RURAL CADASTRAL

SURVEYS
BEST PRACTICES
CHALLENGES
Neville L Brayley
28th March 2008

A Definition of
Re-establishment
A cadastral re-establishment is the process of
deduction from a field survey whereby part or all
of an original survey is, as nearly as possible,
within practical limits, re-established in relation
to artificial features, such as survey pegs and
other survey marks, fences, building corners
which may be extant or may be traced through a
chain of recent surveys.
cont

 reliable re-establishment may be

effected beyond the bounds of
conjecture

cont

 When re-establishing these titles, the

Surveyor is obliged for his own protection
to make an extensive survey of perhaps a
whole section picking up all existing
occupation in order that a comprehensive
picture may be obtained

Rural Survey Issues

The scale or size of the survey.

The frequency of having to consider Crown Boundaries.
The topography of the land.
The original vegetation status of the land.
Date of alienation.
Age of the old survey.
Longevity of monuments.
Irregular boundaries.
Railway boundaries.
Durability of fencing material.
cont

Rural Survey Issues

The old Field Notes.

Crown Surveys.
The long Govt. Road alignment.
Un-surveyed boundaries.
Current Record Plan.
Soldier Settlement Surveys.
Large excesses.
Many sided and irregular allotments.
Time between surveys.
Rugged terrain and heavy bush
Road alignment fences.
cont

Rural Survey Issues

Wildlife and farm stock.

Vehicle access.
Communication.
OH & S.

Old Equipment & Methods

Gunters Chain.
Steel band.
Circumferenter.
Theodolites.
Log tables.
Ranging.
Chainages and offsets.
Offsets only.
Classification of surveys as E5.

Survey Search
It is vital that ALL survey information
be obtained.
This includes a recent title search

Arriving at the Job

You will start to build up a picture
of how the fieldwork will progress.

Morning Tea
Take the time.
Let stuff sink in.
A plan will evolve.

Fieldwork
At the end of the day, it is the assistants
job to make sure that all the equipment is
in the vehicle.
It is your job to make sure that all the
required information is in the field book
and data recorder.

Occupation
Draw the occupation in the field
correctly, carefully and thoroughly.
Describe the occupation in the field
correctly, carefully and thoroughly.
cont

Occupation
Estimate both the fence AND corner post ages.
A digital camera can provide useful memory
joggers.

cont

Occupation

The old surveyor showed road widths of

100 links. What he means is 1 chain (ish).

Reference Marks
The priority for the location of these should be their
longevity, NOT whether they are in good spots for
use as instrument points.

Equipment
Always: read multiple faces of angles,
obtain several distances (from either end of
the traverse line), take offsets, check chain
between things, use two base stations if
using GNSS equipment. A single face, one
distance radiation needs to be checked.
Check everything. Leave nothing to
chance.

Instincts

Trust your instincts if you feel

something is not quite right it probably
isnt.

Office Stuff
Often, twisted, distorted, obscure, time
consuming, horrible, hard to read and tricky
mathematical gymnastics are required on old field
notes to work things out.
You have NO choice, you must do them.

Datums
Be exhaustive, not just thorough, in reestablishing your datums.
There is no such thing as a survey that
went too far, or picked up too much data.

Surveyors Report
This is the most important document you produce
for the next surveyor.

Abstract of Field Records

Present all information clearly, unambiguously

and correctly.

Responsibility
You should be able to look back and see
that you are a better surveyor than you
were a year ago.
This process never stops.

Auditing of Surveys
The latest statistics in Traverse suggest
that over the last 6 years, the average
number of satisfactory audits is about
77%.
Practically 1/4 of audited surveys do
not achieve compliance.

Finding Mistakes in Your Work

You develop a horrible sinking feeling.

A feeling of impending doom descends on you.

cont

Finding Mistakes in Your Work

To rectify the problem, re-draw plans and

Field Records, ring the client etc,
may take you a day or two, but you will
have success.
cont

Finding Mistakes in Your Work

To get rid of the stigma of being a poor, lazy,
inept surveyor
may take your whole career, and you might
fail.

cont

Finding Mistakes in Your Work

You are not a fool if you make a

mistake.
But you are a fool if you dont find and
fix it.

Getting Rattled

Dont compromise your professionalism.

A Cadastral Surveyors
Creed
Do every survey to the absolute best of your ability.
Be diligent, thorough and proud of the result.
No-one can then challenge your decisions!
Any subsequent defense of your survey in a Court of
Law will then look after itself.

Quality Control
Dont compromise your professionalism

Challenges
Openly discuss:
Techniques
Accuracies
Philosophies
Efficiencies
etc..

cont

Challenges
Be accountable.
But remember to find the balance.
Profession.
Client.
Workplace/employer.
Family.
Community.

Related Challenges

Grid to ground comps and scale factor.

MGA94 co-ords
Crown Boundaries
RE Plans.
Guidelines for Surveys needs to be updated to reflect
modern equipment and techniques.
Practice Directives.
Surveyors (Cadastral Surveys) Regulations.
The audit process.
The Registration process.
Be proud to be an expert in a specialized field.
R & D.
cont

Related Challenges
Who is going to drive these challenges and
changes?
Not anyone over 50, maybe not even 40.
Prove to the community that we have the
professionalism to regulate ourselves.
You will not only enjoy the ride, but you will
command enormous respect.
I envy what you can bring to the profession, and
where you could take it. Exciting times.