NSW LRS Connect
As of 31 July 2023, online plan lodgment will be completed through NSW LRS Connect and the ePlan lodgment portal has been decommissioned. To support this transition, the following information sheets summarise the changes relevant for each industry role.
For registered surveyors:
Transitioning to Digital Survey Plans – Registered Surveyors
For plan workspace contributors (such as reviewers, legal practitioners, valuers and alternate lodging parties):
Transitioning to Digital Survey Plans – Plan Contributors
Digital survey plans reform for NSW
The NSW Government is committed to digital reforms to enhance the customer experience and service delivery for the people and businesses of New South Wales.
With this in mind, the Department of Customer Service (DCS) is currently working with NSW Land Registry Services (NSW LRS) to effect the transition from ‘paper’ to digital survey plans in NSW.
A move to intelligent digital survey plans will support a more efficient, accurate and accessible land title system. It will deliver benefits back to industry—and be tailored to recognise a monument-based cadastre. For example, it will allow for:
- simpler, user friendly visualisations of digital survey plans
- significant improvement in timeframes between final survey and plan registration—from months to weeks
- prepopulating documents and moving away from wet signatures
- eliminating, or very few errors
- parallel approvals
- closing the gap between subdivision works and construction of new homes commencing
Of course, this is a big change—the surveying profession is probably NSW’s oldest dating back over two centuries—and this is an industry-wide transformation. Along with eConveyancing, this is a critical part of making the NSW land title system fully digital.
Delivery plan
In November 2020, the Hon. Minister Dominello, Minister for Customer Service and Minister for Digital, launched the delivery plan that sets out the key outcomes and actions necessary to transition from paper to digital survey plans.
Below are some action highlights from the delivery plan and their status.
| Implement a LandXML channel to make digital survey plan data available to industry via NSW LRS Information Brokers | NSW LRS & DCS Spatial Services |
| Enhance subdivision and strata certificate application workflow to enable concurrent consent gathering | NSW Department of Planning, Industry & Environment |
| Develop system integration roadmap to streamline digital consents process and enhance the integrity of the titling system | NSW LRS, DCS Spatial Services & Department of Planning, Industry & Environment |
| Release a discussion paper outlining the proposed regulatory model and legislative changes required to transition from paper to digital survey plans | Office of the Registrar General |
| Provide online services for creation of tailored digital documents (such as administration sheets and section 88B instruments) that pre-populate information from digital plan data, the register and other data sources | NSW LRS |
| Provide the capability for surveyors to securely provide access to their Surveyor Certified Plans and associated documents with consenting parties and others as required | NSW LRS |
| Develop alternative digital lodgment channel to replace the submission of plans at the NSW LRS lodgment office | NSW LRS |
| Provide facility for Registered Surveyors to digitally certify and recertify their plans online | NSW LRS |
| Continue to support and improve LandXML related services | NSW LRS |
| Develop specifications and provide online services for the digital translation of common industry formats such as CAD | NSW LRS |
| Consider legislative changes required to transition to 100% digital survey plans | Office of the Registrar General |
| Develop and adopt a mandate roadmap for the introduction of compulsory requirements as part of the reform | Steering Committee and Consultative Committee |
| Link up the NSW planning and land titles systems to support more efficient and secure consent gathering | NSW LRS and Department of Planning and Environment |
| Create an industry demonstrator for the automatic rendering of Lot Diagrams to support further consultation | Office of the Registrar General |
Impact assessment
An impact assessment on the transition from paper to digital survey plans was released on 16 August 2022
Discussion Paper
A discussion paper on the transition from paper to digital survey plans was released on 18 August 2021. Submissions closed on 30 September 2021.
Discussion paper - Transitioning from paper to digital survey plans
Summary of discussion paper submissions
An industry led reform
Our governance framework is now in place to drive this reform forward. We have a Consultative Committee of industry representatives to provide deep expertise to this process. This Committee will continue to assist with stakeholder consultation across NSW - critical to the success of digital survey plans in NSW. We’d like to thank this Committee, made up of all relevant peak bodies, for its input to this work so far.
We also have an established Steering Committee with the Registrar General, Surveyor General, CEO of NSW LRS, and representatives from each of their teams and the Department of Customer Services that meets on a monthly basis to drive and monitor the implementation of the reform.
For more information on the digital survey plans program, please see the links below:
- Independent report - 'The Grosvenor Review'
- Digital Survey Plans Consultative Committee
- Hybrid capture on demand
For further information, please contact the Digital Survey Plans Program.