Caveat means a document lodged with the Recorder of Titles by a person authorised to do so forbidding the recording of any dealing on the title subject to the caveat

Literally means beware. In real estate, it warns persons (prospective purchasers, mortgagees, etc.) who propose to deal in the land that a third person (normally the person lodging the caveat at the Titles Office) has some right or interest in the land.

Chattels: Items you sell with the home such as carpets, light fittings, drapes, curtains, and the like. Any different chattels, such as a stove or dishwasher are also noted on the contract if they are to be included in the sale. 

Prepared by the Office of the Surveyor Geneeral, Hobart 2016

During the recent OSG seminars in Hobart (4-11-16) and Launceston it was suggested that a survey check list would be useful to the profession as a quality assurance tool.

Check List of Survey Requirements Surveyors Must Comply With 2016:

Circa: About; around; an approximation. Circa 1920 in a real estate advertisement would indicate that the main part of the property was built about 1920. 

Client :The person who engages the services of an agent and who will pay the agent his or her commission or fees in return for those services. A buyer is a customer, rather than a client. 

CMA Means Current or Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) It is a written price comparison produced by your estate agent of your home with others that are for sale or were recently sold. 

Collateral: A separate item of property, either real estate or personal, provided to a lender as additional security to the principal properly used as security for a loan. 

Commission: Remuneration of a real estate agent for services rendered, normally the marketing and selling of property. The amount of commission is usually a prescribed percentage based on the price in the contract of sale. 

Common Law or Old System Title is a form of title by which title is established by proving a chain of dealings from the original grantee to the present owner as set out in the Abstract of Title (written recording).

Common Property in relation to a strata scheme means all the land that is not within the boundaries of a lot, together with the shared service infrastructure and all other property administered by the body corporate.

Contact us for advice in relation to these matters. 

Company Title: Right to occupy permanently part of a property based on the ownership of shares in a company, which is the registered proprietor of the total company. This was the common method of ownership prior to the introduction of strata title ownership.

Compiled Plans: See also "Balance Plans" The Recorder of Titles will, generally speaking, accept a compiled plan to support a part of land transfer provided that all the lot boundaries have been previously surveyed and marked on the ground.

The lands in the plan adjoining have not been surveyed as such. In this case the hatched area has been surveyed as stage one of a development leaving the "Balance" lands to be shown on this "Compiled Plan". In this case the resultant plan is a "Sketch By Way of Illustration", as the original survey documentation was derived from unsurveyed information or the required standard of mathematical closure was not possible.

For a full Torrens Title to be issued the bearings and distances around a compiled lot must be capable of mathematical closure and must comply with the relevant land surveyor’s by-laws dating from the time of the original survey. Land surveyor’s by-laws have been regulated since 1884.

Section 143A, Land Titles Act 1980 provides the Recorder of Titles with power to specify plan formats, including the requirement in any particular case for a plan to be made from actual survey.

Land owners need to be aware that even if the original survey markings are no longer in place around a compiled block, there are established rules of boundary re-instatement that will allow the boundaries to be re-marked at any time in the future.

SIMPLY:

Many plans of title have been prepared without the need for actual survey to be made, so while land owners may think that their title boundaries are accurate and up to date this is not always the case.

HOW WE ASSIST:

We can advise, usually by inspection of the plan, if a recent field survey has been undertaken or we can advise when the title boundaries were last surveyed.

Contact us for advice in relation to these matters. 

Conditional Contract :A written contract that is signed by the seller and the buyer, but where one or more conditions need to be met, usually within a specified time period. For example, a contract may be subject to the purchaser raising finance from a specific lender within a specific period (referred to as a 4(b) clause), or subject to the sale of another property (referred to as a 4(c) clause). 

Conditions of Approval in relation to a planning permit granted by a local council means that the approval is subject to such conditions or restrictions as the planning scheme may impose to further the objectives of the state planning legislation.

Conjunction: Where an agent acting on behalf of owners allows another agent to introduce a buyer to the property. In this instance, both agents share the commission and are acting in conjunction. Agents may also be appointed conjointly to market a property. 

Consideration: The price in a contract, which is usually money, but can be exchange of a commodity or other property or a transfer of personal effort. 

Contour & Detail Surveys are carried out to provide both horizontal and vertical details over your land and are normally undertaken so that further construction work can be designed and constructed without interference to existing infrastructure. If instructing firstly have a look at those links relating to Survey Fees, Terms of Contract and Survey Methology. A DTM (Digital Terrain Model) is usually the digital result of such a survey, making it possible for other associated consultants to process the field information. When viewing the examples to the right, the top image is the 'paper' result of the field work, whilst the bottom image is an image of the digital information that is provided to other consultants. Note the digital depiction of the driveway running down the embankment.

A detail survey would normally locate exterior fences, buildings, services such as water, stormwater, sewerage, gas, telecommunications, electricity and other structures or impediments over your land. It will also carry a disclaimer as follows:

Whilst reasonable effort has been made to locate all visible above ground services, there may be other services which were not located during survey. This survey does not include a 'dial before you dig' enquiry. This survey is a detail survey undertaken to detail accuracy. If detail information is required to an accuracy greater than general detail surveys then the instructor should advise accordingly. For example, if wall or building locations are to be utilised for construction purposes, we should be advised accordingly.  The title boundaries shown on this detail plan were not marked at the time of survey and have been determined by plan dimensions only and not by field survey. If strata subdivision over this site is contemplated all buildings resulting from the development must be within the title boundaries. A registered remark survey is recommended at this time. Services shown have been located where possible by field survey. Prior to any demolition, excavation or construction on the site, the relevant authority should be contacted for possible location of further underground services and detailed locations of all services. This plan may not be copied unless this note is included.

