square root of (0.014 squared plus 0.007 squared), which is about 0.015 m. Divided into the 197.077 m perimeter, that gives a relative precision of roughly 1:13,000. Each correction equals the misclose component multiplied by the leg length over the perimeter, with the opposite sign. For A–B the latitude correction is -0.0137 x 45.230 / 197.077, or -0.003 m.

Whether 1:13,000 is acceptable depends on the accuracy class and tolerance in the Rules and your brief, so state that comparison explicitly in your own answer.

2b. From the whole to the part: the final spreadsheet for Landonline

This part is commentary only. Explain that the final spreadsheet starts from the controlling framework, reductions and adjusted coordinates, and then derives the individual boundary bearings and distances from those coordinates. Working from the whole to the part means a small error is spread through the network and cannot hide inside a single line.

Describe three points in your own words after watching the video:

• why observed values are reduced to the survey projection before comparison with plan values;
• how the adjusted coordinates feed the boundary lines that are exported;
• how a check against the original plans shows whether the export is sound.

Part 3: Cadastral terms

Limited-as-to-parcels and limited titles

A limited title is a record of title limited as to parcels. Limited titles were issued where the registrar was not satisfied that the applicant was in full possession, or that the land’s position and boundaries were sufficiently defined by existing instruments or deposited plans. Limitations as to title expired 12 years after the first limited title for the property was issued, so only limits as to parcels should remain. A guaranteed title has no limitation as to title or parcels (Toitū Te Whenua LINZ, n.d.-b).

Both sit within the register kept under the Land Transfer Act 2017, but a title limited as to parcels does not guarantee the boundaries shown. That is the key contrast with a guaranteed title.

Legalisation surveys and land transfer surveys

A legalisation survey produces a plan that creates parcels for land acquired for a public purpose or for road being stopped. The parcels become current in Landonline when the legalisation action is published, which sets it apart from a normal private conveyance (Toitū Te Whenua LINZ, n.d.-c).

“Land transfer survey” is not a heading in LINZ guidance, which uses terms such as a survey to remove limitations and an LT subdivision dataset for land held under the Land Transfer Act 2017. Define the term the way your course material does, then contrast it with a legalisation survey on purpose, authority and outcome.

This extract is only a guide to how a Unitec portfolio can be organised. If you want help with your own brief, see our engineering and surveying assignment help or our do my assignment service in NZ, browse more Unitec assignment questions, or submit your assignment for a quote.

References

12d Solutions. (n.d.). 12d Model – Surveying. https://www.12d.com/product/surveying.html

Cadastral Survey Rules 2021 (LI 2021/95) (N.Z.). https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2021/0095/latest/whole.html

Land Transfer Act 2017 (N.Z.). https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2017/0030/latest/whole.html

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand. (n.d.-a). Field survey. Cadastral survey guidelines. https://www.linz.govt.nz/guidance/survey/cadastral-survey-guidelines/field-survey

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand. (n.d.-b). Limited title surveys. Cadastral survey guidelines. https://www.linz.govt.nz/guidance/survey/cadastral-survey-guidelines/limited-title-surveys

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand. (n.d.-c). Legalisation CSDs. Cadastral survey guidelines. https://www.linz.govt.nz/guidance/survey/cadastral-survey-guidelines/legalisation-csds

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand. (n.d.-d). Cadastral survey guidelines. https://www.linz.govt.nz/guidance/survey/cadastral-survey-guidelines