SITE PLAN OR SURVEY PLAN: WHICH ONE YOU SHOULD GO FOR WHEN BUYING LAND/BUILDING
One major mistake ruins lives, empties bank accounts and shatters land ownership dreams: mistaking a Site Plan for a Survey Plan.
As we always say in Apex Chambers, if you are buying or developing land in Nigeria and do not know the difference, you are heading towards legal trouble.
A Site Plan is an unregistered Survey Plan. It may look the same: showing land layout, name of buyers and address of the land, size in square metres, beacons and coordinates.
But until it is registered and lodged with the Ministry of Lands and Survey, it is legally empty. It has no official backing, no legal force.
It is just a draft on paper. It cannot help prove ownership. It is useless in court. And it cannot be used for any proper land documentation.
A Survey Plan is prepared by a licensed Surveyor, stamped and sealed, it is registered and backed by Government official land and survey records.
It confirms land boundaries, secures legal ownership, knocks off trespassers, and is mandatory for Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), Governor’s Consent, stamp duty compliance, land registration, estate development and accessing loans.
Key features include:
– Precise coordinates and size
– Government-registered beacon numbers
– Surveyor’s seal and signature
– Lodgment in official records
Most people choose Site Plans to cut costs; it is not advised.
A Site Plan is a trap. Get a registered Survey Plan.
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APEX CHAMBERS, Law Firm of Property/Real Estate and Business/Corporate /Commercial Lawyers, Attorneys, Barristers, Solicitors Advocates, Legal Practitioners rendering legal services, Legal Consultants and Notary Public with Law Office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria