By LPH LSS
What is an Approved Survey Plan?
An approved survey plan is a survey plan approved either by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) or by the Land Registration Authority (LRA). Such plans are considered public documents and can be requested from the approving agencies mentioned.
These plans normally consist of the plotting of the parcel or parcels of land, the survey plan number, the name of the Geodetic Engineer (GE) who executed the survey, the date of the survey conducted as well as the date of the plan’s approval, the technical descriptions of the property, and other pertinent details to identify the subject property’s location.
Use of Survey Plans
Aside from the technical descriptions in the land title, GEs also use the technical descriptions in the approved survey plans as reference in executing their surveys.
If you are a landowner or a would-be landowner, you may also want to request the survey plan of the subject property to know the shape of the parcel of land.
Depending on the region or office where the plan can be requested, the processing of the request for survey plan ranges from one day to two weeks, in some regions, it might take about a month. Its cost also ranges from PHP 20.00 – PHP 400.00 per plan.
To identify the plan number of the property, one can find it in the first paragraph of its land title:
How to determine if the plan is approved?
One can check if the survey plan is approved if such contains the specific survey plan number at the bottom right side of the document, along with the date of approval, and the signatures of the authorized personnel.
Know some of the survey symbols which DENR uses
The DENR is the authorized agency that can approve all types of surveys, both for titled and untitled lands. Here are some of the survey symbols they use in the approval of the plans:
Source: DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2010-13.
If you will engage a contractor in the survey of your property, make sure that s/he is a licensed Geodetic Engineer especially if the survey requires approval either by the LRA or by the DENR for subsequent titling and other purposes.
