ipeg34yahooco:
I have a story to tell and I tell this story with the hope that a prospective property investor out there will be armed with the right information for when the property is finally purchased.

A client walked into my office just recently with a survey plan on his land dated 2004 with an instruction for me to perfect his title deed as he was finally in a financial capacity to do so. I requested for a copy of the survey plan because the first step I had to take to start the process was to conduct land information at the Surveyor General’s Office to ascertain the status of the land using a copy of the survey plan. However, when I got to the Surveyor General’s office to commence the land information process, the red copy could not be found, which means the land surveyor who drew the survey plan never lodged a red copy.

You may be wondering, what is a red copy? A red copy is the record copy or official copy of the survey plan that MUST be lodged (submitted) by a registered land surveyor who draws a survey plan with the Surveyor General’s Office, and who must also have a letter of submission of the record copy as proof of such lodgment, otherwise perfection of the title deed on a land will be impossible.

I went back to the client and informed him of the development at the Surveyor General’s Office and it was obvious he was unaware of the need and importance of having a red copy of the survey plan lodged. In the course of our discussion, I realized he also had no idea of the whereabouts of the surveyor who drew the survey plan in order to ask him for an explanation for the non lodgment of the red copy and this was because he thought the surveyor’s work back then in 2004 stopped at just drawing the survey plan and that further contact with him was unnecessary .At that point, I had to sit him down and informed him that without a red copy of the survey plan lodged with the Surveyor General’s Office, there was no way I or any other lawyer could proceed with perfecting his title deed to the land. Consequently, he had to pay for a fresh survey plan on the land to be drawn and lodged with the Surveyor General’s Office, so that his title deed could be perfected.

This story here is the story of many Nigerians who are ignorant of this fact and who at the point of perfecting their title deed find out they have paid for a survey plan that is totally useless for that purpose and end up having to incur expenses for a fresh one to be drawn and lodged.
Aside from this ignorance, many property investors have been known to contribute to their own hardship by bypassing land surveyors because of their supposedly high fees but who will do the needful and instead patronize surveyors who charge them ridiculously low fees and end up not lodging the survey plan.

For the land owner out there, who is at the stage of having the survey plan of the land purchased drawn, it is pertinent that you approach a registered land surveyor with a proven track record and ensure that the survey plan is lodged and proof of it provided, so that you will not be frustrated or incur unplanned expenses for whenever you do decide to perfect the title deed to your land.
Let this be at the back of your mind ‘NO RED COPY, NO PERFECTION OF TITLE DEED’.

adekennis:

Sorry for the late response but it is obvious he didn't lodge the red copy.He won't lodge it as long as it is backdated and if he doesn't lodge it you can't proceed with your C of O



Sir pls I have a question to ask..I asked a surveyor to do survey for me, the person went to do survey backdated as far back 2001.. Tho I rejected it and insisted he do another one with current date which we are still dragging till date..He insisted that it doesn’t mean anything that he would get the red copy for me that it’ can be done that way..Pls I need your advise on what to do and the implications of this. Thanks for your response in advance sir.

adekennis:


Sir pls I have a question to ask..I asked a surveyor to do survey for me, the person went to do survey backdated as far back 2001.. Tho I rejected it and insisted he do another one with current date which we are still dragging till date..He insisted that it doesn’t mean anything that he would get the red copy for me that it’ can be done that way..Pls I need your advise on what to do and the implications of this. Thanks for your response in advance sir.

adekennis:


Sir pls I have a question to ask..I asked a surveyor to do survey for me, the person went to do survey backdated as far back 2001.. Tho I rejected it and insisted he do another one with current date which we are still dragging till date..He insisted that it doesn’t mean anything that he would get the red copy for me that it’ can be done that way..Pls I need your advise on what to do and the implications of this. Thanks for your response in advance sir.

yubiman:
Good info. If I may ask, what is the difference between a red and a blue copy?

OlujobaSamuel:

He is having a red copy he wan alter to reflect your own. Na only Ọmọ Onile family receipt dem still dey alter with backdating because lands are not meant to be sold by anyone except Governor after the Land Use Act of 1976 abi na 1972

yubiman:
Good info. If I may ask, what is the difference between a red and a blue copy?

Morcash01:

Sir, did you pay him the amount he charged you as per scale of fee for your portion of land, if yes, you can consider an arrest because you may loose your land later, but if no, find another competent surveyor, pay the stated amount and get it done once.

Morcash01:

The red copy (record copy) is the original survey plan drafted by the surveyor including the orientation and connection of you land to exciting framework this is then submitted to the surveyor general office for proper documentation , while the blue copy is the one given to the client and other third parties if need be.

