Quality Assurance and Audit Processes for Cadastral Surveys

Welcome to the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) cadastral surveyors audit homepage. This page will be regularly updated with information on the audit processes for cadastral surveyors who submit cadastral survey datasets (CSDs) to LINZ.

• Historic Audit Process
• Piloting a New Approach
• Pilot Project Overview
• Implementing the New Approach
• Audit Methodology - Released February 2007
• Background Material
• Forms

The Historic Audit Process

The purpose of a cadastral audit is for LINZ to obtain reasonable assurance that Licensed Cadastral Surveyors (LCSs) are complying with survey standards and legislation.

Historically, auditing by LINZ and its predecessors has been mainly limited to field audits (i.e. confirming the placement of pegs and survey marks) and extensive checks on CSDs lodged with LINZ.

However, a field audit gives assurance for the audited CSD only and may not be indicative of the quality and reliability of other CSDs submitted to LINZ by a licensed cadastral surveyor.

Piloting a New Approach

A new approach to quality assurance (QA) of CSDs was piloted during the first six months of 2006. The approach involved assessing the QA practised by survey firms with a focus on their systems and controls.

The approach was prepared by LINZ's Regulatory QA team and developed with the agreement of the Surveyor-General, survey firms that took part in the pilot and the Consulting Surveyors of New Zealand (CSNZ) - a division of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors (NZIS) consisting of principals of survey firms. Regulatory QA - part of the Regulatory Group - provides assurance to the Surveyor-General that surveyors and LINZ Customer Services Group possess effective systems and controls to verify compliance with the Cadastral Survey Act 2002 and Surveyor-General's Rules.

The pilot project concluded that the new QA approach provided increased assurance to the Surveyor-General that CSDs were complying with survey standards. It also suggested ways that LCSs could improve their processes.

Below are details about the pilot project and the progress made in implementing this new audit approach for cadastral surveys.

Pilot Project Overview

The NZIS, CSNZ and Institute of Cadastral Surveying (ICS) have supported the trialling of this new QA process.

An overview of the pilot was presented to CSNZ members at their Hamilton conference on 18 March 2006. Following discussion between LINZ and CSNZ, it was agreed to run the pilot until the end of the financial year 2005/06 and then review its effectiveness. The Pilot Audit report summarises the results of the pilot project.

The CSNZ reviewed the report before it was released. CSNZ and LINZ agreed to release the pilot report to all LCSs as a precursor to the new audit methodology being implemented.

Implementation of the new approach to auditing LCSs

The principles of the pilot will be applied by LINZ when auditing LCSs and the survey firm with whom they are associated. These include the use of field audits and quality assurance audits to assess the processes and controls adopted by the LCSs within their firm. Until August 2007 the focus of the audits will be on advising the survey profession of the changes and will place more weight on the field audit.

LINZ expects LCSs and their firms will have had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the new audit methodology and have reviewed their processes by September 2007. From September 2007 it is envisaged that the full audit process will be implemented taking the LCSs QA processes into full account when reaching audit findings.

During the last quarter of 2006 the new audit methodology was reviewed by ICS, NZIS and CSNZ.

In February 2007 LINZ circulated a report explaining the new audit methodology to all LCSs via the Cadastral Surveyors Licensing Board as either an email or hardcopy. A PDF version of the Audit Process for Cadastral Surveys Report (pdf 138KB) is available for download.

The new audit methodology is being publicised via survey professional bodies events and publications. Keep an eye out for this information and if you have any queries you can contact, The Manager, Regulatory Quality Assurance at LINZ on 0800 665 463.

Audit Methodology

• Audit Process for Cadastral Surveys Report January 2007 - (pdf 138KB)

Background Material

• Overview of Pilot as Presented to CSNZ on 18 March 2006 - (pdf 190KB)
• Pilot Audit Project Report September 2006 or a pdf version (117KB) is also available.

Forms

• Pre-office visit Survey Firm Questionnaire - (pdf 19KB) or in Word format - (doc 32KB)
• Field Audit Checklist - (pdf 74KB)
• Office Audit Checklist - (pdf 38KB) or in Word format - (doc 44KB) - or Rich Text Format - (rtf 48KB)
• Articles in Landwrap (on the Landonline website)