Frequently Asked Questions

An SG diagram is the official surveyed drawing of a property, approved by the Surveyor General. It shows the property's exact boundaries, the corner beacons (pegs), the length of each boundary, the total extent (size) of the land, and any servitudes that cross it. It is the document that defines what the land physically is — as opposed to who owns it.

No. A title deed is the legal record of ownership (who owns the property, plus any bonds registered against it). An SG diagram is the survey — the spatial picture of the boundaries, dimensions and extent. They are two different documents from two different offices. If you need ownership, bond or transfer information, that's a deeds search — try DeedsCheck.

The SG number (sometimes called the SG code) is the Surveyor General's reference for a specific diagram. It's how the diagram is catalogued in the survey records. You don't need to know it to use SGCheck — searching by address or erf number is enough.

Search by address on the map or enter the erf number, town and portion directly. SGCheck looks up the property and checks the Surveyor General records for the diagrams linked to it — that part is free. You then pay once to retrieve and download the diagrams.

The same town or registration-division name can appear in more than one place in the Surveyor General records. When that happens we ask you to pick the right one so we search the correct area. If only one match exists, we select it for you automatically.

Sectional title schemes can't be retrieved instantly the way an erf or farm diagram can — they're sourced manually. If your property is sectional title, get in touch and we'll obtain it for you.

No. SGCheck is an independent service that retrieves Surveyor General diagrams on your behalf and delivers them in a fast, convenient way. We are not a government department or affiliated with one.

Searching and previewing which diagrams exist is free. To retrieve and download every diagram on the property as a PDF is a single fixed fee, shown before you pay. There's nothing to subscribe to — you pay per property, once.

You get the official Surveyor General diagram document(s) for the property, delivered as PDF and available to download from your order page. Where a property has more than one diagram on record, all of them are included in the one price.

The free search is instant. Once you've paid, the diagrams are retrieved and prepared for download — usually within a few minutes. You can keep the order page open or wait for the email; the download link appears there automatically.