Recent Estonian property boundaries open to legal challenges, surveyors warn
Surveyors warn that most cadastral boundary surveys conducted in Estonia over the past decade are vulnerable to legal challenges, a claim officials reject as groundless.
When landowners want to establish or change a property boundary, a surveyor determines its precise coordinates, which officials then enter in Estonia's cadastral map and land register.
For the past year and a half, the Land and Spatial Development Board has allowed surveyors to use the national ESTPOS positioning network. Surveyors say it provides more accurate measurements, but that option is set to end in September, forcing them back to using private reference station networks as before.
The Association of Estonian Surveyors (EGÜ) has warned the agency that upon closer review of the legislation, private networks cannot be legally used for cadastral surveys at all.
Association board member Mart Rae said that could leave many property boundary surveys conducted over the past decade vulnerable to legal challenges.
The EGÜ also argues that reference stations from private networks should not be included in the national geodetic point database at all, although Rae stressed that their use does not necessarily mean the measurements themselves were inaccurate.
"If cadastral units have been created, whether for Rail Baltica, road construction or a defense industry park, using non-state reference points could, in theory, leave the door open to being legally challenged," he explained.
Officials reject concerns
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Land and Spatial Development Board, however, say no legal grounds exist for challenging previous surveys or stopping surveyors from using private networks.
"In my view, the law can clearly be interpreted to mean that surveyors can use private networks to provide their services," said Erik Ernits, head of the board's Spatial Data and Cadastral Service.
Ivari Rannama, head of the ministry's Land Use and Spatial Planning Policy Department, said private networks have been used for decades, adding that surveyors are responsible for ensuring measurements are accurate.
"The surveyor is responsible for accuracy and for making sure the necessary connections and checks are carried out on site," Rannama said. The Land and Spatial Development Board in turn, he added, verifies that surveys meet accuracy requirements.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
