Surveying standards and forms

The Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy is responsible for establishing standards for surveying in Queensland. Survey standards and approved forms are provided below.

Cadastral surveys

General survey standards

• Cadastral survey requirements (PDF, 6.4MB)

Additional requirements and explanatory material

• Registrar of Titles directions for the preparation of plans
• Redefining the Queensland-New South Wales border: guidelines for surveyors (PDF, 572KB)
• Survey requirements for mining tenure surveys (PDF, 522KB)

Approved forms for use on cadastral plans

• Form 12 - Certificate for survey records (PDF, 22KB)
• Form 13 - Certificate for cadastral plans (PDF, 23KB)
• Form 14 - Certificate for cadastral plans (PDF, 30KB)
• Form 18 - Certificate for cadastral plans-compiled (PDF, 23KB)
• Form 19 - Certificate for cadastral plans (PDF, 18KB)

Submission form

• Form 10 - Plan registration compliance checklist (PDF, 146KB)

Pre-lodgement advice for survey plans

Our pre-lodgement service assesses plans for compliance with survey standards. Contact us for details of the service and costs. Use the following form to request advice.

• Pre-lodgement advice request form (PDF, 67KB)

Control surveys

Control surveys must comply with the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping ICSM standards and practices for control surveys.

New permanent mark forms

Details of new permanent marks must be provided to the department on 1 of the following forms:

• Form 6 - New permanent marks (DOC, 66KB)
• Form 6 - New permanent marks (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Form 6 - New permanent marks (DWG, 38KB)

For information on how to prepare and lodge permanent survey mark plans, read:

• Completion of permanent survey mark plans (PDF, 899KB)

Maintenance of permanent survey marks

Email CadastralAdminDataHelp@dnrme.qld.gov.au with any updates to existing permanent marks or information about any irregularities observed in the field. Please submit information using:

• Permanent mark maintenance form (PDF, 121KB)
• Permanent mark maintenance form (DOCX, 55KB)

Also consider...

• Read about the removal of parish and county information from land transactions and information systems in Surveying Alert 17 and Surveying Alert 18.
• Access historical parish boundary information from the historical parish directory.
• Find out more about international and national standards activity from the Inter-Governmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) and Standards Australia.
• Contact us for a free copy of the Directions to surveyors CD: a historical collection of Queensland rules, directions, guidelines and memoranda to surveyors produced since 1847.
• Contact the Surveyors Board of Queensland for information on surveyor registration.