Land and site surveying: scope and limits
Site measurement, area compilation, setting-out verification and cut-and-fill quantities — with the statutory survey plan work clearly left where it belongs.
Land surveying, and the line we do not cross
Land surveying is a regulated profession in Nigeria, and deliberately so. Survey plans underpin title, and a false or unregistered plan is a mechanism for land fraud on a scale that has cost Nigerian families enormous sums.
The Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON) registers and licenses surveyors, and only a surveyor it has registered may prepare and sign a survey plan for a Certificate of Occupancy, Governor's Consent, charting or any legal purpose. That is a statutory line, not a matter of preference.
So this page is about what we genuinely do around land, and what you must take to a licensed surveyor.
Where the professional boundary lies
- Survey plans: not usPreparation, signing and sealing of survey plans is reserved to SURCON-registered surveyors. We do not prepare them and cannot certify boundaries or land extent.
- Title and registration: not usCharting, verification with the Surveyor-General's office, Certificates of Occupancy and Governor's Consent are handled by licensed surveyors and the state land registry, usually with a solicitor.
- Site measurement and area schedules: oursMeasuring what is physically on the plot, computing areas, comparing against the plan you hold, and documenting any discrepancy.
- Setting-out and levels: oursChecking that what has been pegged on site matches the approved drawings, and estimating cut-and-fill and excavation quantities for costing.
- Statutory coordination: arrangedWe can bring in a SURCON-registered surveyor for the statutory work, with their fee shown separately and no commission to us.
If a practice offers to issue you a survey plan without a SURCON-registered surveyor's name and seal on it, walk away. That plan will not survive contact with a land registry.
How the endorsement works: where a document needs a signature that the law reserves to another profession, it is reviewed and signed by a registrant of that profession, and their name and registration number appear on the report. We prepare the measurement, the costing and the technical evidence; the registrant accepts professional responsibility for the statutory sign-off. Nothing is issued under a title we do not hold.
What we do on and around a site
Site measurement and area compilation
Accurate measured areas of a plot and of what stands on it, for costing, lease schedules, subdivision planning or comparison against a survey plan.
Setting-out verification
Before excavation, check that the building has been pegged where the approved drawing places it, with the required setbacks. Errors found now cost nothing; errors found later cost a demolition.
Levels and cut-and-fill quantities
Measured excavation, filling and compaction quantities for sloping or uneven sites, which is where substructure budgets are made or lost.
Plan-versus-reality reports
Where the building on the ground does not match the plan you hold, we document the difference precisely, with dimensions and photographs.
Buying land? The order that protects you
Ask for the survey plan and the surveyor's SURCON number
A genuine plan carries the surveyor's registration number and seal. Confirm both before you pay anything.
Verify with the state
Have the plan's status checked with the Surveyor-General's office in the state where the land sits. A plan that cannot be traced is a plan with a problem.
Compare the plan with the ground
We measure the physical plot against the plan, so you know whether what you are being shown is what the document describes.
Then cost what you intend to build
A measured cost plan on the actual plot, including the substructure implications of its levels and ground conditions, before the purchase price is committed.
Land and site surveying questions
Can you prepare a survey plan for my Certificate of Occupancy?
No. A survey plan must be prepared, signed and sealed by a surveyor registered with the Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON). This applies to plans used for a Certificate of Occupancy, Governor's Consent, charting, subdivision or any legal or registry purpose. We are not SURCON-registered surveyors and we will not present ourselves as such.
Then what can you do that involves land?
Everything downstream of the survey plan. Site measurement and area compilation, checking that a proposed building actually fits within the surveyed plot and its setbacks, setting-out verification against the approved drawing, cut-and-fill and levels assessment for costing, and the quantities that follow from all of it.
Can you check whether my survey plan is genuine?
We can read it and flag inconsistencies, but we cannot verify it. Verification belongs to the state Surveyor-General's office, where a properly lodged plan can be charted and traced. If you are buying land, ask the seller for the surveyor's SURCON number and confirm the plan's status with the state before money changes hands. Do not accept a photograph of a plan as proof of anything.
I have a survey plan but the building seems to cross the boundary. What now?
That is a matter for a licensed surveyor to re-establish and, if necessary, for the state land registry and legal advice. What we can do is measure precisely where the physical structure sits relative to the plan you hold, and document it — which is usually the evidence a surveyor or solicitor will ask for first.
Do you work with licensed surveyors?
We can coordinate with a SURCON-registered surveyor on your behalf for the statutory work, and we take no commission from them. The survey plan is their document and their signature; our work stops at measurement, costing and verification against it.
Buying land, or about to build?
Send the survey plan and the address. We will tell you what we can establish, what requires a licensed surveyor, and what each will cost.
We read everything sent to info@peterch.org. Replies go out by WhatsApp — include a working number, with country code, in your first message.