What Survey Plan Is All About
A Survey Plan is a document that shows the boundary of a parcel of land. It gives an accurate measurement, description of the piece of land and contains the following
information: the name of the owner of the land surveyed, the address or description, the size and the drawn out portion as
mapped out on the survey plan document. Other information
that a survey plan contain includes: the beacon numbers, the
Surveyor who drew up the survey plan and the date it was
drawn and a stamp showing that the land is either free from
government acquisition or not. So how and why does one
chart a survey plan in Lagos?
The major reason why a survey plan is charted is to get what
is known as a Land Information. Before a transaction is
consummated over a plot of land, it is always advisable to
Chart the Survey Plan presented for the land to basically find
out whether it falls under government acquisition or not and
as well authenticate the claim of ownership to the land.
While Charting a Survey Plan can be done by private
individuals or organisations, it is also one of the procedures
involved in the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy or
Governor’s Consent to persons who have applied for them at
the Lagos State Land Bureau.
The procedure for Charting a Survey Plan starts with
obtaining an Application Form for Land Information and
Payment Advice from the Accounts Department of the Office
of the Surveyor General at No.87 Awolowo Way, Ikeja. For
survey plans that carries a single name the fee for charting it
is N10, 000 and N1, 000 for development levy, while the fee
for one that carries Mr. and Mrs. is N20, 000 and N1, 000 for
development levy.
The next step is to go to the designated banks stated on the
payment advice, pay and obtain original receipt with teller
and then submit them along with the following documents at
the front desk office of the Surveyor General’s Office: the
completed application form for land information and a copy
of the survey plan. A file for the application is then opened
at this stage.
From the front desk office, the file is sent to the Accounts
Department for verification of receipts of charting and
endorsement. If cleared, the file is sent to the Records Unit
for proper confirmation / screening of red copy. An Officer in
the Records Unit scrutinizes the red copy side by side with
the applicant’s copy. File is then sent to Charting Room to
ascertain the status of the property (acquired or free from
government acquisition) and execute a composite plan to
affirm the authenticity of ownership. The Officer in Charge of
Charting does the verification and confirmation of charting
and the sends the result (a Land Information Certificate) to
the Director of Coordination, Transactions and Records
Department for final clearance. At the final stage, the result
is sent to the front desk office for filling and a text message
is sent to the applicant to come and pick up the Land
Information Certificate. On the average, the entire process takes between a month and two to complete.