Descriptive plans

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A descriptive plan is a type of plan an Alberta Land Surveyor can prepare that defines the boundaries of a parcel by reference to other plans of survey. It usually costs less than a plan of survey, since it is a paper drawing only; the surveyor does not need to place any survey posts and may not even need to visit the site.

At Highland Surveys, we usually recommend descriptive plans for consolidations. Land Titles only allows descriptive plans to be used for the simplest subdivisions, but even then we believe they should be used sparingly. Unless your land is completely vacant, we will likely visit the site anyway to confirm the new boundaries fit the buildings. The municipality may require a Real Property Report as a condition of subdivision approval and you may need the new lot boundaries surveyed for fencing. In all these cases most of the cost savings associated with the descriptive plan disappear and subsequent surveys of the new boundaries may be more expensive. We will be happy to discuss whether a descriptive plan makes sense for your project.