The ICS Cadastral Index, is available on our Family History Computers. This index can be used to find cadastral survey plans from around Aotearoa New Zealand. Cadastral survey plans are plans that show a property’s legal boundaries, area and dimensions.

This guide will show you how to find some of the main types of survey plan, Deposited Plans (DP) and Survey Office plans (SO.)

• Deposited plans (DP). Also known as a ‘Title Plan’ or ‘Land Transfer Plan’. These are plans that record subdivision under the Land Transfer Act. They may be a plan of the property’s boundaries, or a detailed survey plan, or a combination of both.
• Survey office plans (SO). This is a record of all survey observations that help determine the positions of the boundaries of a lot or section.

There are many different Plan Series on the index. See Record of title and survey plan type codes | Landonline Guidance for what each code stands for.

To find plans, you first need to know the plan number.

To find a DP number for the property you’re searching for, use Land Information New Zealand (LINZ)’s Land Record Search. Search for your address and look under the heading ‘Referenced Surveys’. If the date on the referenced survey is after the year 2000 the plan may not be in the index and you have to order it from LINZ instead.

For other plan types such as SO plans, or older DPs, use NZ Survey Plans from LINZ Data Service. Zoom into the area you’re researching and click on the blue dots which will give you a survey reverence number and a land district.

• Launch the ICS Cadastral Index from the Whakapapa and Family History Hub on a Family History Computer.
• Choose the relevant land district.
• Choose the relevant plan series.
• Enter your plan number and double click to open the plan.
• From here you can save the images to a USB or print them from the PC.

Not all land records are available on LINZ's Land Record Search

•  Available land records in Land Record Search | Landonline Guidance
• Unavailable land records in Land Record Search | Landonline Guidance

For more information about what you can find on a cadastral survey plan look at LINZ's website Cadastral survey plan | Toitū Te Whenua - Land Information New Zealand

For more information about terminology and acronyms, look at the Land registration glossary | Land registration, Survey Guidance

For more LINZ search tips see Search for and order a digital land record | Toitū Te Whenua - Land Information New Zealand

Cadastral survey plans show a property’s legal boundaries, area and dimensions. The ICS Index includes the 'pre 300,000 survey plans'. 300,000 refers to a specific numbering system for New Zealand survey plans, where plans numbered before 300,000 were unique to each land district, and those after 300,000 use a sequential, national numbering system.

Find more about Cadastral maps at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).