There are three main types of cadastral survey plan:
- deposited plans (DP)
- survey office plans (SO)
- Māori land plans (ML)
Cadastral survey plans can date back to around 1850. Older plans may include names of European settlers, as well as Māori and early English placenames.
The plans show the 'appellation' (legal description) for a piece of land, depending on the land classification, eg something like 'Section 1 Block VII Mata Survey District' for Crown land; 'Kaiti 313A6B2' for Māori land; or 'Lot 1 DP 12345' for general land.
The survey sheet of a cadastral survey plan shows detailed survey observations. It may also include a simpler plan showing only the property's boundaries, area and dimensions.
Sample survey sheet (click to open a larger version)
The title sheet of a cadastral survey plan shows the plan deposited when the title was created. This could be a simple plan of the property’s boundaries, area and dimensions, a detailed survey plan or a combination of both.
Sample title (click to open a larger version)