A-23, r. 10 - Regulation respecting standards of practice for location certificates

Updated to 1 October 2024

This document has official status.

chapter A-23, r. 10

Regulation respecting standards of practice for location certificates

Land Surveyors Act

(chapter A-23, s. 49).

See Chapter III of the Regulation respecting the temporary implementation of the amendments made by chapter 7 of the Statutes of 2021 in connection with the management of flood risks (chapter Q-2, r. 32.2).

DIVISION I GENERAL

1. In this Regulation, unless otherwise indicated by the context, “immovable property” means an immovable such as a parcel of land with or without a building, superficies, an immovable held in divided co-ownership or a private portion of an immovable held in divided co-ownership.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 1.

2. The location certificate is a document en minute, consisting of a report and a plan, stating the land surveyor’s opinion on the current situation and state of immovable property in relation to ownership titles, the cadastre and the laws, regulations and by-laws which may affect it. It may not be used or invoked for purposes other than those for which it is intended.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 2.

3. The measuring system used to prepare the report and the plan shall be the International System of Units unless the client explicitly requires the use of another measuring system authorized by the Weights and Measures Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. W-6). If that is the case, the report and the plan shall indicate the measuring system used and, after each measurement taken with that system, the equivalent measurement in the International System of Units shall be given.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 3.

DIVISION II OPERATIONS

4. In any survey operation carried out to prepare a location certificate, a land surveyor shall take all the measurements and make all the calculations required to check the occupation and the boundaries of the immovable property and situate them in relation to one another.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 4.

5. In order to establish the boundaries of an immovable property, land surveyors shall ensure that sufficient territory is covered to support their professional opinion.

All survey operations performed to prepare a location certificate shall be recorded in clearly written notes that faithfully show the state of the premises and their location, in particular any mark of occupation or encroachment sign.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 5.

6. The results of the survey operations shall be confirmed by an additional source of information duly identified and kept in the record, in particular by using any of the following methods: measurement by repetition, data cross-checking, different ties to fixed positions, searches or a previous or concomitant survey plan.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 6.

7. A land surveyor who draws up a location certificate shall have visited the premises or have personally checked the observations required by subparagraphs 9 and 13 to 17 of the first paragraph of section 9.

The said observations shall be recorded in a document, other than the field notes, bearing the initials of the land surveyor and kept in the record.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 7.

8. A land surveyor drawing up a location certificate must personally examine municipal by-laws applicable at the time the certificate is prepared and file references to the by-laws and regulations consulted in the record.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 8.

DIVISION III REPORT

9. Except in the cases referred to in section 10, a land surveyor shall check the following elements concerning or affecting the immovable property covered by the location in particular:

(1)  the date of the survey;

(2)  the date of the searches at the Land Registry Office;

(3)  an updated description of the immovable property, which must indicate for each of the cadastral lots or parts thereof forming it, their metes and bounds, their linear measures and their area, as well as the cadastral ties or, failing that, ties to the primitive survey or to an official coordinate system;

(4)  a reference to the most recent deed of acquisition registered, so as to identify the parties and to establish a link between the immovable property and the deed;

(5)  the cadastral history going back to the coming into force of the original cadastre concerned;

(6)  the conformity or lack of conformity between the marks of occupation on the immovable property, the boundaries, measurements and area of the cadastral plan in force, and the boundaries, measurements and area described in the ownership titles; if the territory has been renovated, the land surveyor shall also establish the conformity or lack of conformity between all those elements and the boundaries, measurements, and area appearing on the cadastral plan before being renovated;

(7)  any active and passive servitude registered in the Land register, or in the latest deed of acquisition;

(8)  the boundaries that have been marked with, where applicable, a reference to the registration number of the minutes of the boundary-marking operations;

(9)  any apparent servitude or charge that should normally be the subject of a servitude and that may affect the immovable property;

(10)  any notice of expropriation and any notice of reserve for public purposes registered in the Land register;

(11)  whether the immovable property is heritage property or located in whole or in part within a protected area or heritage site, where the required notice is registered in the Land register under the Cultural Heritage Act (chapter P-9.002), or where a similar provision appears in the municipal zoning by-law;

(12)  whether or not the immovable property is located within an agricultural zone the plan of which was approved by Order in Council under the Act respecting the preservation of agricultural land and agricultural activities (chapter P-41.1);

(13)  any apparent, allowed or exercised encroachment;

(14)  the buildings, dependencies and structures located on the immovable property, including sheds and swimming pools;

(15)  the municipal address;

(16)  a brief description of the work progress, for buildings, structures and dependencies under construction;

(17)  the number of stories and the type of exterior facing on the buildings and dependencies at the time of the survey;

(18)  the zone within the meaning of the municipal zoning by-law;

