PART 2: CADASTRAL SURVEY

Background: Cadastral Surveying System in Tz

 Cadastral Surveying concept was introduced in Tanzania

by the German colonial administration, which formed the
Department of Surveying and Agriculture in 1893.
 British followed the footsteps of the German
administration. Initially cadastral surveys were used for the
alienation of land to European settlers.
 Currently, the cadastral surveying system is
administratively placed in the Ministry of Lands as the
other related disciplines (Land Use/Physical Planning, Land
Registration & Titling, Management and Valuation)
 A ministerial organ that administers cadastral surveys in
Tanzania is the Surveys and Mapping Division (SMD).
 When public demand for plots emerges,

Town-planners prepare TP drawings

Geomaticians implement approved TP drawings & come up

with Cadastral survey plans

Land managers use the survey plan info to prepare titles &
allocate plots to individuals
 Prior to acquisition of Survey Instructions, your role is to
act and transfer the TP drawing dimensions to the ground
to physically define boundaries of proposed plots, and
ultimately come up with survey plans providing cadastral
information, a prerequisite for acquisition of land
ownership rights.
 General meaning of Cadastral surveying

… survey of land boundaries together with

significant physical features existing on the land at
the time of survey.

The boundaries to survey include:

 land parcel boundaries to obtain surveyed plots

(cadastral surveys in urban areas)

 land administrative boundaries
 Plot size categories

 High density (HD) plots – covers an area of up to 400m2

(for people of low income)
 Medium density (MD) plots – covers an area from 401 up
to 800m2
 Low density (LD) plots – covers an area from 801 up to
1600m2 (for people of high income)
 A land parcel covering an area greater than 1600m2 is
treated as a Farm or a plot for special use e.g. open
space, play ground, etc.
 In most cases, farms are found in rural areas (cadastral
surveys in rural areas in which case TP drawings are not
necessary).
Land administrative boundaries

include
 Village boundaries

 District boundaries

 Regional boundaries

 National boundaries

 International boundaries
How land boundaries are realized on the ground?

 The surveyed boundaries are permanently marked on

the ground using boundary markers called beacons.

 Beacons are numbered, coordinated, mapped on

cadastral survey plans, approved and registered by
the government through the Ministry of Lands and
housing and human settlement, SMD.
 Purpose of cadastral surveying

 … to provide geometric description, sizes and

locations of land parcels for purposes of facilitating
equitable access to land and registration of land
rights.
 Based on this, an extract of the cadastral plan for one
land parcel – called Deed Plan - is always annexed
to the Certificate of Title.
 Recently, the primary objective has developed into
fiscal purposes whereby cadastral surveys are used
as a basis for collection of land rent/property tax
and for supporting land market.
Cadastral surveying from legal perspective

By defn
 … is called legal survey as it provides crucial
info for legalization of property ownership.

 To own a plot legally, a Land Title/Certificate (of

which a deed plan showing the plot location,
extent, shape & area size is part of) should be
granted to an individual, by the government.
 Cadastral survey vs development

As land is a base for development,

 cadastral surveyors can make land development
possible by just surveying land parcels
… since sustainable developments take place on
surveyed lands
Execution of Cadastral Surveying

 Intro to Cadastral Surveying Execution

 Demarcation survey
 Coordination survey
 Cadastral surveying in Urban areas
 Intro to Cadastral Surveying Execution

 The execution of all cadastral surveys in Tz is

administered by the Surveys and Mapping Division
(SMD), including: monitoring, regulating & supervising
cadastral works undertaken by Government & Licensed
Private Surveyors.
 So, SMD checks & ensures that all cadastral surveys in
the country are executed in accordance with the laid
down standards, approves cadastral tasks, keeps and
maintains records of approved surveys, prepares or
causes the preparation of deed plans needed for land
titles, establishes & densify controls upon which
cadastral (and other) surveys are connected/tied to.
 The authority to execute cadastral surveys is vested with
duly qualified land surveyors or survey assistants who
discharge such mandate under the general directions of
the Director of SMD

