Only a commissioned land surveyor can carry out a boundary survey that the National Land Agency (NLA) will accept for registering or subdividing land in Jamaica. The commission is granted under the Land Surveyors Act, and the Land Surveyors Board issues each commissioned surveyor an annual practising certificate. The Board’s list of surveyors entitled to practise is published through the NLA, so a buyer or owner can check that a surveyor is current before hiring one.
The work covers cadastral (boundary) surveys, subdivision and strata surveys, boundary reopenings and identification reports. For a boundary survey, the surveyor serves notice on adjoining owners, measures and sets boundary marks, and prepares a plan that goes to the NLA’s Surveys and Mapping Division for checking against the survey law and the Registration of Titles Act. Only a checked plan can be used to issue or split a title.
Why it matters: banks, attorneys and the Titles Office rely on the surveyor’s plan, and an informal measurement by an unqualified person carries no legal weight. Fees are negotiated privately and vary with the size, terrain and history of the land, so get a written quote. Other professionals sometimes called surveyors, such as quantity surveyors and building surveyors, do quite different jobs and cannot sign a cadastral plan.
Related terms: Land Survey, Cadastral survey, Survey Notice, Boundary Mark, Land Surveyors Association of Jamaica (LSAJ), Director of Surveys, Surveyor’s Report.
Accurate as at October 2026.
