NSW Surveyor-General / state equivalent · 10–22 pp typical

Survey / Boundaries Report Explained — Plain-English Analysis (Australia)

A registered survey report is the definitive word on where your property actually begins and ends - and it’s uncomfortable reading about half the time. Fences built on the wrong side of the boundary, easements for drainage the vendor forgot to mention, encroachments by a neighbour’s garage, right-of-way access running across the back half of the lot. A survey doesn’t fix any of this; it documents it. We pull every finding out, flag the ones that change the land area you’re buying, and suggest the pre-settlement negotiations that typically resolve them.

Analyse my survey / boundaries report View sample

What the report actually tells you

What’s in a survey / boundaries report, plainly.

A registered land-surveyor’s report identifies boundary peg locations, easements and covenants registered on title, encroachments (yours or the neighbour’s), physical access routes, and any discrepancy between the deposited plan and what’s actually on the ground. In NSW, the Surveyor-General sets the standards; each state has an equivalent. Easements fall into several classes: drainage (usually mandatory, low impact), right-of-carriageway (potentially significant), utility (rarely worse than mild), restrictive covenants (can prohibit extensions, buildings, or land use). Our analysis maps each finding to its practical impact on the buyer and flags title discrepancies that warrant a conveyancer query before settlement.

Common findings & what they cost

What we see in a survey / boundaries report — with AUD ranges.

These are the five most common finding types we extract from survey / boundaries reports, in descending severity. Each line is what the inspector flagged (in their words), translated into buyer-relevant English, and costed against current Australian trade rates.

Major Rear fence encroaches ~400 mm into neighbouring lot; potential boundary-realignment issue. negotiate

Major Right-of-carriageway easement 3 m wide along east boundary; access for rear lot. disclosed

Moderate Drainage easement runs under proposed extension footprint. replan

Moderate Restrictive covenant: no structure taller than 6 m within 10 m of front boundary. check plan

Minor Front boundary peg missing; replaced during survey, reference marks placed. $180 redo

Negotiation · buyer’s checklist

Red flags & the questions to ask.

Red flags that usually kill a deal

Any structure (shed, garage, fence, carport) encroaching on your or the neighbour’s boundary
A right-of-carriageway easement crossing a portion of the lot you intended to use or build on
A restrictive covenant that limits height, materials, setback, or use in a way your plans contravene
A significant discrepancy between the deposited plan land area and what the survey measures on the ground

Questions to ask your vendor / agent / strata manager

Has the vendor’s conveyancer confirmed the easements match the s149 / title search?
Who is liable for the fence encroachment - vendor, neighbour, or buyer post-settlement?
Can any easement be extinguished, and what’s the process / cost?
Does the restrictive covenant prevent the renovation I’m planning, or require neighbour consent?

How ReportWise analyses this

Five passes. One engine. Survey / Boundaries reports included.

Your survey / boundaries report runs through the same five-pass pipeline as every other type we analyse: extract (OCR + structured parsing), classify (severity tagging against NSW Surveyor-General / state equivalent), cost (AUD ranges against current Australian trade rates), translate (jargon to plain English), and validate (cross-check against the original so nothing is fabricated or omitted). Standard tier delivers in under sixty minutes; Premium tier in under thirty minutes or fifty percent refunded. Read the full method or compare tiers.

FAQ · Survey / Boundaries reports

Answers we give every week.

Q.01Why does my contract already have a "survey" attached - isn’t that enough?

The "survey" in the contract is usually the deposited plan (DP), which is the original subdivision drawing, often decades old. It shows dimensions but not what’s actually on the ground today. A registered surveyor’s current report identifies real-world changes - fence movement, new easements, encroachments - that the DP can’t show.

Q.02What’s the difference between an easement and a covenant?

An easement is a right another party has over your land (drainage, access, utility). A covenant is a restriction on what you can do with your land (height, materials, use). Both are recorded on title. Easements are more common; covenants are more likely to affect renovation plans.

Q.03Can I build over an easement on my property?

Usually not without the easement beneficiary’s consent - and for drainage easements, water-authority consent is often impossible to get. Council approval of an extension that sits over a drainage easement is rare and typically conditional on a very specific engineering workaround.