 The technical execution of cadastral surveys in Tanzania

is governed by the provisions of the Land Survey
Ordinance (cap. 390).
… it provides for the making of subsidiary legislations
(regulations) which must be followed in carrying out such
surveys
 The Land Survey Ordinance empowers the land surveyor
to enter the land for the purpose of executing cadastral
survey.
 But, before doing so the surveyor is supposed to give the
land owner a reasonable notice of his/her intention to
enter the land – why?
… to avoid penalty against any damage to the
property which may be happen in the due cause of
executing the survey.
 Demarcation survey

 A process of physically marking boundaries of blocks of

land parcels on the ground to indicate their limits. It often
involves:
 block setting out, and marking block corners & sometimes where
the block boundary meets other features (river, shoreline, road,
railway) by temporary boundary markers (wooden pegs/ pins)
 bush clearing along block boundary lines – to ensure inter-
visibility between corner points. Caution: You are required to
observe highest degree of carefulness, responsibility and
judgment during fieldwork to avoid conflicts that may rise due to
e.g. cutting down standing crops, valuable trees and shrubs
unnecessarily
 replacing pegs with permanent boundary markers: Beacons &
IPC
 So, a survey whose aim is to demarcate and record the position of
boundaries of land is what we call cadastral survey
 Coordination survey

Following successful completion of demarcation,

 all block corner beacons are coordinated by traverse,
bearing & distance fixation, on-line methods or other
suitable methods
 The coordination survey is usually connected to a control
framework that exists in the area of survey (but, if
controls do not exist, it has to be established before
embarking on cadastral survey execution as the surveys
must be tied to a known & precise control framework)
 Results two things: beacons in the ground & the cadastral
survey plan; the latter being a graphic description of
the position of the former.
 Land boundary descriptions

Three systems of boundary descriptions used in Tanzania:

1. Verbal boundary description
2. Numerical boundary description
3. Graphical boundary description

 A combination of verbal, numerical and graphical

description is used in the delineation of the national,
regional and district boundaries – making reference to
suitable topographic maps.
 Numerical boundary description system

… widely used in cadastral surveys whereby coordinates of

corners of blocks of land parcels are derived and plans
made. Several classifications of numerical descriptions exist:
1. Coordinate system – widely used in urban areas. Numerical
(UTM coordinate) system is the boundary description system
used in Tanzania which is backed by graphical description,
the cadastral survey plan. The coordinates are derived from
measurements obtained using land measurement systems e.g.
Theodolite-tape (and/or EDM) or Total station
2. Bearing & distance – used in the survey of farms and
estates in rural areas.
 Surveyed land boundaries & boundary markers

A boundary may be defined as a line, alone or together

with others, which encloses or defines the limits of a land
parcel. Such limits may be described:
1)in terms of numerical data (such as coordinate values or
bearings & distances) = fixed boundary: a line whose
position is precisely determined numerically, defined
physically by boundary markers and recorded by a survey
operation. Fixed boundary markers include single beacon,
double beacon & iron pin in concrete (IPC).
 Merits?

 Demerits?
2)by the locations of prominent physical features on the
ground (such as rivers, lakes, roads, etc.) = general
boundary: a line whose position is NOT precisely
determined by a survey operation, but rather defined by
prominent physical features.
 Merits?

 Demerits?

 Where a boundary is to be defined at the request of the

land owner (i.e. to be not created from plan data,

particularly in rural areas), the surveyor should always
encourage the land owner together with his neighbors to
walk along the bordering line in order to agree upon the
precise position of the boundary – to avoid land disputes
that rise due to encroachment. This process is called
adjudication
Surveyed land - What is it?

… any land whose boundaries have been

surveyed by a duly authorized land surveyor.
 Cadastral surveying in Urban areas

 When cadastral surveying process in urban areas begin?

