DEPARTMENT OF GEODETIC ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN

GE 119: Land Surveying

Lecture 1

Louie P. Balicanta

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OUTLINE:
•Introduction
• Definition of Terms
•Scope and Classifications of Land Surveying

Nota Bene:
Always bring scientific calculator
Buy and always bring Engineer’s Field Book
Buy and bring Safety vest during Fieldwork
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Review of GE 10
line Bearing Distance(m)

1-2 S 56d 25’ W 64.725

2-3 N 32d 00’ E 30.095

3-4 N 28d 52’ W 31.740

4-5 N 82d 02’ E 55.502

5-1 S 03d 49’ w 25.261

Close the traverse and compute the area using DMD

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Land Surveying: Introduction
Property Surveying
 is the utilization of surveying techniques and procedures to
obtain the size and shape and the location of a land, owned
and/or claimed by a certain individual/group of people

 The end goal is to produce accurate and reliable maps and

technical data, approved by the mandated government agency
(DENR, LRA) thus becoming a public document, which will
serve as basis or evidence for land ownership

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Land Surveying
Deals with laying out or measuring the distances and directions
of lines forming the boundaries of real property.
Purposes:
1. To secure the necessary data for writing the legal
description and for finding the area and the boundaries of
the property being defined by visible objects.
2. To re-establish the boundaries of a previously surveyed
land for which the description defined by the previous
survey is known.
3. To subdivide the tract into two or more smaller units in
accordance with a predetermined design.

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Property Surveying: Introduction

Note:
• The claimant if these lands may or may not necessarily
be the owners.
• The true owners will be determined either through
administrative or judicial proceedings.
• The ultimate purpose of a property survey is to obtain
patent/title to a land if it is A&D or if it is private
property.

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Property Surveying Process Diagram

Request (Private/Gov’t Entity)

(Geodetic Engineer)
Legal Basis, Controls,
•Land Survey Implementing Rules and
Regulations
•Preparation of Maps and
survey returns/Reports •Cadastral Act 2259
•PD 957
•PD 1529
(LMS/DENR) •DAO 98-12
•Evaluation/Approval •others

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Property Surveying: An Overview

Scope

Procedures

Position of Surveys

•Land Survey
Control/Accuracy
•Preparation of Maps and
survey returns/Reports Mapping Standards

Lot Data Computations

Other Requirements/Submittals

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Property Surveys and LIS

An Ideal LIS 9
Revised Manual of Land Surveying
Regulations in the Philippines
 DENR AO 2007-29 and Implementing Rules and Regulations

 DENR AO 98-12, Series of 1998

 Formerly issued as Lands Administrative No. 4, series of 1980

 an integration of the land survey rules and regulations of the
Land Management and the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureaus

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Definition of Terms
1. Cadastral Map
- map made as a result of a cadastral survey, drawn to appropriate
scale, showing parcels of land and important natural and man-made
features within a municipality/ project, to describe and record land
ownership.

2. Cadastre
- records about parcels of lands consisting of a spatial reference and
related information of the area, ownership/ claims, value and use of
land primarily for taxation purposes.

3. Land Registration
- official recording of land ownership based on the legal documents
submitted to the Register of Deeds for the province, city or
municipality where the land is located.
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Definition of Terms
4. Metes and Bound
- description of a land parcel that includes boundary directions and
distances, information on the adjacent land owners/ land parcels, and
other relevant natural and man-made features.

5. Monument
- concrete object set permanently on the ground to mark the position of
a boundary corner

6. Muniments of Titles
-documentary evidence of title or ownership to land

7. Patrimonial Property
- properties owned by the state but are not intended for public use,
public service or for the development of national wealth 12
Definition of Terms
8. Projection Map
- map where all lots subject for verification and approval are plotted to
determine cases of overlaps with previously approved plans

9. Philippine Reference System of 1992

- national common coordinate reference system for all surveys and
plans pursuant to Executive Order 45 dated January 5, 1993 as
amended

10. Reference Point

- point appropriately marked on the ground with an established
horizontal or vertical position or both.

