Ring three Adelaide surveying firms and ask about land surveyor cost for a boundary survey, and you’ll probably get the same answer three times: it depends, send us the title. That’s frustrating when you only want a number before you commit to a fence, a set of house plans or a block split. It’s also honest. Every Adelaide firm page checked on 30 September 2026 says to ask for a quote, and none prints a price for boundary, feature and level, contour or set-out surveys.
So this article won’t hand you an Adelaide price list, because one doesn’t exist. What it can do is show you what national guides say, which government fees sit outside the surveyor’s quote, and how to ask for a quote that lets you compare like with like.
If you’d rather skip straight to the quote, tell us what the survey is for and we will put you in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor. They quote you in writing and contract with you directly.
Land surveyor cost: why Adelaide firms will not print a price
Surveyors quote each job. The price depends on the block, the evidence on site and the type of survey. Two houses on the same street can need very different amounts of work, so a flat price on a website would be wrong for one of them.
There’s also a legal reason the field is quote-by-quote. According to the Surveyors Board SA, only licensed surveyors can undertake a boundary survey or place a survey mark that defines a property boundary in South Australia. Boundary surveys must be conducted or supervised by a practising Licensed Surveyor, and surveys by unlicensed practitioners have no legal standing. You can read the Board’s explanation on its public information page.
Some things reliably push a quote up or down, though only the surveyor can tell you by how much:
- How old and how clear the title and plan evidence is
- Whether the survey marks near your block still exist
- How many boundaries need to be measured
- Access, slope and how much vegetation is in the way
- What you need at the end: a plan, marked pegs, a lodged plan, or all three
None of those come with a sourced dollar figure, so treat them as questions to ask rather than numbers to plug in. Torrens Survey Co is an advertising service. We hold no surveying licence, and the surveyor who quotes your job is the one who holds it.
Land survey cost guides: what the national numbers say
National cost guides do publish ranges. They are useful as a sanity check when a quote lands in your inbox, but they aren’t Adelaide prices, and neither guide says whether GST is included.
| Survey type | Trade Heroes (national guide, updated 6 March 2026) | EastWest Surveyors (national guide, 16 November 2025) | Adelaide price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boundary | $900 to $2,500 | $800 to $2,500 (boundary and identification together) | Quoted per job |
| Feature and level | $800 to $2,200 | $1,500 to $4,500 (feature and level and contour together) | Quoted per job |
| Contour | $1,200 to $3,000 | $1,500 to $4,500 (same range as above) | Quoted per job |
| Set-out | No figure given | No usable figure | Quoted per job |
Take the table with a grain of salt. The two guides disagree on feature and level work by a wide margin, which tells you the range is wide for a reason: sites differ. An Adelaide surveyor quotes your block, and the number can land inside or outside these ranges.
If you want to know what each survey type produces before you compare quotes, our pages on boundary surveys and feature and level surveys explain them. For a plain-English rundown of the trade itself, see what a land surveyor does.
Three Adelaide jobs and where the money goes
These are anonymised scenarios, not client stories. They show which costs sit inside the surveyor’s quote and which do not.
A leaning Colorbond fence in Salisbury
Both neighbours think the old fence is on their side. Before anyone books a fencing contractor, one of them wants to know where the line is. That’s a job for a Licensed Surveyor, not for a tape measure and a guess, and the Board notes that major discrepancies between boundaries and fencing are not uncommon and can be very difficult to rectify.
Here’s the money side. Under the Fences Act 1975 (SA), the cost of any survey reasonably required for the fencing work counts as a fencing cost. The Legal Services Commission says that if both owners want the survey they can share the cost, but if not, the person who arranges the survey pays for it. For a new fence, the neighbour’s share of an adequate fence is one-half of the minimum cost of erecting it, provided the proper notices were given.
We can’t tell you where a boundary is, and neither can the fence. A national guide puts boundary surveys at $900 to $2,500, and an Adelaide surveyor quotes your block. Our note on the Fences Act and boundary fences covers the notice steps.
A sloping block in Stirling
The designer wants to draw a pole home on a steep block and needs levels first. A development application site plan needs the boundaries and dimensions of the site, setbacks, and existing ground and floor levels where relevant, plus proposed finished floor levels. A feature and level survey is the usual way to get the existing levels and the offsets to the boundaries. The regulation doesn’t say who must prepare the site plan, so it’s a practical choice, not a legal requirement.
National guides put feature and level surveys at $800 to $2,200 (Trade Heroes) or $1,500 to $4,500 (EastWest, grouped with contour work). Those are national figures, and a steep, tree-covered block usually means more fieldwork than a flat suburban one, so ask the surveyor how slope and vegetation affect the quote.
It’s also worth asking whether the same visit can capture the boundary offsets your designer needs, so you are not paying for two trips.
