New estates on the edge and older suburbs built out from Elizabeth in the 1950s and 60s. Torrens Survey Co puts Northern Adelaide owners in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor.
Land surveying in Northern Adelaide covers two quite different kinds of job. Around Gawler, Angle Vale and the edge of Playford, most new homes go up in greenfield estates. Around Salisbury and Elizabeth, the housing is older, mostly detached houses and duplexes, and owners are starting to ask whether a block can be split, built on or checked before a sale.
Torrens Survey Co is an advertising and introduction service. It doesn't survey and holds no surveying licence. It puts you in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor, who quotes and contracts directly with you. Call (08) 5550 3814 and say what you're trying to do. The honest first step is often just working out which kind of survey fits.
A new fence going in between two Salisbury or Gawler backyards, and you and the neighbour disagree on the line? In South Australia only a licensed surveyor can define a boundary. Read about boundary surveys.
If your designer, builder or council wants existing levels and boundary distances before plans go in, this is the usual way to get them, whether the block is in an estate or an older street. See how it works.
Wondering if a larger block in Salisbury, Elizabeth or Gawler could become two? Whether yours qualifies is a question for a Licensed Surveyor, a conveyancer or solicitor, PlanSA and the council. What a division involves.
Pegs missing, or buying and wanting the house, shed and fences checked against the title? An identification survey records a surveyor's opinion of where the existing boundaries are. Read about identification surveys.
The Greater Adelaide Regional Plan (GARP) splits the north into two regions. The Outer North includes Gawler, Elizabeth, Angle Vale, Riverlea Park, Roseworthy, Concordia and part of Two Wells. The Inner North includes Salisbury, Tea Tree Gully and the eastern part of Port Adelaide Enfield.
In the Outer North the plan says an average of 900 new dwellings are built each year, most of them in greenfield areas. Its annual housing target for that region from 2021 to 2031 is 2,380. In the Inner North about 1,400 dwellings are built each year, split fairly evenly between strategic infill and general infill, against a target of 1,390 a year. These are regional figures, not numbers for a single council or suburb.
The plan describes the Outer North's housing stock as mostly detached dwellings or duplexes, a result of the original development of Elizabeth and the surrounding areas in the 1950s and 60s. If you own one of those blocks, a survey is often the first practical step before you decide anything about building or dividing.
GARP lists zoned land in Riverlea Park, Angle Vale, Virginia, Two Wells, Gawler, Evanston South, Blakeview and Munno Para. It also says there's limited housing-ready supply because of a lack of connections to essential infrastructure, particularly water and wastewater. If you're buying into a new area, ask the seller or developer what is connected and when. SA Water and other utilities charge their own fees to connect services to new allotments.
For infill, the plan names Elizabeth Central, Salisbury City Centre (a council investigation area) and Greenfields Railway Station. Being near one of these doesn't mean a particular block can be divided or redeveloped. Minimum allotment sizes sit in the Planning and Design Code, so PlanSA, the council and a Licensed Surveyor are the ones to ask.
Whatever you're building, a development application for new buildings or extensions needs a site plan showing the site boundaries, the distance from each proposed building to those boundaries, and existing and proposed levels where relevant. A feature and level survey is the usual way to get the existing levels and boundary offsets.
A fence line, a title plan, online mapping or an aerial photo doesn't show the legal boundary. SA Government says the boundary can only be determined by a licensed surveyor, who physically marks it. By law you can't move or remove a survey mark once it's placed. The Surveyors Board of South Australia notes that major discrepancies between boundaries and fencing are not uncommon.
Where a dividing fence is going up or coming down, the Fences Act 1975 sets the process. You give your neighbour written notice, and they have 30 days to serve a cross-notice if they object. If you both want a survey you can share the cost. If only one of you does, the person who arranges it has to pay. This is general information, not legal advice, so for a real dispute, talk to the Legal Services Commission, Community Mediation Services or a solicitor.
Check any surveyor before you engage them. Ask the Surveyors Board registrar (registrar@isasa.org.au or (08) 8212 0343) or use the public list on the Board's website. The Board's advice is that surveys by unlicensed practitioners have no legal standing. For nearby areas, see the Adelaide Hills or the western suburbs.
This page can't say whether yours qualifies. Minimum allotment sizes sit in the Planning and Design Code, so PlanSA, the council and a Licensed Surveyor are the ones to ask. Land Services SA says a division can take many months, sometimes even years, and recommends using a licensed surveyor and a conveyancer or solicitor. See land division surveys.
No page can tell you that, including this one. A fence line, title plan or aerial image doesn't show the legal boundary, and only a Licensed Surveyor can determine it. If you and your neighbour disagree, a boundary survey is the way to find out where the line is.
If you both want the survey, you can agree to share the cost. If only one of you does, the person who arranges it has to pay. Under a Fences Act notice a survey can be included as a fencing cost, but your neighbour can object, and a Magistrate then decides whether it was reasonably required. For your own situation, ask the Legal Services Commission or a solicitor.
Surveyors quote each job, and the price depends on the block, the evidence on site and the type of survey. No dollar figure is published here because none was found for Adelaide that could be stood behind. Call (08) 5550 3814 to be put in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor, or read how surveying is priced in Adelaide.
Tell us what the survey is for and get a written quote.