Morcash01:

The red copy (record copy) is the original survey plan drafted by the surveyor including the orientation and connection of you land to exciting framework this is then submitted to the surveyor general office for proper documentation , while the blue copy is the one given to the client and other third parties if need be.

Clean2016:


The red copy actually means record copy
It's the main copy the Surveyor submit to govt. Because it has some blue colors some people call it blue copy. It is technically the same thing

ipeg34yahooco:
I have a story to tell and I tell this story with the hope that a prospective property investor out there will be armed with the right information for when the property is finally purchased.

A client walked into my office just recently with a survey plan on his land dated 2004 with an instruction for me to perfect his title deed as he was finally in a financial capacity to do so. I requested for a copy of the survey plan because the first step I had to take to start the process was to conduct land information at the Surveyor General’s Office to ascertain the status of the land using a copy of the survey plan. However, when I got to the Surveyor General’s office to commence the land information process, the red copy could not be found, which means the land surveyor who drew the survey plan never lodged a red copy.

You may be wondering, what is a red copy? A red copy is the record copy or official copy of the survey plan that MUST be lodged (submitted) by a registered land surveyor who draws a survey plan with the Surveyor General’s Office, and who must also have a letter of submission of the record copy as proof of such lodgment, otherwise perfection of the title deed on a land will be impossible.

I went back to the client and informed him of the development at the Surveyor General’s Office and it was obvious he was unaware of the need and importance of having a red copy of the survey plan lodged. In the course of our discussion, I realized he also had no idea of the whereabouts of the surveyor who drew the survey plan in order to ask him for an explanation for the non lodgment of the red copy and this was because he thought the surveyor’s work back then in 2004 stopped at just drawing the survey
plan and that further contact with him was unnecessary .At that point, I had to sit him down and informed him that without a red copy of the survey plan lodged with the Surveyor General’s Office, there was no way I or any other lawyer could proceed with perfecting his title deed to the land. Consequently, he had to pay for a fresh survey plan on the land to be drawn and lodged with the Surveyor General’s Office, so that his title deed could be perfected.

This story here is the story of many Nigerians who are ignorant of this fact and who at the point of perfecting their title deed find out they have paid for a survey plan that is totally useless for that purpose and end up having to incur expenses for a fresh one to be drawn and lodged.
Aside from this ignorance, many property investors have been known to contribute to their own hardship by bypassing land surveyors because of their supposedly high fees but who will do the needful and instead patronize surveyors who charge them ridiculously low fees and end up not lodging the survey plan.

For the land owner out there, who is at the stage of having the survey plan of the land purchased drawn, it is pertinent that you approach a registered land surveyor with a proven track record and ensure that the survey plan is lodged and proof of it provided, so that you will not be frustrated or incur unplanned expenses for whenever you do decide to perfect the title deed to your land.
Let this be at the back of your mind ‘NO RED COPY, NO PERFECTION OF TITLE DEED’.

Tripleoluwa:
If you are also buying a land, and the land already have a survey plan, make sure you go to the surveyor General's office to chart. This is because the survey plan may be wrong, probably because outdated equipment was used. If you didn't chart and you buy the land, because the survey plan is wrong, even if you have C of O, another person with correct survey plan on the same land will win you in any court.


Those old school surveyor use tape rule to measure, so the coordinates may be wrong. By the time you chart, you may discover that your land is at Ojuwoye market, Mushin, whereas it's supposed to be at Akerele extension Surulere. So with the wrong survey plan, you can beat the price of the land down cos u go still do another one.

I work with the Elegushi Royal family surveyor, so I learnt this things there. If you need surveyor, just holla: zero & zero 67*17*43*10

adekennis:


Sir pls I have a question to ask..I asked a surveyor to do survey for me, the person went to do survey backdated as far back 2001.. Tho I rejected it and insisted he do another one with current date which we are still dragging till date..He insisted that it doesn’t mean anything that he would get the red copy for me that it’ can be done that way..Pls I need your advise on what to do and the implications of this. Thanks for your response in advance sir.

Oguieke:
.I bought a land surveyed by eco plan the survey plan they gave me is the red one,hope am not duped?

KINGwax007:
In my own knowledge, a red copy is the original copy, also called a registered survey. Once done, it would be registered with the state's ministry of whatever that's in charge of lands. This is a record that the state already checked the land and it is not under acquisition. This survey also helps you well in a legal battle. Price is premium between 120k and 150k as the new rule of April 2017 by the Nigerian institute of surveyors.


The other copy is just a useless copy that only reflects the size of the land if the client's needs to really know. It's so useless that you can't use it for any legal battle or official needs. It's around 20k per plot.