A 1960s brick home on a 900 m2 block in Campbelltown
The owners want to split the block, one into two. The surveyor is one line in a much longer budget here, and it’s the budget that catches people out.
One Adelaide surveying firm, Sawley Lock O’Callaghan, says a standard one-into-two land division in the metropolitan area costs “in the order of $30,000 - $34,000” (page modified 12 May 2025, GST not stated). That figure bundles state and council fees, Land Services SA plan fees, surveyor and consultancy fees, conveyancer or solicitor fees, and SA Water fees. The firm also warns that SA Water can charge non-standard costs for water and sewer extensions, deeper connection pits or dewatering, which could increase the total significantly. Power and NBN connection are extra.
A 900 m2 block doesn’t mean the split will be approved. The council or the surveyor checks the zone and any overlays in the Planning and Design Code, and we don’t publish a minimum block size. Our guide to the cost to subdivide land in Adelaide walks through the steps in order.
Surveyor fees versus government fees on a land division
Owners often mix these up, so it helps to separate them. Surveyor fees are what the Licensed Surveyor quotes you. Government fees are set by statute, change every 1 July, and go to the state, the council or Land Services SA regardless of which surveyor you pick.
These are the 2026-27 figures from the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Fees) Notice 2026 and the Land Services SA fee schedule. Which ones apply depends on your application, so don’t add them up as a single total:
- Open space contribution, Greater Adelaide: $10,166.00 per new allotment (not exceeding 1 ha). A one-into-two Torrens division creates one new allotment.
- Land division authorisation, no more than 4 additional allotments and no public road: $210.00
- Commission advice: $240.00
- Section 138 Certificate of Approval: $1,229.00
- SA Water assessment: $480.00
- Land Services SA, surveyed plan: examination $1,231.00, deposit $189.00, $112.00 per title, and a Survey Act levy of $188.00, plus a document fee
The Commission may require the open space contribution for divisions of 20 allotments or less, and the amount is the one in force when the application was made. You can check the current schedule on the Land Services SA fees page.
One conveyancing firm publishes $660 including GST to prepare and lodge the division forms, plus $88 including GST for each consent arranged. If your title has a mortgage, the lender is a registered interest that must consent.
As for time, the official wording from Land Services SA is that a land division can take many months, sometimes even years. There’s no official month figure, so treat any confident timeline with caution.
How to get a land surveyor quote you can compare
A quote is only comparable if the surveyors were asked the same question. Most price gaps between quotes turn out to be gaps in what was included.
- Say what the survey is for. A fence dispute, a development application, a purchase check and a subdivision all need different work.
- Have your certificate of title and address ready. The surveyor starts from the title.
- Ask what the price includes. Fieldwork, a plan, marked pegs, lodging a plan and any return visit are all worth naming.
- Ask whether GST is included. Statutory fees are separate and aren’t labelled either way.
- Ask what happens if the evidence conflicts. Some blocks take more time than the quote assumed, and you want to know how that is handled.
- Check the licence. There’s no searchable online register. Contact the Registrar at registrar@isasa.org.au or (08) 8212 0343, or read the Gazette list of Licensed and Registered Surveyors, updated each July and January.
Our land survey quote checklist has a longer set of questions you can copy into an email.
If you have the title and a rough idea of what you need, send us the details. We will put you in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor who quotes you directly, and you decide whether to go ahead. We don’t promise a price, a turnaround or an outcome, because that’s the surveyor’s call after seeing your block. If you’d rather talk it through, call (08) 5550 3814 once you have used the form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a fixed price for a boundary survey in Adelaide?
No. Adelaide surveying firms quote each job, and none of the firms checked publishes a price for boundary, feature and level, contour or set-out surveys. National guides show ranges such as $900 to $2,500 for boundary surveys, but those aren’t Adelaide prices, so treat them as a rough check on the quote you receive.
Who pays for the survey if my neighbour and I disagree about a fence line?
Under the Fences Act 1975 (SA), the cost of a survey reasonably required for the fencing work counts as a fencing cost. The Legal Services Commission says that if you both want the survey you can share the cost, but if not, the person who arranges it pays. Nobody has to contribute to fencing unless both agreed, the proper notices were given, or a court orders it.
Do I need a Licensed Surveyor for a development application site plan?
The regulation doesn’t say who prepares the site plan. A feature and level survey is the usual way to get the existing levels and boundary offsets. The Surveyors Board does recommend a Licensed Surveyor when building on or near a boundary, and only a Licensed Surveyor can carry out a boundary survey that defines the boundary.
How can I check that a surveyor is licensed?
There’s no searchable online register in South Australia. You can contact the Registrar at registrar@isasa.org.au or (08) 8212 0343, or check the Gazette list of Licensed and Registered Surveyors, which is updated each July and January. Torrens Survey Co isn’t a surveyor, so always confirm the licence of whoever quotes your job.