Identification survey
An identification survey reinstates and marks existing property boundaries using historical survey plans and field measurements. Required before building near boundaries.
Ask Chalkline about this →An identification survey (also called a boundary identification survey or ident survey) reinstates and marks the existing property boundaries of a lot. A registered surveyor searches historical survey plans, locates any surviving survey marks, measures the site, and places or confirms pegs or other marks at each boundary corner. The output is a survey sketch or report showing where the boundaries lie on the ground.
Builders and designers use an identification survey to confirm boundaries before finalising a design or commencing construction, particularly where buildings are planned close to side or rear boundaries. Some councils require an identification survey before a DA or building approval is lodged. In QLD, remarking or offsetting property boundaries requires a registered ident survey plan to be prepared and lodged with the state government.
An identification survey does not create or alter boundaries; it reinstates boundaries that already exist in the title system. Do not confuse it with a peg-out survey (which sets out a new building from approved plans) or a subdivision survey (which creates new lots).
Also known as: ident survey, boundary ident, re-establishment survey.
Category: Surveying and cadastral.
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Last updated: 2026-05-10. Verified: 2026-05-10. Quarterly review for currency.