… when planners start preparing land use development
proposals for provision of plots and approval of the same by
the Director of physical planning at the ministry of lands.
 Urban cadastral surveys are executed in accordance with
approved layout plans.
 The surveyor’s task is to translate these land use proposals
into reality
 Survey regulations require surveyors to follow these
proposals as far as possible, except where local conditions
drastically dictate otherwise. Such drastic conditions are a
common occurrence when setting out plots in already
developed areas with buildings which have to be fitted into
plots.
 Steps:

1. Obtain and study the layout plan/TP drawing carefully and

identify the location of the area to be surveyed.
2. Obtain and study the Survey instructions carefully
3. Data searching and Pre-computations. You need to do data
search to obtain base/guiding data or information that may be
required for planning the execution of the new survey. It could be
 Acquisition of information on adjacent surveys and geodetic control
points. In case survey instructions do not say anything, you need to
find out if there are adjacent (approved) surveys in the
neighborhood of the area of interest. If there is any, then identify
and obtain (a) plans, beacons/IPC coordinates and reports on such
surveys, and (b) coordinates of geodetic controls existing within or
close to the area of interest. Hence, prepare a sketch showing the
location of the new survey area relative to the adjacent surveys
and plot all the control points to realize their spatial distribution
 Gathering information relating to pending or unsettled
claims in land ownership –the so called “Third Party
Interests”. The area which is to be surveyed might have
property like buildings, crops, etc. that belong to the out-
going owners. If such owners have not yet compensated
or are not aware of the government plan to have their
land surveyed for re-allocation, they may become
obstacles to the surveying exercise. Occurrence of this
situation freezes the fieldwork for unknown length of
time waiting for clearance negotiation to allow the
surveyor to enter the land, to commence the fieldwork.
To guard against this problem, surveyors should develop
a habit of finding out whether all land related claims
have been cleared.
After collecting the base/guiding information,

 earmark datum points to base on or that will tie the

survey work – they could be geodetic controls,
coordinated beacons & IPC
 do preliminary computations (pre-comps) that you think
will reveal useful information for the commencement of
the survey work. Such computations may include join
computations to obtain bearings & distances e.g. for
datum checks, setting out, and scaling coordinates and
sometimes angles & distances from the TP drawing.
4.Reconnaissance
Do reconnaissance survey:

 to evaluate nature of the terrain & have an overview

of the area
 to assess the amount, types and magnitude of bush
clearing if necessary, level of existing development if
any, etc.
 to find out physically on the site, and recover on the
ground, the location of datum points and check for
their positional perfection.
Note:
 Datum points and checks are among other things that must be
considered during reconnaissance as the new surveys starts from the
these points.
 Once found on the ground, datum points must be checked by linear
and/or angular measurements to prove their location properness
(i.e. datum check to find out if they are in-situ) as they are
sometimes disturbed by animals and/or human activities.
 A big variation between the measured distance (Sm) and computed
distance (Sc), in any set of points, is a reason enough to suspect
disturbance of any of or all the points.
 As accuracy specification for linear measurements for urban surveys
is One part in Six Thousand (1/6000), datum points are proven to
be in-situ if and only if (Sm – Sc)/Sc ≤ 1/6000 (and therefore
accepted as reference points for new surveys)
 This means that only a relative error of 1mm will be tolerated for a
measured distance of 6 meters for surveys executed in urban areas,
20mm for 120m. To achieve this, lines should be measured to higher
accuracy. It is thus clear that surveyors need to be more careful
when measuring short distances.
5. Job planning
 On the basis of the assessment done during
reconnaissance, the surveyor is now well set to plan,
organize and expeditiously undertake the survey
work efficiently and with confidence i.e.
 To conceive the most appropriate techniques to execute
the survey and thus derive reasonable cost estimates for
the survey work
 To workout a list of requirements including technical and
non-technical personnel, equipment, material, transport,
duration of the survey together with a time schedule plus
any other relevant logistics
6.Control survey (if necessary)

If a control framework does not exist in the

neighborhood of the area of survey, the surveyor must
 establish,

 densify, or
 extend

new control points closer to the area of survey for

locating the new survey blocks.
 Triangulation, resection, intersection and traversing
techniques can do.
 7. Block demarcation