11. Survey Plan

- two-dimensional map showing the metes and bounds of a surveyed
parcel or parcels of land and other pertinent information 13
Definition of Terms
12. Survey Returns
-the collective documents submitted by a geodetic engineer as a result
of the survey conducted and other relevant documents as maybe
required

13. Unique Parcel Identifier

- number exclusively assigned to a land parcel in reference to its
physical spatial position on the land information map
UPI = LIM + Parcel Number

14. Geodetic Engineer

- natural person with professional expertise in the field of surveying
and the corresponding survey data presentation in the form of maps,
plans, geo-spatial digital maps; either belonging to government or
private sector, issued a certification of registration and identification
card by the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC) Board of
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Geodetic Engineering pursuant to RA 8560 as amended
Classifications of Land Surveying

1. Control Surveys
2. Cadastral Surveys
3. Isolated Surveys
4. Mineral Land Surveys
5. Forestlands and National Parks/ Protected Areas
Delimitation Surveys

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Classifications of Land Surveying
Control Surveys
- Survey conducted to determine the horizontal/ vertical
positions of points which will form part of the geodetic
network or project controls over an area which will become
the basis in determining the rectangular coordinates in an area

- Geodetic Control Survey and Project Control Survey

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Classifications of Land Surveying
Cadastral Survey
- Refer to the survey made to determine the metes and bounds
of all parcels within an entire municipality or city for land
registration and other purposes

- Numerical Cadastre and Graphical Cadastre

- Public Land Subdivision

- subdivision of alienable and disposable lands covering an
area of more than 1,500 hectares

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Classifications of Land Surveying

Isolated Surveys
- All classes of surveys of isolated parcels of land used for
agricultural, commercial, residential, resettlement, or other
purposes covering areas not more than 1,500 hectares

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Classifications of Land Surveying

Mineral Land Surveys

- Surveys of mining claims, quarry applications, sand and gravel
applications, and other mineral lands within private and public
lands, executed for mineral agreements, permits, licenses or
for other purposes pursuant to the provisions of RA 7942 “
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995”

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 Classifications of Land Surveying

Forestlands and National Parks/ Protected Areas Delimitation

Surveys
- conducted by the Regional Composite Survey Team or
qualified geodetic engineer to delimit the boundaries of
forestlands and national parks/ protected areas from the
agricultural (A&D) lands as delineated pursuant to Section 3
and 4, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution, PD 705 “ Revised
Forestry Code of the Philippines”, RA 7586 “National
Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992”

- includes sub-classification and zonification of said areas

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Persons Authorized to Execute Land Surveys

 Only duly licensed geodetic engineers registered under the

Geodetic Engineering law (RA 4374 as amended by RA 8560
and RA 9200) are authorized to execute such surveys.

 GEs in DENR – all types of surveys under the control and

supervision of the RTD

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Persons Authorized to Execute Land Surveys

 GEs in Private Practice –

◦ private land surveys;
◦ public and government land surveys under supervision of
LMB through DENR-LMS;
◦ Cadastral surveys subject to existing laws and supervision
of LMB through DENR-LMS

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Survey Order and Survey Authority

 Survey Order– instructions issued by the concerned DENR

official to a government GE or private GE to conduct survey
over a parcel of land of the public domain or survey project
for a specific purpose

 Survey Authority– permit issued by the concerned DENR

official to a private GE to conduct isolated survey over public
lands for public land application purposes

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Instrumentation

The following instruments have to be tested, calibrated and

certified by the director of LMB or the RTD for Lands: (Sec.
22 of DAO 2007-29)
◦ EDM (2 years)
◦ Steel, Invar, and other tapes (2 years)
◦ Total Stations (2 years)
◦ Survey grade GPS Receivers (at NAMRIA calibration lines;
every survey as part of the survey returns) (2 years)

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