A location certificate is a document that includes a report and a plan through which a land surveyor expresses their professional opinion on the current position and condition of a parcel of land. It provides a kind of “diagnosis” of the property from the standpoint of title documents, the cadastre, as well as laws and regulations that may affect it.
This certificate is usually required when carrying out real estate transactions and may be requested by a lender, notary, lawyer, real estate broker, appraiser, or municipality. It may be ordered by either the seller or the buyer.
The document is private, even confidential, and is provided to the client and only to the specified interested parties. In addition, the location certificate must under no circumstances be used to establish property boundaries or to carry out work related to them. Other procedures are used for that—staking out boundaries on the ground (staking) or layout (implantation).
The location certificate is governed by the regulation on standards of professional practice established by the Ordre des arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec (L.R.Q., c. A-23, r.10).
A location certificate is required for any real estate transaction. Prepared by a land surveyor and usually provided by the seller to the buyer, this private document serves as protection for both parties to the transaction.
Indeed, the location certificate mainly consists of a plan and a report in which the land surveyor expresses their opinion on the current position and condition of the property, taking into account title documents, possible encroachments (boundary overlaps), as well as laws and regulations that may affect it.
It indicates, where applicable, easements, flood zones, risk zones, as well as municipal restrictions, for example, a prohibition on installing a pool or an outbuilding.
To learn more about the location certificate, when a new document is required, and the cost of preparing it, visit the website of the Ordre des arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec.
