Land Survey Plans—Practice Points for Real Estate Lawyers

Survey issues and intricacies and why they matter

"Last Kick at the Can" Rebroadcasts
1. Tuesday, December 6, 2016; 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
2. Monday, December 19, 2016; 9:30 am – 12:30 pm

(Original course: Tuesday, November 10, 2015)

Who should attend: Real estate lawyers and notaries public.

Learning level: All levels

Do you understand the intricacies of land survey plans? Survey issues affect legal documents and how they are registered at the LTSA. Join us as we present a series of practice points using filed plans as examples. We will explain the meaning of the markings and why understanding them is important to anyone practicing real estate law.

After attending this course you will...

• become aware of statutory requirements: the Land Act, the Land Title Act, and the Strata Property Act
• learn how to read and understand survey plans
• gain clarity on how and why understanding land survey plans is crucial to good practice 

Law Society of BC CPD Hours: 3 hours This course will NOT involve aspects of professional responsibility and ethics, client care and relations, and/or practice management. 

Course Chair 
Joscelyn P. Baker — Corporate Counsel, Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver

Pricing

"Last Kick at the Can" Rebroadcast: $240

Registration includes an electronic copy of the course materials.

SPECIAL GROUP RATES! New "plus-one" pricing!
Gather around one computer and SAVE on Live Webinar/Rebroadcast costs. Pay full price for the first registration and have each additional viewer join you for $65 per half-day. Contact Customer Service for more info.

Webinar Archive: This course was added to the Webinar Archive. See below to subscribe.

Unable to attend without financial support? To learn more about CLEBC's Bursary Program click here and for our Easy Pay Plan click here.

Can't make the live course/live webinar?

1. Order the online course materials, an archive of all CLEBC papers published since 2001. ... OR
2. Subscribe to the Webinar Archive, a repository of recordings of most CLEBC past courses.

Annual subscription rates for both options are based on firm size.

CLEBC Program Lawyer
Teresa M. Sheward
tsheward@cle.bc.ca

Course Chair
Joscelyn P. Baker — Corporate Counsel, Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver

About the Course Chair

Joscelyn Baker has been in-house counsel at Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver and its affiliated group of companies since 2002. Her practice touches on a wide range of matters, with a focus on residential real estate. Joscelyn also enjoys the role of “client” in a significant volume of legal work sent to external counsel. Before joining Polygon, Joscelyn was in-house counsel at BC Housing and Provincial Rental Housing Corporation and in private practice.

Faculty 
Joscelyn P. Baker — Corporate Counsel, Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver
Jeff Beddoes — Senior Deputy Surveyor General, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, Victoria
Tim Jowett — Deputy Registrar of Land Titles, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, New Westminster
Lynn I. Ramsay, QC — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver

SPECIAL PRICE FOR COURSE REGISTRANTS!

SAVE $120 on this essential resource when you register for the course! Contact Customer Service.

Land Title Practice Manual
The authoritative guide for land title staff and conveyancing professionals

This book is essential for: all conveyancing professionals and all others who make applications to the Land Title and Survey Authority; this is the manual the land title division staff uses when they review applications for registration.

Current to: August 1, 2014 | Price: Print + Online $595 $475; Online Only $475 | # of pp.: 2,706 app. | 3 vols.

This essential three-volume manual is the reference material for the land title division staff and conveyancing professionals. The manual is prepared by Interact Public Policy Consultants Ltd. with the assistance of the Land Title and Survey Authority under the direction of an expert editorial board.

The book is updated regularly, and subscriptions include online access with search capability and links to the full text of case law and legislation, and forms on CD-ROM.

ONLINE ONLY annual subscriptions are available. Subscribe now.

Welcome and Introduction

Joscelyn P. Baker — Corporate Counsel, Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver

Land Surveying & Land Surveyors

• what are the LTSA, the LTD, and the SGD?
• the two survey plan registers in BC: the Crown Land Registry and the Land Title Register
• LTO does not guarantee boundaries, only titles
• the Registrar’s duty and the Surveyor General’s fundamental responsibility
• what is the purpose of surveying?
• what is a land surveyor?
• overview of the Association of BC Land Surveyors
• General Survey Instruction Rules (“GSIR”)
• signature blocks articulated in Director’s Requirements
• a land surveyor’s first duty is to the cadastral fabric
• statutory requirements: the Land Act, the Land Title Act, the Strata Property Act, and more

First Alienation and First Title

• when the government wants to sell land, how is a new title created? 
• significance of the provisos, exceptions, and reservations in Crown grants: when and why would a lawyer look at a Crown grant
• section 23 LTA—the effect of gazette notices, Crown grant provisos, etc. on  ownership as (not) reflected on title
• all subsequent dealings with the land are in the LT Register

Surveys and Plans under the Land Title Act and Strata Property Act

• re-establishing corners and boundaries
  • the hierarchy of survey evidence
  • the research material that a land surveyor will investigate 
• common types of survey plans
  • subdivision plan
  • strata plan
  • statutory right of way plan
  • reference plan
  • explanatory plan
    • difference between reference and explanatory plans

Jeff Beddoes — Senior Deputy Surveyor General, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, Victoria

General Plan Markings

• title: is the plan dealing with “all” or “part” of the lands?
• plans that change the title: how to anticipate the new legal description using the title
• ghosted information: depiction of prior boundaries (“Parent parcel” and existing charges) crucial to land title examiners determining what new parcels are subject to existing charges and  “common ownership” issues
• road dedication: land “dedicated” as road per s. 107
• park dedication: land “dedicated” as park per s. 107

Tim Jowett — Deputy Registrar of Land Titles, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, New Westminster

Items of Interest to Solicitors on Various Plan Types

• subdivision plans
  • conventional (non-strata) plan creating lots from larger parcels
  • complications or requirements when the parcel abuts water, and or there are creeks, streams, and bodies of water within the parcel
    • approvals
    • access
    • consent
    • common ownership
    • block outline
    • s. 219 covenants
    • reference plans re-establishing boundaries
    • plan dedicating highways pursuant to s. 107
    • plan for road closure s. 120
• strata
  • conventional strata plan
  • bare land strata plan
  • phased strata plan
  • airspace parcel plan
• leasehold plans
• sketch Plans
  • examples: LCP and phased strata

Joscelyn P. Baker — Corporate Counsel, Polygon Homes Ltd., Vancouver
Tim Jowett — Deputy Registrar of Land Titles, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, New Westminster
Lynn I. Ramsay, QC — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

Items of Interest to Solicitors on Various Plan Types (cont'd)

Plan Certification Form and the Application to Deposit

• plan certification form
  • markings on sample forms: control number, LTSA notations
• the application to deposit and who signs it
  • for any form of subdivision
  • for charge plans

Jeff Beddoes — Senior Deputy Surveyor General, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, Victoria
Lynn I. Ramsay, QC — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver

Amending a Strata Plan

• amending a strata plan under ss. 259, 262, 263, 265 and 266 of SPA
• the reference plan required under s. 272(d) and requirements under s. 274 when the strata corporation is wound up and who gets to sign the application can get interesting

Lynn I. Ramsay, QC — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver

Questions & Discussion