Once datum checks have yielded acceptable results,

 setting out block boundaries from plan data can commence on
the basis of pre-computations.
 Simple layouts are straight forward to set out on a relatively
flat terrain.
 Complex layouts are more difficult to deal with, particularly
on undulating terrain, as they require more care and involve
setting up the machine at short distances.
 As short distances are involved in complex layouts, more
regular check measurements have to be made to ensure that
demarcation work is in order; otherwise the whole layout may
swing in the undesired direction.
 The speed of laying out the block corners, and hence
the total time required for field work is affected by
the type of layout plan in hand, nature of the terrain
and weather
 Therefore these factors, except weather, should be
taken into account when making cost (budgeting) and
estimating project time.
Block demarcation methods

 Scaling distances and angles

 Scaling coordinates
 Staking-out
 i) Scaling distances and angles

... from the layout plan, followed by setting out using a theodolite &
tape.
 One block is set out after another i.e. each block is build onto the
previous one – the same way a builder sets up a wall
The surveyor’s task is to:
 Scale off block distances from the layout plan using a scale ruler.

 Scale off/measure angles at all block corners using a protractor

Note: All scaled distances and angles must be recorded on the

sketch (field diagram). Preparation of field diagrams before
commencing the fieldwork is necessary - minimize chances of
committing scaling errors in the filed, and speed up field operations
 Set out block corners on the ground using the scaled distances and
angles, and mark them initially by wooden pegs. Use iron pins in
areas where there is a lot of human activities going on.
 Scaling distances and angles cont…
 Assuming that A, B, and C are among the datum points
(adjacent survey monuments) to be used to tie the new (block)
survey.

How block corner1 is set out on the ground?

… a straight forward task
… mark it peg1

How block corner2 is set out on the ground?

… not a straight forward task. Two options are possible – either
by empirical method or road secant computational method
Scaling distances and angles cont…

By Empirical method
 Set out block corner2 from corner1 as usual and put peg2
at the scaled distance 1-2 from corner1
 Check the position of peg2 with the road width (say, 20m)
to determine the correct alignment/orientation for line 1-2.
Why? Because the position of peg2 cannot be treated as
the correct one - it is prone to scaling errors (when scaling
distance 1-2 & angle1) and errors due to measurements
taken on uneven ground
 Use the correct alignment and the scaled distance 1-2 to
mark the correct position for peg2
 What if line 1-2 is obstructed, say by a building or hill, how
can block corner2 be set out? Go for ….
 Scaling distances and angles cont…

By Road secant computational method

Considering all possible cases e.g. when
 Two roads of equal width (e.g. W = 20m) are meeting at
block corner2
How can block corner2 be set out?

 Two roads of different widths (e.g. W1 = 20m & W2 =

10m) are meeting at block corner2
How can block corner2 be set out?
 ii) Scaling coordinates

… from the layout plan for join computations to obtain bearings and
distances. This is followed by setting out using a theodolite & tape.
Tasks:
(a) As part of pre-computations,
 Scale out coordinates of the block corners. Scaling error should be
≤ 0.2mm. This accuracy is attained only if scaling is done
appropriately on a dimensionally stable layout plan paper
 Compute road width and parallelism. Note that parallel lines must
have equal bearings. If this situation is not attained, check the
scaled coordinates and re-compute accordingly. When OK,
 Plot the locating control/datum points on the layout plan to
visualize their spatial distribution
 Join-comp between the control points and block corners to obtain
bearings and distances for setting out
(b) Start setting out block corners using the computed
bearings and distances
************
 Disadvantages of scaling techniques?

 Advantages of scaling techniques?

 iii) Staking-out

… using a total station

The surveyor’s task is to:
 Scan the layout plan and digitize all the block corners

 Extract coordinates for digitized block corners onto a

sheet of paper
 Key in the Total station all digitized coordinates

 Start staking-out in the field

Advantages?
Disadvantages?
 Checking the work

 For any technique you opt, always ensure the use of

independent checks and self checking methods, both in
the field as well as in the computations. It is important to
provide self checks to your fixations by e.g.
 Comparing computed or measured and scaled distances
to findout if they differ to an acceptable limit:
(Ss-Sc)/Sc ≤ 1/6000
 comparing a feature on the topographical map and on
the ground
 To complete demarcation survey,

