What is boundary marking?
Boundary marking, or boundary staking, means that a surveyor takes the corner points of a parcel from the official cadastral records, transfers them onto the ground and marks them. That way the boundary on paper becomes visible on the plot.
When is it needed?
- before building a fence or a house, so you don’t build on someone else’s land or give away part of your own;
- before buying or selling, so you know exactly what you are buying;
- in disagreements with a neighbour about where the boundary runs;
- after a parcel has been divided, so the new boundaries are visible on the ground;
- when old markers have disappeared or been moved.
What the procedure looks like
- Cadastral data. We obtain the official data on the parcel and the coordinates of its corner points.
- Checking the data. Before going on site we check the quality and origin of the data. This is crucial for accuracy; more on that below.
- Fieldwork. We set out the points with a GNSS RTK receiver or a total station.
- Marking. The points are marked temporarily, with wooden pegs or metal rods, or permanently, with concrete markers.
- Record and sketch. You receive a document showing the marked points. We recommend that your neighbours are present too and sign the record.
How accurate is boundary marking?
Accuracy depends not only on the instrument but also on the quality of the cadastral map the boundaries come from. Where the map comes from a more recent numerical survey, boundaries can be restored to within a few centimetres. On older maps, made by graphical survey and later digitised, the deviations can reach decimetres. That is why we always check where the data comes from first and tell you openly what you can expect.
What if the neighbour disagrees?
The surveyor does not decide who owns the land; they mark the boundary as it is recorded in the cadastre. If the neighbours still cannot agree, at the request of the parties the boundary is settled by a court in non-contentious boundary proceedings, usually with a court-appointed surveying expert.
In practice, most disagreements are resolved on site, once both sides see the marked points and the official data.