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Plan ahead for ePlan mandate

Digital submission of plans and surveys in the ePlan format is the next step on the path towards a fully digital land registry in Victoria.

Plan and survey data will transition to digital lodgment from 2024-2032, ensuring industry readiness for 3D cadastral survey data with a national standard.

The ePlan mandate will phase in gradually to help manage this transition for industry, with a focus on plan data. Commencing with plans of consolidation in July 2024, the mandate will progress to all plans that don’t require a cross section under the Subdivision Act 1988 by 2028.

What is ePlan?

ePlan is a digital data file created using the Single CAD Format File (SCFF) methodology that represents cadastral and administrative information related to a plan.

ePlan files are lodged through SPEAR and managed in the ePlan Portal.

Why mandate ePlan?

ePlan has been developed over the last 10 years to improve the efficiency of registration of dealings supported by plan and survey information. This will lead to greater innovation in registry search services and facilitate automated maintenance of Victoria’s digital cadastre.

Over time, it will deliver significantly improved services to the surveying profession and the Victorian community.

ePlan improves data quality, minimises duplication, and paves the way for end-to-end digital data workflows throughout the lifecycle of a plan within SPEAR. ePlan is an important foundational milestone in the 10-year strategy for Victoria’s cadastral system.

For more information please refer to the ePlan Factsheet on the SPEAR website.

Timeline

Phase 1 of the mandate for eligible plans of consolidation commences on 29 July 2024.

Details of the second phase of the mandate will be released in 2025.

  1. 29 July 2024

    Mandate phase 1 commences

  2. Early 2025

    Phase 2 details released

  3. Mid-2025

    Phase 2 mandate commences

  4. 2026-2028

    Phases 3 and 4 – details to be released

Phase 1

The first phase of the mandate is limited to eligible plans of consolidation lodged under Section 22 of the Subdivision Act 1988 that are first signed by the Licensed Surveyor on or after 29 July 2024.

The first signed date is when the plan is authenticated in SPEAR. Eligible plans of consolidation signed after this date must be lodged as an ePlan.

ePlan supports both survey and non-survey based plans of consolidation. However, there are some features not currently supported in ePlan. Plans with these features are not included in the first phase of the mandate.

Plans of consolidation that include the following features must be submitted as a PDF:

  • curved overlapping easements
  • cross sections (either parent or created parcel)
  • building boundaries with type ‘Other’
  • non-survey plans when the parent folio of the Register (title) diagram location bearing datum is not ‘Approx. True North’.

Plans of consolidation that do not include the features described above must be lodged as an ePlan, if the plan is first signed on or after 29 July 2024.

Common questions and answers

A PDF of the Abstract of Field Records is still required for survey-based plans.

If the plan of consolidation meets non-survey requirements outlined on the Land.Vic website, an Abstract of Field Records will not be required, and the ePlan can be based on the ‘Local’ coordinate system rather than the Map Grid of Australia (MGA). The ePlan portal supports the creation, validation and visualisation of both Local and MGA ePlans.

As ePlan develops, more survey information will be able to be included in the ePlan itself, reducing the need for this information to be contained in a separate document.

A misclose in a parcel does not prevent an ePlan from progressing. Any misclose(s) should be justified through the validation process, in addition to the Licensed Surveyors report. For more information about parcels containing miscloses, see the SCFF Guidance Notes on the SPEAR website.

Land Use Victoria is working towards downgrading the existing ‘error’ message to a ‘warning’ for non-survey plans.

Currently, a change in datum cannot be introduced to a plan without a survey to justify the rotation. However, this does not prevent a plan being prepared as an ePlan. ePlans do not need to be connected to MGA2020 and can be prepared on the parent parcel(s) datum.

Note: Non-survey (Local) ePlans will autogenerate the north point to reflect Approx. True North. Land Use Victoria is working towards giving the user the ability to specify the bearing datum for non-survey ePlans.

There is no change to lodgment requirements for lodging parties when lodging a plan that is an ePlan.

Lodging parties should be aware that if a plan of consolidation is signed by the Licensed Surveyor on or after 29 July 2024, and is not in the ePlan format, the lodgment may be refused.

Current plan and survey requirements for plans of consolidations remain unaffected by the mandate. See Understanding plans of subdivision and consolidation on the Land.Vic website for further details.

Download ePlan mandate common questions as a factsheet:

Training and support

Surveyors will receive ongoing support and education through each phase of the implementation.

SPEAR user guides are available online. Surveyors requiring support or training in the use of ePlan are encouraged to contact the SPEAR Service Desk.

Further information

Read more on ePlan on the SPEAR website.

Read more on cadastral surveying practice:

Page last updated: 22/03/24