About Lands and Survey
With our vision to be a customer-focused organization that delivers quality, accurate, and trustworthy land administration system; The Lands and Survey Department strives to ensure that the Cayman Islands have a world-class land administration system by:
- Having a safe and secure land registration system that is efficient, easy to use, understand, and transparent
- Maintaining a first-class system of quality and accuracy in location data that supports property rights
- Developing and managing the national infrastructure for geospatial data to support innovation and national development
Departmental Sections
The Lands & Survey Department comprises the following service sections linked by a common dealing and involvement in land. Each section is devoted to delivering the highest level of quality to our clients.
GIS Section
In 1991, the Lands & Survey Department commenced a programme to convert map data from manuscript to digital format as the first step in the computerization of land records. Since that time other information in map, tabular, and image format has been added and this system has evolved into a comprehensive Geographical Information System (GIS) for the Cayman Islands. It now embraces more wide-ranging geo-data initiatives, while still retaining land-related data at its core. The value of managing information in such a system has provided government departments and the private sector with a faster and more efficient means of discharging their duties. It has also become the fulcrum about which challenging environmental and developmental issues are being addressed in Cayman.
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Survey Section
The Chief Surveyor heads the Survey Section and holds statutory powers that empower him to direct, supervise, and control all surveys, including the authentication of legal cadastral surveys. He regulates the land surveying practice and is the authority for the preparation and publication of the official maps of the Cayman Islands. The legal cadastre underpins the Cayman Islands Land Registration System. Cadastral surveying is the process of mapping property boundaries to provide an unambiguous definition of the parcel extent and to maintain the Registry Maps. A legal requirement in the registration process, they can only be undertaken by Licensed Land Surveyors and Government Surveyors in accordance with the Land Surveyors Law and Land Survey Regulations for the purposes of the Registered Land Law.
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Registry Section
The Cayman Islands Land Registry records the details of all land ownership information in the Cayman Islands, together with a Registry Map which indicates (and in certain cases defines) the boundaries of each individually owned parcel of land. The Registrar of Lands, is responsible for the maintenance of the Land Register and Registry Map, both of which are governed by the Registered Land Law, Registered Land Rules, and Registered Land Regulations. The Register and associated documents are public records, allowing full transparency in the ownership transactions.
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Valuation Section
The Valuation & Estates Office (VEO) provides a comprehensive range of professional valuation and real estate services to Government. It comprises a professional team of Chartered Surveyors who are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) – which is one of the most respected and high profile global organisations representing qualified property professionals who are involved in land valuation, real estate, construction, planning and environmental matters. The RICS is an independent, not for profit organization whose purpose is to maintain and uphold the professional standards of its members worldwide.
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