 Replace all wooden pegs/pins (temporarily marking the

block corners) with permanent boundary markers: beacons
and IPCs (at the truncation points). Beacons should be sunk
into the ground so that they protrude about 2 to 4cm above
the ground level for ease of identification.
 Ensure that all beacons and IPCs are numbered serially. You
may need to consult the district/municipal/township land
surveyor for the starting beacon number – a number next to
the last beacon number of the last survey work done in the
council. The numbers must be recorded in the field diagram
as soon as the beacons are emplaced into the ground.
 8. Block coordination

 Following successful completion of the demarcation work

(including ensuring that beacons/IPCs are properly
erected, checking and adjusting road width and
parallelism), all major block corner beacons/IPCs are
coordinated.
 Block coordination survey should commence on approved
controls (part of the national control framework) existing
in the neighborhood
 If the control framework does not exist in the
neighborhood, control extension should be considered &
implemented to bring controls close to the survey area.
 When staking out technique is used for demarcation, there
is no need of executing a coordination survey since block
coordination is done simultaneously with demarcation. But
when you employ scaling techniques for demarcation, it is
vital to plan for coordination survey, and therefore you
must decide on the right coordination methods to employ.
The decision on which coordination method to opt is done
dependant on the site situation as well as on the way
blocks are laid down.
 Always apply self & independent checks to all points that
you have fixed in the field as well as in the computations.
Block coordination methods

 Traverse method
 Polar methods

 On-line fixation method

 etc.
 Traverse method

 A traverse route should pass through or close to all necessary

block corner points need be coordinated & close to details to
be surveyed. It should take the shortest and most convenient
way.
 Orientation lines should be as longest as possible between the
available datum points
 Traverse baseline should be long in length to make the traverse
close, not loop. If the existing datum points give short baseline,
then think of establishing others that will provide a long
baseline
 Traverse legs should be as long as possible (100-300m) & of
equal lengths. If shorter legs have to be used, great care &
forced centering techniques should be adopted wherever
possible.
 Traverse stations should be located properly in a way
that they are safe/stable, accessible & inter-visible
 Use at least two zeros/arcs & observe at least four
rounds/sets of angles at a stn
 Measure each traverse leg twice i.e. to-and-fro & take
the average value
 The traverse linear accuracy (misclosure) is quoted in
terms of total error over the entire distance traversed.
Thus the minimal acceptable traverse linear misclosure
for boundary definition should be ≤ 1/6000 for urban
surveys
Polar methods: Make use of bearings & distances to fix a
new point (say C) relative to known points (say A & B)

Two polar methods exist:

i) Single bearing and distance fixation
 Measure distance S from A to C
 Observe angle θ at A formed by the two lines originating from A to
B and C
 Compute the bearing of C from A using angle θ
 Work out coordinates C(Xc,Yc) using the computed bearing & S.

An independent check is necessary to check the accuracy of

C(Xc,Yc), as the method does not check by itself .
 This can be done by involving another datum point and comparing
the measured & computed distances i.e. (Sm-Sc)/Sc ≤ 1/6000,
otherwise reject & repeat the check.
 Always use ‘single B&D fixation with a check’
ii) Double bearing and distance fixation

 A more reliable polar method for coordinating

unknown point (e.g. C)
 Point C is fixed from two independent datum points
(say A & P) by computing its coordinates from both
datum points
 If the difference between the two sets of coordinates
is not exceeding ±0.03m, take the average to deduce
the final coordinates for point C.
 This method checks by itself - self checking method
 On-line fixation method

A method for coordinating unknown points (e.g. P & Q)

which lie on-line between two known points, say A & B

 Measure distances: AP, PQ, QB separately i.e.

independently
 Check distances: APm + PQm + QBm = ABc or
(ABm-ABc)/ABc ≤ 1/6000
 Compute coordinates for point P(Xp,Yp) and Q(Xq,Yq)
from point A & B
Booking & presentation of the block coordination lines

 At the end of the coordination survey, all lines of coordination

(i.e. traverse routes, B&D fixation lines, on-line fixation lines,
etc.) should be depicted diagrammatically using conventional
lines and colour. Such a diagram is known as a working
diagram.
 Traverse routes are shown on the working diagram using
continuous red lines
 Bearing & distance fixation lines are shown using
continuous and dotted red lines
 On-line fixation lines are shown using continuous blue lines
 Independent check lines are shown using dotted green lines
 9. Block Subdivision for Plots

