General Plan vs SG Diagram: What's the Difference?

If you have started digging into the survey records for a South African property, you have probably bumped into two terms that sound similar but mean very different things: a general plan and an SG diagram. Both are official cadastral survey documents approved by the Surveyor General, both define property boundaries, and both carry a unique reference number. But they operate at completely different scales, and knowing which one applies to your property tells you what you actually need to retrieve.

To be clear up front: neither document is a title deed. The title deed is the ownership record (who owns the land, the bonds over it and its transfer history). A general plan and an SG diagram are about the survey of the land, not who holds it. They live in a different system entirely.

What an SG diagram is

An SG diagram is the survey of a single property, one erf, one farm or one farm portion. It is drawn and signed off by a professional land surveyor and approved by the Surveyor General. On it you will find:

• The boundary lines of that one property, with the length and bearing of each line
• The corner beacons (the survey pegs) that physically mark the corners on the ground
• The total extent, the size of the property in square metres or hectares
• Any servitudes that cross the property, such as a right of way or a municipal pipeline
• The reference numbers of the neighbouring properties

One property, one diagram. If you want the exact, legally defined shape and size of a specific stand, the SG diagram is the document you are after.

What a general plan is

A general plan is a single approved survey that covers many properties at once. When a developer establishes a township, the whole layout, every erf, every road reserve, every public open space, is surveyed together and approved as one general plan. So instead of producing hundreds of separate diagrams when a suburb is laid out, the surveyor lodges one general plan showing the entire block of erven in relation to one another.

A general plan typically shows:

• The full layout of all the erven in that township or section of it
• The erf numbers and their relative positions
• The boundaries shared between erven and the street boundaries
• The road reserves, parks and other public spaces in the layout

Sectional title schemes work on the same principle. A sectional scheme is registered with a sectional plan, which is the survey of the whole building, showing every unit, the common property and each unit's participation quota in one approved document, rather than a separate diagram per flat.

When each one applies to your property

Which document governs your boundaries depends on how the land was created:

• An erf in a township: its boundaries are usually defined on the general plan for that township. Many ordinary suburban stands do not have their own individual SG diagram at all, the general plan is the authoritative survey for them.
• A farm or agricultural holding: these are almost always surveyed as individual properties, so they carry their own SG diagram (and a separate diagram for each portion that is later cut off).
• A subdivided or consolidated erf: when an existing erf is split or two are combined after the township was first laid out, the new piece gets its own SG diagram, drawn on top of the older general plan.
• A flat or townhouse unit: defined on the scheme's sectional plan, the sectional-title equivalent of a general plan.

This is why two neighbours on the same street can hold different survey documents: one stand has only the original general plan, while the one next door was subdivided years later and now has its own SG diagram referencing that general plan.

How it affects what you retrieve

Because a general plan covers a whole township, retrieving it gives you the wider context, your erf in relation to all the others around it. An individual SG diagram zooms right in on one property's exact measurements. Depending on your stand's history, the full survey picture may sit on the general plan, on an SG diagram, or across both, with the diagram referencing the plan it was carved out of.

You do not have to guess which applies. A free search on SGCheck shows you, for any property, which survey documents actually exist on record, the general plan, the individual diagrams, or both, before you pay anything. From there a single R230 fee retrieves and downloads every diagram on that property as a PDF. (Sectional-title schemes are sourced manually on request rather than instantly.)

If what you actually need is the ownership side, who owns it, the bonds and the transfer history, that lives in the deeds registry, not the survey records. For that, head over to DeedsCheck instead.

Not sure whether your property sits on a general plan, an SG diagram, or both? Run a free SGCheck search and see exactly what is on record before you spend a cent.

Frequently asked questions

Is a general plan the same as an SG diagram?

No. An SG diagram surveys one single property, while a general plan is one approved survey covering many erven in a township at once. Both are cadastral survey documents approved by the Surveyor General, but they work at different scales.

Does every erf have its own SG diagram?

Not necessarily. Many ordinary township stands are defined only on the general plan for that township and have no individual SG diagram. A separate diagram is usually created only when an erf is later subdivided, consolidated or otherwise re-surveyed.

Which document do I need to see my property's exact size and boundaries?

It depends on your property's history. The exact extent and boundary measurements may sit on the general plan, on an individual SG diagram, or across both. A free SGCheck search shows which documents exist for your property before you retrieve anything.

Is a general plan or SG diagram the same as a title deed?

No. Both are survey documents that define boundaries and extent, not ownership. The title deed records who owns the property, its bonds and its transfer history, and is held in the deeds registry rather than the survey records.