HOW WE ASSIST

We can co-ordinate with other allied professionals so that the survey is tailored to the precise requirements of your project. There is always the possibility we may already have the data you need.

Contact us for advice in relation to these matters. 

See Contour, Detail or Feature Surveys

Contours are a means of depicting the 'slope' of land on a plan. They are a line that graphically join points of equal height. See 'Slope' in this glossary.

Contact us for advice in relation to these matters. 

Contract (or Contract of Sale): A legally enforceable agreement.

Most of the rules of contract law in Australia come from the common law. Although there are different statutory provisions in each of the States covering various aspects of contracts.

For a contract to be enforceable there must be:

An Offer;
Acceptance;
An intention to enter into the agreement.
Consideration (price); and
The ability to contract.

Some contracts, such as for the sale of land or real estate, must be in writing. 

Conversion Survey: A common term used to describe a survey that converts a Conveyance (written description), Sketch By Way of Illustration or Common Law title to a Torrens Title.

METRIC CONVERSION TABLE

OnlineConversion.com Convert just about anything to anything else.

OR

To Convert Multiply by
Inches to Centimetres 2.5400
Links to Metres 0.201168
Feet to Metres 0.3048
Yards to Metres 0.9144
Miles to Kilometres 1.6093
Miles per Hour to Feet per Second 1.467
Square Inches-Square Centimetres 6.4516
Square Feet to Square Metres 0.0929
Square Miles to Square Kilometres 2.5900
Acres to Hectares 0.4047
Cubic Inches to Cubic Centimetres 16.3871
Cubic Feet to Cubic Metres 0.0283
Gallons to Litres 4.5460
Ounces to Grams 28.3495
Pounds to Grams 453.5920
Pounds to Kilograms 0.4536

To Convert Multiply by

Centimetres to Inches 0.3937
Metres to Feet 3.2808
Metres to Yards 1.0936
Kilometres to Miles 0.6214
Feet per Second to Miles per Hour 0.682
Square Centimetres-Square Inches 0.1550
Square Metres to Square Feet 10.7639
Square Kilometres to Square Miles 0.3862
Hectares to Acres 2.4711
Cubic Centimetres to Cubic Inches 0.0610
Cubic Metres to Cubic Feet 35.3145
Litres to Gallons 0.2200
Grams to Ounces 0.0353
Grams to Pounds 0.0022
Kilograms to Pounds 2.2046

Conveyance: These documents relate to deeds of land based on verbal descriptions only and not on Survey information or survey information of a suitable accuracy.

They are in relation to general law or old system land meaning the passing of a legal estate from one person to another by gift or sale. The conveyance is effected when the vendor executes the deed. See Survey Methodology to better understand why occuption (fences and other improvements) quiet often over ride any dimensions shown on any plan relating to these deeds.

SIMPLY:

A conveyance is part of a bundle of deeds that make up the “root” of title, usually over a twenty year period. Conveyances are passed from vendor to purchaser upon settlement. The advantage of the Torrens Title land system is that the land title is maintained by the Recorder of Titles in a single up to date file document.

Conveyances may describe boundaries in words rather than in plan form and often need further interpretation. They are often the source of the boundary interpretation found in a Sketch By Way of Illustration.

HOW WE HELP

We can interpret Conveyances and advise you of your entitlement under such a document.

Council: see Local Planning Authority

Covenant means an agreement, contract, convention, treaty, promise or pledge. In terms of a 'Covenant on a Certificate of Title', it is viewed as a restriction describing what CANNOT be done. When viewing a Covenant it is at once apparent that they are described in the 'negative'...you shall not!!

SIMPLY:

Many covenants in old subdivisions are now superseded by planning schemes and these days most covenants are created in a schedule of easements attached to a subdivision plan sealed by the local council.

HOW WE ASSIST:

We can interpret Covenants for you or create them if desired (on your land or land you control) or remove them (with all owners affected and Council agreeing)

CREATION OF EASEMENTS BY ORDER

(Section 110 Land Titles Act 1980 refers)

Easements may be created in an order made by the Recorder of Titles under section 110; however, the provisions in the section do not extend to land in a sealed plan under the Local Government (Building and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993.

An order has the same effect of creating easements, profits and covenants as a schedule of easements does for a sealed plan.

An order may be prepared on a Blank Instrument Form which should be executed by all parties having a registered interest in the affected land. All relevant certificates of title must be produced. No notices are given except to the relevant Council for the municipal area.

Easements, profits or covenants in an order may be created over land in common ownership.

An order may create new easements, profits and covenants for existing lots, or may substitute a new scheme of easements, profits and covenants for existing lots that were subdivided outside the provisions of the Local Government (Building and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993.

An order has the effect of destroying any existing easements, profits and covenants which are not continued by the order, such that existing easements, profits and covenants need to be set out in full in an order to ensure their continued existence.

An order may be amended or discharged under section 84C Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1884 or released by consent under section 108 Land Titles Act 1980, as the case may be.

Crown Land and Dealings with Crown Land: The attached document was prepared by Crown Land Services, a Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment and delivered to a Land Surveying Seminar and Workshop in November 2016

Crown Reservation means land reserved by the crown in a land grant and where the reservation is a certain width from a natural boundary, the boundary is fixed in that position even if the natural boundary subsequently moves.