The Essential Role of Professional Residential Land Surveyors: What Homeowners Need to Know

It’s essential for New Zealand homeowners to understand the importance of professional residential land surveyors and their services. Their help can ensure your property management and development projects are successful and make resolving legal disputes with your neighbours easier. 

Why Residential Land Surveying Matters

Owning a home is a significant investment, and it comes with plenty of responsibilities. These qualified professionals can handle a wide range of services, many of which can benefit NZ homeowners who want to understand their land and property lines better. Their services may be crucial for new builds, renovations, property sales and legal matters. 

Here are just a few services that your professional land surveyor can provide you with:

Boundary Surveys. These are one of the most common types of surveys conducted by residential land surveyors. These surveys are meant to define the exact boundaries of a property so that homeowners can understand exactly where their property ends and where their neighbour’s land begins. This is crucial to know if you’re planning on building on your property, as your neighbours may get upset if you build on their land. 

For example, if you want to put up a fence along the edges of your property, you’ll need to make sure you’re putting the fence on your property and not accidentally putting it on your neighbour’s. This mistake can frustrate your neighbour, and you’ll need to put more time and money into moving the fence you just put up. 

Topographical Surveys. Topographical surveys examine the shape of your land, including the contours, elevations and other features of your property. This data is particularly useful if you’re planning to build on your property or if you wish to landscape your land. Understanding the shape of your land will help you and your architect or landscaper plan accordingly, ensuring your new structure or landscaping elements suit your land. 

If you need to alter your land, this data will help your earthworks professionals understand what they should do for you. 

Subdivision Surveys. If you wish to subdivide your property, professional residential land surveyors can perform a subdivision survey to divide your large land into multiple smaller lots per your needs. These lots can then be dealt with individually.

Subdividing property has plenty of benefits, but the process can be complex. Your surveyor can assist you with understanding the best options for your land, the local NZ regulations that apply to your situation and more. 

How NZ Homeowners Can Benefit From Professional Land Survey Services

How can these services, and professional residential land surveyors in general, help you as a homeowner? 

Preventing Disputes. Legal disputes can be stressful, costly and time-consuming - it’s best to avoid them by preventing them from happening in the first place. Boundary surveys, in particular, are good for avoiding boundary disputes with your neighbours.

Clear and accurate boundary data prevents conflicts and makes it easier to avoid costly legal battles. Before you build anything on your land, consider a boundary survey so you know exactly where you can and cannot build. 

Legal Compliance. New Zealand’s building regulations can be strict, and non-compliance - even accidental - can result in fines or the need to tear down your new structure. To prevent these frustrating penalties, it’s best to avoid them altogether by consulting with professional residential land surveyors about your projects.

If you’re planning on building a new home, renovating a building, landscaping your land or putting up any other structure on your property, consider discussing your plans with your surveyor to see if there are any regulations you should know about. 

Maximising Property Value. When selling your property, it’s vital to understand what you’re selling fully. Buyers prefer knowing exactly what they’re going to get, so having vague numbers or inaccurate details can turn potential buyers away. If you work with professional residential land surveyors to examine your property, you can know precisely what you’re selling, and your buyers will know exactly what they’re paying for. 

If you want to maximise your property’s value by building new structures or landscaping it, then surveying will give you all of the details you need to successfully plan for your project.

Smooth Subdivision Process. Subdividing your land is a good idea if you want to develop or sell smaller, individual plots. The entire subdividing process can be very time-consuming, but an experienced surveyor who’s worked on subdivision projects in the past can help you keep things streamlined and successful. 

How To Choose Your Residential Land Surveyor

One of the best ways to make the most of your land surveying services is to choose a surveying company that’s experienced, qualified and ready to handle what you need from them. Be sure to check the following details when you’re looking for your own professional residential land surveyors:

• Qualifications. Ask your surveyor about their qualifications and if they’re properly licensed for the work you need them to perform.

• Experience. Nothing can replace hands-on experience, and you’ll want surveyors who have the experience needed to provide you with efficient and accurate services. In particular, ask them if they’ve worked with properties similar to yours or about how much experience they have with the services you’re asking for.

• Look At Costs. Ask about the cost of the service you need. Your costs may vary depending on the complexity and scope of the work, and it’s vital to fully understand what you’ll pay before you hire your surveyors. Professional, reliable surveyors will always be clear and upfront about how much they’ll charge.

• Local Knowledge. Regulations can vary from area to area, so ask your surveyors about their local knowledge and experience. 

Professional Surveying Services In New Zealand

At Definition Surveying, we specialise in providing our clients with efficient, thorough and trustworthy surveying services. Our services include subdivision, boundary and topographical surveys, but also include civil engineering and planning, monitoring, 3D capture and much more.  

Would you like some assistance? Please call us on 0800 337 878 or use our contact page to reach us.

Definition Surveying: Trust us to define boundaries, assist with subdivision projects and much more.