Fall - Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association

Scrutinizing Survey MonumentsBy Fred Chang, ALS, Director of Practice ReviewReprinted from “ALS News” June 2006The purpose of this article is purely educational. No names or identifyinglegal descriptions are included. Opinions expressed herein are those of theauthor.have, on occasion, received telephone calls from practitionersinquiring what recourse an Alberta Land SurveyorIcould have when encountering a situation where a landownerhas moved or removed a statutory iron post. At other times, Ihave been asked to comment on the status of bent iron posts,and disturbed monuments.Fundamental PrinciplesOnce statutory iron posts, or any other statutory surveymonuments as specified under section 1(p) of the SurveysAct, are placed by an Alberta Land Surveyor and are shownon registered plans of survey at a Land Titles Office, for thepurposes of defining property corners and property boundaries,nobody has the legislative right to move or remove themwithout the application of the current legislation with respectto boundary adjustments, plan corrections, or resolution ofsurvey errors.Without the proper application of the legislation that dealswith the above-mentioned situations, one would not haveknowledge of whether or not other landowners have reliedupon the monuments to construct physical structures, suchas fence lines on their homesteads. Other Alberta Land Surveyorsmight have related their surveys to the original monumentsor other stakeholders might have relied upon the statutorymonuments to create other physical improvements ordocuments relating to the location of the monuments.These statutory monuments govern the position of theboundaries created, even when found and compared to havemathematical anomalies against their registered plans. Thisis supported by provisions of the current surveying legislationin Alberta. Wherein sections 36 and 37 (Part Two) of theSurveys Act states:36 All boundary lines of a survey in accordance withsection 29 or 32 are determined by monumentsplaced for that purpose as shown on the offi cialplan, whether or not the dimensions between themor the areas expressed on the offi cial plan arefound by remeasurement to be different.37 Every parcel surveyed in accordance with section29 or 32 shall consist of all the land included betweenthe several monuments placed to determinethe boundary lines, and no more and no less, notwithstandingany quantity or measure expressedon the offi cial plan, certifi cate of title, grant orother instrument.In addition, Section 45(4) of the Surveys Act also providesthat statutory monuments govern the position of propertycorners once placed and plans of survey reflecting their positionsthereon are registered at a Land Titles Office or filedat the Metis Settlements Land Registry.Section 45(4) (Part Three) of the Survey Act states:45(4) All the boundary lines surveyed and established inaccordance with subsection (1) shall be defi ned bythe monuments placed for that purpose as shownon the plan of survey registered at the Land TitlesOffi ce or fi led at the Metis Settlements LandRegistry, whether or not the dimensions or areasexpressed on the plan are found by re-measurementto be different.With reference to the above provisions, once the statutorymonuments are placed in the ground and upon registrationof the plan showing the monuments placed, they govern theposition of the property corners and property boundariesthat are created for that purpose. It is important that they beprotected and not be removed.Current Provisions Within the Surveys Act DealingWith Moving/Removal of MonumentsAt present, the following provisions within the current SurveysAct [RSA 2000 Chapter S-26] deal with inspectionsurveys, resolution of alleged survey errors, and boundaryadjustments, in terms of re-surveys, could all relate to themoving (or removal) of statutory survey monuments.Section 6(5) (Part Two) of the Survey Act deals with inspectionof surveys wherein it states:6(5) The Director (Director of Surveys) may take stepsthat the Director considers advisable to correctany errors and omissions in a plan of survey beforeit is registered at a Land Titles Offi ce or fi ledat the Metis Settlements Land Registry.The above Surveys Act provision suggests that a land surveyormay, during the course of their operation, move or removesurvey monuments that were placed prior to the plan of surveybeing registered at Land Titles. However, caution mustbe taken to record which monuments have been removed,and ensure that these monuments were not used by otherstakeholders such as land surveyors, landowners or other280 SLSA Corner Post Fall 2006