 Set up the machine (e.g. Theodolite) at the block corner orienting to

another corner, measure truncation distances (5m) and plot sides
using scaled distances by steel tape and ranging poles. However,
the simplest method for plot side measurements is step chaining! All
plot side measurements must be recorded on the field diagram to
two decimal places of a meter, as soon as they are taken.
 To check against gross errors, the plot sides fronting onto a common
line should be summed up and the sum compared with
measured/computed distance between the block line terminals. This
should give a relative error of 1/300 or better.
 All plot corners must be marked by pins, and later the pins for (i) HD
plots be cemented to become IPCs defining the plot corners, (ii) MD
and LD plots be replaced with beacons.
 It is important that plots appearing rectangular in shape on the TP
drawing be set out as rectangular as possible i.e. observe
rectangularity of plots intended to be rectangular notably HD plots.
 10. Detail survey

 Picking predominant man-made and natural features existing

on the on the ground at the time of survey is an important
activity as in one way or another may affect the use of, or
influence the value of a plot.
 Accuracy specification for linear measurements to features
during detail surveys is 1/1000
 Note that a survey which give rise to a production of plan
showing plot boundaries without positions and extents of
predominant features existing on the ground at the time of
survey is simply referred to as a boundary survey (as it does
not fulfill the requirements of a Cadastre). Such requirements
can only be met by a cadastral survey which embraces detail
surveys and hence produce a plan showing both plot
boundaries and predominant features – called the Cadastral
Survey Plan.
11. Compilation of the Cadastral survey work

 The cadastral survey work is usually compiled in the

form of a plan known as Cadastral Survey Plan, and
Job File containing a survey report with other survey
data.
 Both the cadastral survey plan and the Job File are
dispatched to the Director of Surveys and Mapping
(SMD) for scrutiny and approval.
 Job File

 Write a report on the survey work (Survey Report)

and assemble it with other survey data in the Job
(paper) file.
 The survey data is usually organized in Standard
Survey Forms (SF) or Sheets and assembled in the job
file.
 The arrangement starts from the back cover of the file
(inside face) with:
1. Field sheets
They must be
- Angle Sheets (SF1) - numbered AS1, AS2, tied together
AS3, etc. at the back
- Measurement sheets (SF2) - numbered MS1, file cover
MS2, etc. inside face,
one above the
- Detail Sheets (SF3) – numbered DS1, DS2, other
DS3, etc.
2. Pre-computation sheets, if any – numbered i, ii, iii, etc.
3. Summary Sheet (SF4) – Record of type & standardization of
the equipment used
4. Approved Layout proposal/TP drawing
5. Survey Instructions (SF37)
6. On-line Computations (SF7)
7. Bearing and distance fixes (SF6)
8. Traverse Computations (SF5)
9. Datum Join Computations & check distances
(SF8)
10. Area Computations (from coordinates) (SF9)
11. Area Computations (from irregular plots) (SF10)
12. Triangle Solutions, if any (SF11)
13. Scaled/digitized and Staked out
coordinates
14. Data sheet (Coordinate list) (SF12)
15. Sketch/Field diagrams (SF14)
16. Certificate of Acceptance of Boundary Beacons - BC1
(SF32) - Signed by Land Officer
17. Certificate of Erection of Beacons - BC2 (SF34) - Signed by
Surveyor
18. Certificate of Inspection of Boundary Beacons (BC3)
19. Cost sheet, if relevant
20. Survey Report (SF15,16,17,18) - Signed by the Licensed
surveyor
21. Working Diagram
22. Covering Letter (by the Licensed surveyor) – 1st page when
you open the file
23. Index (a list of Job file content) – on top of the file cover
NB: Send the job file to any professional surveyor
to ink-check the work (in green) before you
dispatch it to the Director SMD for scrutiny &
approval.
 Cadastral Survey Plan

