LINZ News

LINZ rolls out the Survey Report Template

Surveyors will soon benefit from the rollout of the first stage of the Survey Handbook project, a major undertaking initiated to help surveyors better understand compliance requirements and reduce the requisition rate.

Two key changes from this project will come into effect during November. The first is a new survey report template developed by a working party consisting of LINZ staff and practising surveyors. It will make approval better, faster, and cheaper by more clearly defining the information required – and explaining why compliance is important.

George Williamson, who has been coordinating the initiative from the LINZ end, says that the emphasis is on 'optimal regulation', a goal hardwired into LINZ through our Statement of Intent for 2004/05. 'Optimal regulation' is all about finding a level of intervention that acceptably balances risk against costs of compliance. "We've worked with the survey profession to develop the report template and we've also prepared information to clarify the rationale behind the new requisition items," George says.

The new template streamlines the reporting process for both paper and e-surveys. "The template is designed to be easy to use and adapt", says George, "and it will help surveyors report consistently and consider the key topics to be covered. Following the template will also help LINZ staff locate important information quickly."

The second change currently being introduced throughout LINZ is a move to acceptance of surveys wherever possible, rather than a focus on requisitions.

The new acceptance process considers the whole data set, and requisitions will be issued for high-risk errors or omissions only. "Minor errors and omissions that may have previously been picked up by LINZ staff will no longer be requisitioned," George notes. "So surveyors will need to appreciate this change of focus and adjust their practices accordingly."

The work completed in the Handbook project has clearly recognised this new approach. As a result, the current 102 requisition items will reduce to 60. Staff training is underway and LINZ will begin applying the new acceptance process for surveys lodged from 22 November.

LINZ's adoption of an acceptance approach recognises that the responsibility for complying with the survey rules and ultimately the quality of surveys rests with surveyors. This approach is endorsed by surveyors' representative bodies. It is likely that over time surveyors will see more surveys in Landonline that contain low-risk errors and omissions. However, analysis shows this will have no adverse impact on the Landonline database.

The template and supporting documentation will be available on the LINZ website from early November, allowing plenty of time to download and become familiar with it. Surveyors are welcome to begin using the new template immediately.

Adoption of the survey report template will deliver positive benefits for both LINZ and the survey profession through reducing the number of requisitions and their associated costs, particularly for administrative items. To encourage its use, LINZ will be waiving the requisition/resubmission fee until June 2005 for those who fully and correctly use the template during the implementation period.

LINZ will monitor the new template and the new process closely. We will conduct a post-implementation review in April 2005.

e-survey showcased at Trans Tasman Surveyors Conference

LINZ congratulates the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors on a very successful conference covering a wide variety of topics around the 'focus on BUSINESS' theme.

An audience of over 300 attended the Auckland conference in mid-October — some attendees travelled from as far as Brunei and Malaysia, with a smattering of Australians.

Key LINZ personnel were keen to present on various subjects, including LINZ's strategic direction, the concept of optimal regulation, the prioritisation framework for enhancements and improvements to Landonline, and LINZ's service, support and training for e-survey customers.

e-survey specialist Steve Russell had a busy time at the LINZ stand, demonstrating e-survey and answering specific queries from e-survey customers. It was a fantastic opportunity for surveyors to understand what benefits e-survey offered in conjunction with third party survey software and the latest options in technology.

If you didn't get to speak to Steve, or another LINZ representative at the conference, or you would like to find out more about e-survey, please ring our Customer Support people on 0800 665 463.

Landonline

Take the pain out of downloading Digital Certificates – introducing the Digital Certificate Loader wizard

One of the more frequent calls to LINZ's 0800 line is about the Digital Certificate (DC) download. It's a 37-step process and needs to be done every year so users can get their certificates reissued.

However, LINZ will soon launch a DC Loader wizard to cut down those 37 steps to fewer than 10. Wizards were invented to take the stress out of loading software onto PCs, and LINZ's new DC Loader wizard will make the download faster and a lot easier to follow. The Loader wizard directs you through the DC process, explaining every step as you go.

Developing new enhancements to make e-lodgement easier for our customers is one of LINZ's priorities, says Registration Authority Team Leader Paul Setefano. His team approve the digital certificates for Landonline users.

"LINZ has been developing the DC Loader wizard for three months with a company that has expertise and knowledge about Landonline and digital certificates.

"Customers told us they wanted an easier, faster download, and we've taken out a lot of the clicking. The DC Loader wizard is designed in a Windows-based format so the screen will look familiar to anyone who uses Windows on their PC."

Paul says the one thing that hasn't changed with the new DC Loader wizard is the high level of security. Digital certificates are the bedrock security behind certification in Landonline and protect the titles register and digital cadastre. The process will just be a lot faster and easier.

LINZ is planning to launch the DC Loader wizard in late January 2005. Keep reading Landwrap for more details.

e-dealing communities thriving

It takes two to tango – both in Latin American dancing and for many e-dealing transactions in Landonline.

LINZ has been out around New Zealand, helping build up a critical mass of e-dealing law firms. This means that more and more firms are able to conduct multi-party transactions through Landonline.

