North Shore City makes TA e-certification tick

North Shore City Council is certifying 100% of survey plans electronically and is happy to share how it got all of its local surveyors on board and the process ticking along.

"We have regular forums with local surveyors," says Trevor Cullen, Team Leader Subdvisions. "We had one early last year and e-survey was one of the main topics. We advised surveyors that e-survey would become mandatory and they needed to get on board to make it a success."

Kumar Kannan, Spatial Information Services Manager, says North Shore City is very much a 'citizen-centric organisation'. "My team were ready to embrace TA e-certification and support E-government initiatives. We encouraged our local surveyors to be part of this process."

North Shore City engages the services of survey consultant Gerry Turner three days a week. "Gerry is one of our people who does certifications and we gave him the task of championing the e-survey and TA e-certification process," explains Trevor. "He was able to focus on some of the problems surveyors were having with their lodgements, and develop new processes for us."

Gerry says the end result of title issue requires a partnership between the various parties and all processes need to align. "Most surveyors are really good and the more successful ones have set up an e-survey champion in their firm who also deals with councils. I'm proactive too. I get on the phone or email with surveyors when there are issues and we sort it out together."

Sound internal workflow process crucial

North Shore City has put in place a successful internal workflow process for managing the TA e-certification process.

Trevor says, "Applications come through LINZ to subdivision administrators, they then send the job to the relevant officer - such as Gerry - through Pathway^[1]. Gerry and co check and certify the plan and generate an email message to me for the sign off. A Pathway's task then triggers another email to our administrators who profile an electronic copy of the approved plans and documents for council records."

Several people are involved in the process. "We have two administrators, two people certifying and three of us have signing authority. I'm really the only one signing but have cover for when I'm not here. I'm pretty pleased with it given the technical problems we've had," says Trevor.

By upgrading to standalone PCs, North Shore City overcame some initial technical problems with Digital Certificate security protocols.

Turnaround time

Trevor says the turnaround time at the moment isn't always faster than with a paper plan. "Because of the issues we've had with some lodgements, turnaround is sometimes not as quick. One of the problems has been that, while the surveyor traditionally does the survey, other staff more familiar with IT systems but less experienced in survey issues undertake the e-lodgement."

Gerry agrees. "There are some basic issues that can inhibit the completion of e-certification. Although less experienced staff can work in Landonline easily, they may not understand things like complex easements, or omit to complete and attach all the necessary certificates to a package."

Tips for surveyors

Gerry offers the following tips to surveyors to help the process run smoothly:

• If the surveyor is waiting for an RMA 223 certificate to be signed off, it could be that there's no documented request or nothing is registered in the council's Landonline workspace. The surveyor may not have submitted the e-survey - by selecting the 'Notify TA' button in the 'Manage Survey Transaction' screen - or the e-survey cannot be matched with council records.
• Remember to select the 'Complete' button when corrections are made or the dataset is edited or changed, so that all parties are looking at the same package.
• Note that when re-certification is required, a new package has to be generated and submitted.
• Surveyors must enter the council's reference in the TA Reference field under the TA Certification tab in the 'Manage Survey Transaction' screen in Landonline.
• Note that the established practice of requesting the required certifications with a brief explanation as to compliance, via letter or email, is still important and also saves time and costs particularly for more complex transactions.

Gerry says, "Surveyors should try to get as many of the little things right as possible before hitting the 'Send to TLA' button so that we can focus on the significant matters and issue the certificates."

Kumar says they have been helping surveyors through the changes in council process. "As our processes have changed to accommodate TA e-certification, we have taken surveyors on that journey with us."

Benefits of TA e-certification

North Shore City is realising the benefits of doing it all electronically. Trevor says, "Not having to either post or pick up plans any more has to be the best advantage, and with the simple process we have set up, we can complete the e-certification transaction in half an hour or less if necessary."

Making the move

Trevor has some advice for councils ready to make the move to TA e-certification. "The important thing is to work out how your internal process is going to work. Unless you have a process set up in-house to deal with each step once the application is lodged with LINZ, you're going to have problems. The process and systems we're using have thus far proved very successful."

Gerry says it's important IT staff in councils work with LINZ to get TA e-certification set up right internally from the start.

If your TA is interested in finding out more about TA e-certification, email your contact details to info@linz.govt.nz or ring 0800 ONLINE (665 463) and LINZ's Customer Support staff will help get your TA started. Further information is available in the TA e-certification section of the website.