Cadastral Surveying and Land Registration
What a cadastral survey actually produces
A cadastral survey does not merely measure land; it creates a legally referenceable record: beacons coordinated and tied to geodetic control, a survey plan showing bearings, distances, coordinates and areas, and a parcel identifier linking the spatial unit to a register entry. Distinguish the cadastre (the spatial and attribute record of parcels, whether fiscal, legal or multipurpose) from the land registry (the record of rights, owners and encumbrances).
Registration systems
Two families dominate. Registration of deeds files the instrument; priority turns on registration date and notice. Registration of title (Torrens-type) registers the title itself and rests on three principles: mirror (the register reflects the true state of title), curtain (a purchaser need not look behind it) and insurance (the state compensates a person deprived by error). Traps: a registered deed does not by itself prove ownership; a certificate of title does not automatically extinguish overriding interests such as short leases, statutory rights or easements, and fraud or adverse possession may defeat it.
Boundaries
Fixed-boundary systems make the surveyed monument and its coordinates authoritative. General-boundary systems define parcels by physical features, with map lines merely indicative. Questions often ask which record prevails when fence and beacon disagree - in a fixed-boundary cadastre the beacon coordinates win, and occupation is evidence, not the definition.
Rule of thumb
For a closed traverse, linear misclosure = square root of (sum of dE squared plus sum of dN squared), expressed as a ratio of the perimeter. A misclosure of 0.03 m in 600 m is 1:20 000 and acceptable for most cadastral work; 0.30 m in the same perimeter is not. Always check misclosure before computing area by coordinates, since a blunder propagates directly into the area.