(i) Scale selection

 Consideration should be given to the choice of a suitable
scale as it determines the amount of mapping space, &
hence the amount of information which can be portrayed on
the plan.
 While choosing a scale, ensure that there will be enough
space on the mapping plane for writing all the descriptive
plot/marginal information
 Considerations for selection of a suitable scale

 Size & shape of the plot(s) to be plotted

 Relative sizes of the shortest & longest boundary lines
 Density of information vs clarity & legibility/readability,
 Size of grid interval
 Size of drafting & reproduction material available (taking
into consideration that the minimum size of a plan should
not be less than 20cm x 30cm)
 Size of reproduction equipment available e.g. printer,
plotter
 Storage & handling convenience of the resulting plans and
copies made from them
 Scale specifications

Regulation No.53 sets out general scales to be used for

cadastral survey plans:
 Scales for urban surveys: 1:500, 1:1,000, 1:2,000, 1:2,500 &
1:5,000
 Scales for rural surveys:
1:5,000 for 10-40 hectares,
1:10,000 for 41-400 hectares,
1:50,000 for 401-2,000 hectares,
1:100,000 for 2,001-4,000 hectares
NB:
 The SMD has recently directed that all cadastral surveys in
urban areas should be drawn at a scale of 1:1000.
 The chosen scale must be indicated at the bottom of the plan
 (ii) Plan drawing/plotting

 After choosing the suitable scale, a plan is plotted

 Regulation No.54 directs that all plans be plotted by
rectangular coordinates
 Plotting is done either manually using conventional
cartographic tools or digitally using spatial software
which include GIS (e.g. ArcGIS) and CAD (e.g.
AutoCAD Land Development)
 The original (drawn) cadastral survey plan is normally
rolled and dispatched separately to the Director SMD
for scrutiny and approval.
 Typical information presented on the plan

 Information that may facilitate identification of the physical

location of the surveyed area which include heading (title),
North arrow & locality sketch (for rural surveys as an inset
map)

 Boundary information which include location, dimensions &

direction of the surveyed plot(s). The location of a plot is
often defined by coordinated boundary makers. A table
below shows conventional symbols for boundary makers
used on plans
 Feature Symbol Colour Remarks

Iron Pin in ● IPC22 Black Placed at the

truncation and on-
concrete (IPC) line points

Single Concrete Black

Beacon ○ KAF88

Double ○KAF89(DCB) Black

Concrete
Beacon (DCB)
Placed at the high
Water Beacon ○ KAF90(WB) Black water mark level of
the coastline or at
the flood level of
river banks
 Plot & estate (farm) size/area - computed in squire
meters
 Details (Regulation No. 56)
 Adjacent Boundaries shown on the plan by dotted lines
(Regulation No. 57)

NB: At this stage, the plan is complete. It must be signed by

the cartographer & licensed surveyor before sending it to
the Director SMD for further checking and approval.
 At SMD: Officials make amendments to the plan (in red)

… such as inserting:
(i) Plot Numbers
 every surveyed plot is given a number by which it is
registered and known
 The name & date of the official who inserted plot

numbers must be indicated in the space provided for this

purpose at the bottom of the plan.
 (ii) Plan Numbers

 The cadastral survey plan is always identified by two unique

numbers namely the registration number, which is serial and the plan
number. These numbers are written on the plan, at the bottom.
 The plan number is alphanumeric and appears in two forms, either
preceded by letter D or E.
 Letter D is used for urban area surveys, while letter E is used for
rural area surveys E.g.
 An urban plan number would be D19 483/6, in which the superscript
(denote regional/district headquarters) i.e. 19 is a number for
Kigoma/Ujiji Township, 483 is the Block number i.e. 483rd block in
Ujiji township and 6 is the serial number of the plan in block 483 i.e.
6th plan in block 483.
 A rural plan number would be E1 14/5, in which the superscript 1 is
a number for Dar es Salaam region (denote rural area), 14 is the
fourteenth Block number and 5 is the fifth plan in Block 14.
 Cadastral information

 Upon approval by the Director of Surveys and Mapping,

the original plan + the job file information (= cadastral
information) are kept in the Director’s office thereby
become government property.
 The government has full control over the cadastral
information