Survey (SRPR)측량도, 서베이

What is it?

A survey measures the boundaries of a lot and draws what sits on it. When people talk about a survey in an Ontario home purchase, they usually mean a Surveyor’s Real Property Report (SRPR). The regulation defines it as a survey that locates a building or structure in relation to the boundaries of a unit of land.

An SRPR is more than one drawing. By regulation it must consist of a plan and a written report, and the plan must name the client it was prepared for.

What does it show?

• The lot lines, their lengths and the shape of the lot. Boundary points are marked on the ground with survey monuments such as iron bars.
• All buildings and structures, and the foundations of anything under construction, with their distances from the boundaries (required by regulation).
• The number of storeys of each building, its exterior materials (brick, siding and so on) and the municipal address (required by regulation).
• Usually also: fences, driveways, decks and sheds, anything that crosses a lot line (an encroachment), and the location of registered easements (rights of others to use part of the land).
• The survey date and the surveyor’s signature and seal.

The written report, not just the plan, is where encroachments and easements are explained. Ask your lawyer to read it with you.

Who prepares it?

In Ontario, boundary surveying (cadastral surveying) may only be done by an Ontario Land Surveyor (OLS) licensed under the Surveyors Act. Doing boundary surveys without a licence, or holding yourself out as a surveyor, is prohibited by law.

A survey company needs a Certificate of Authorization from the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors (AOLS) to offer boundary surveying to the public. The association’s "Find a Survey Company" page lists only licensed firms.

Surveyors must follow the Surveyors Act and its regulations (O. Reg. 216/10 performance standards and Regulation 525 on monuments), and the association has a complaints and discipline process.

What does the contract say?

In the standard Ontario agreement (OREA Form 100), the usual rule is that the seller only has to hand over any survey they already have; they do not have to order a new one. If you want a new survey, you pay for it yourself or negotiate a clause in the offer that the seller will provide one. Check the exact wording in the contract you sign.

So a buyer usually chooses among three options: (1) rely on the old survey the seller provides, (2) order a new survey, or (3) cover survey risks with title insurance. Under the Law Society rules, your lawyer must explain these options.

Why can an old survey be unreliable?

• It does not show anything built after the survey date. If a fence, deck, pool, addition or garage was added later, you cannot tell whether it crosses the line.
• It was made for someone else. By regulation the plan names the client it was prepared for. Ask your lawyer what rights, if any, a new owner has against the surveyor based on an old survey.
• The monuments may be gone. If construction or landscaping removed the iron bars, the numbers on the plan are hard to find on the ground.
• Easements registered later, or a severance of the neighbouring lot, will not appear on an old plan.

An old survey is still useful. Your lawyer and lender will look at it and it helps when you buy title insurance. It just does not guarantee the current situation.

When do you need a new survey?

• When you plan to build a fence, deck, pool, addition or garden suite. Municipal building permits usually require a drawing that shows the boundaries and building locations.
• When you have a boundary or encroachment dispute with a neighbour.
• When you want to sever (split) or merge lots.
• When your lender or lawyer asks for one. Title insurance often replaces it today, but for a large or oddly shaped lot a new survey may be recommended.
• When you want the answer title insurance cannot give you: exactly where the boundary is. Insurance pays for losses; it does not locate your lot lines.

Cost and timing

The price depends on the size and shape of the lot, the area and whether earlier survey records exist. There is no official fee schedule, so this site does not list an amount. Get quotes from two or three licensed survey companies and compare.

A new survey takes time for fieldwork and drafting. To have it before closing, order it right after your offer is accepted, and ask your lawyer whether it will arrive before your condition deadline and requisition date.

Example

Condos and townhouses

By regulation an SRPR is not used for land occupied by apartment or condominium buildings, townhouses, or industrial or commercial buildings. A condo unit’s boundaries are set in the condominium declaration and the registered condo plan, so owners do not order surveys for individual units.

For a freehold townhouse or a new-build house, the builder created the lots on a registered plan of subdivision, and there is often no new survey at closing. If you want to know your boundaries, ask your lawyer to show you the registered plan.