(19)  the conformity or non-conformity of the position of the structures, buildings and dependencies in relation to the boundaries of the immovable property in respect of the municipal zoning by-law in force when the location certificate is prepared;

(20)  whether the immovable property is located in whole or in part within a flood zone mapped out under the Canada-Québec agreement on mapping and flood zone protection and to sustainable water resources development, signed in 1976, as amended, or whether the immovable property is located in whole or in part within a protective strip of land established by the municipal zoning by-law under the Protection policy for lakeshores, riverbanks, littoral zones and floodplains (chapter Q-2, r. 35);

(21)  whether the immovable property is located in whole or in part within a protected zone, a protective strip of land, a flood zone or a risk zone established by the municipal zoning by-law;

(22)  whether the immovable property is located in whole or in part within an airport site, established by a regulation made under the Aeronautics Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. A-2) and filed in the Land Registry Office; and

(23)  whether the immovable property has some apparent characteristics of a housing complex within the meaning of section 45 of the Act respecting the Administrative Housing Tribunal (chapter T-15.01).

The land surveyor shall indicate in the report that elements referred to in subparagraphs 1 to 23 of the first paragraph were checked and, where applicable, specify the other elements that were also checked.

Where applicable, the land surveyor shall state or comment on the elements that were checked.

The report shall also indicate the place and date of closing of the minute.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 9; I.N. 2016-01-01 (NCCP); S.Q. 2020, c. 17, s. 111.

10. In the report of a location certificate concerning only a private portion of an immovable held in divided co-ownership, a land surveyor shall in particular indicate that the following elements were checked:

(1)  the date of the survey;

(2)  the date of the searches at the Land Registry Office;

(3)  the designation of the immovable property;

(4)  a reference to the title of ownership, so as to establish a link between the immovable property examined and the deed of acquisition;

(5)  the cadastral history going back to the original lot created for the co-ownership;

(6)  the concordance between the cadastral identification and the municipal address;

(7)  the conformity or lack of conformity between the occupation, the designation in the titles and the cadastre;

(8)  the apparent servitudes or charges that should normally be the subject of a servitude and that may affect the immovable property; and

(9)  the active and passive servitudes registered in the land register.

Where applicable, the land surveyor shall state or comment on those elements.

The report shall also indicate the place and date of closing of the minute.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 10; S.Q. 2020, c. 17, s. 111.

11. The land surveyor’s report shall indicate the purpose for which the location certificate is intended and that it must not be used or invoked for another purpose without written authorization from its author.

The report shall also indicate that it forms an integral part of the location certificate and shall refer to the plan accompanying it.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 11.

12. The report shall be made on legal-size paper.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 12.

DIVISION IV PLAN

13. The plan shall include the following:

(1)  the graphic representation and the designation of the property;

(2)  the metes and bounds;

(3)  the dimensions and area of the property;

(4)  the dimensions of the structures, buildings and dependencies and the marks of occupation relative to the boundaries of the property;

(5)  the distance between the boundaries of the property, on the one hand, and the buildings, dependencies and structures, on the other hand, including sheds and swimming pools, with an indication that the measurements were taken from the foundations or the exterior facing;

(6)  where possible, an illustration of the elements referred to in subparagraphs 7 to 22 of section 9;

(7)  an approximate indication of true north by means of an arrow;

(8)  the scale of the plan; and

(9)  the date of the survey.

The plan shall also indicate the place and date of closing of the minute. (See ss. 9 and 10.)

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 13.

14. For a private portion of an immovable held in co-ownership, the plan shall include the following:

(1)  the graphic representation and the designation of the private portion;

(2)  the metes and bounds;

(3)  the dimensions, area and geodesic elevation;

(4)  a sketch of the entire storey of the building or of a portion showing the location of the private portion;

(5)  where possible, an illustration of the elements referred to in subparagraphs 6 to 9 of section 10;

(6)  the orientation of the plan;

(7)  the scale of the plan; and

(8)  the place and date of closing of the minute.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 14.

15. The plan shall indicate the purpose for which the location certificate is intended and that it must not be used or invoked for another purpose without written authorization from its author.

The plan shall also indicate that it forms an integral part of the location certificate and shall refer to the report accompanying it.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 15.

16. The plan shall be made on legal-size paper or larger.

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 16.

DIVISION V TRANSITIONAL

17. This Regulation replaces the Regulation respecting standards of practice relative to the certificate of location (R.R.Q. 1981, c. A-23, r. 7).

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 17.

18. (Omitted).

O.C. 1058-2002, s. 18.

REFERENCES

O.C. 1058-2002, 2002 G.O. 2, 4841

S.Q. 2011, c. 21, ss. 242, 245 and 258

S.Q. 2019, c. 28, s. 158

S.Q. 2020, c. 17, s. 111

O.C. 1596-2021, 2022 G.O. 2, 6