Julie Gillatt, e-dealing Training Co-ordinator, says there are now sizeable online trading communities out there. LINZ's technical assistance, face-to-face training and follow-up support have made signing-up and using e-dealing much easier.

"We've concentrated on helping to set up viable trading communities in each centre, working with each firm through their particular issues," Julie says. "Our work is about face-to-face training in each firm to help them integrate e-dealing into their workflow.

"We have a team of ten trainers and two IT people who assist firms to achieve technical readiness. The technical readiness stage establishes how many licences a firm needs, assists with Digital Certificate downloads, installs software, and ensures that everything is working. Then we provide a hands-on training session for staff who will be e-dealing."

This specialist team generally works by region, concentrating on trading communities over a few weeks. Recently they have been in the Queenstown and Wanaka area, followed by Nelson and Blenheim.

Julie says that even clients who have never used Landonline find e-dealing easy to use and intuitive. "Landonline prevents the three most common rejection reasons – documents not signed correct, not witnessed, and not dated."

The team first piloted their training in Invercargill and Napier where now 95 percent of firms are e-dealing capable.

Christchurch also has a vibrant trading community: LINZ has seen a sizeable increase in e-dealing transactions from that region since the team started working with firms in the city and Rangiora in June.

Look out for the LINZ team coming to your area and take advantage of this on-site assistance. And Julie stresses that after the training you're not alone because you can ring our 0800 support where specialist trainers can help you through your first e-dealing.

If you're ready to join e-dealing, call 0800 665 463.

November Landonline upgrade

LINZ will go live with the upgrade to Landonline version 2.5 on 15 November. This release is a mix of fixes to known faults and enhancements.

The six-monthly upgrades, which address the issues you've told us about, are part of our regular Landonline maintenance programme to improve usability, stability and performance.

While some of the fixes and background improvements may not be noticed, some will really make a difference to specific functions. As previewed in our July issue of Landwrap, we're automating the search process that title customers often perform after the registration of an e-dealing.

This enhancement was given a higher priority at the regular consultation LINZ has with representatives from the New Zealand Law Society and the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors on our upgrades.

At the moment, customers who register a dealing often need to then perform a title search to present their customers with the updated title. The November upgrade enhancement will allow customers to choose an automatic search after an e-dealing is registered, saving time (a title search fee will still apply).

If you would like more detail on the 2.5 upgrade changes, visit our System Updates Page from 15 November. You can also view the Known Issues for any minor issues that we've provided work-arounds for.

Hot Topics

This month's Hot Topics:

How to change your details online

If you wish to make any changes to your Landonline details (e.g. firm or individual information, any licence changes), simply fill in the appropriate online form.

Norton Internet Security (NIS) software

If you're running NIS firewall protection software on your system, you need to include LINZ's IP address range 203.167.232.170-190 in both the General Firewall Rules and the Intrusion Detection Rules.

If you don't have the IP address range in both these locations, you run the risk of being denied access to the Landonline application, your Digital Certificate (when retrieved) may be corrupted, and you may not be able to achieve digital signing.

e-survey customer calling checklist

LINZ provides a free telephone service on our 0800 number (0800 665 463) to support e-survey customers. For surveyors to get the best out of this service, we have come up with a short list of what to have on hand before you pick up the phone:

• your survey user identity number
• your survey firm identity number
• the survey number(s)
• the error message(s) number and wording

And advise any key issues relating to your call, for example:

• is the issue stopping the e-survey from proceeding further?
• what process did you follow to get to this point?
• what have you done to try to fix the problem?

Don't worry if you can't provide all the above – our telephone support staff will help you. LINZ's aim is to minimise the time you spend on the phone to us so that you can spend more time running your business.

Next month's Landwrap will include a checklist for what e-dealing customers should have on hand before ringing the 0800 number.

Pre-allocation in workspace is for e-survey lodgement only

A surveyor with an e-survey licence is able to pre-allocate plan numbers but only for e-surveys – not for paper plans. If a surveyor attempts to lodge a paper plan with LINZ using a pre-allocated e-survey number, Landonline can not accept it as the transaction already exists in the surveyor's workspace.

Consequently, any paper plan lodged with LINZ with a pre-allocated e-survey number will either be returned to the surveyor to lodge as an e-survey, or a new Landonline number will be given to the plan.

Surveyors need to note that a Pre-allocation Notice for an e-survey is similar to that received for a paper plan.

Processing

Downgrade of Cadastral Coordinate 6th Order for non-interconnected traverse marks

LINZ has just completed a retrospective bulk downgrade of incorrectly set NZDG2000 6th traverse marks in Landonline. The correction provides greater accuracy in results for e-survey pre-validation against the underlying Survey Accurate Digital Cadastre (SDC) network, as well as greater consistency for the calculation of cadastral plan bearing corrections and origins.

If you have used a downgraded 6th order traverse mark in your Cadastral Survey Dataset (CSD) prior to 1 October 2004, you will need to note this in your survey report. LINZ will take this into account when processing your dataset.

Previously in Landonline, traverse marks that met accuracy requirements in the Surveyor-General Rules, but were not directly connected through traverse observations to geodetic control marks, were given NZGD2000 6th order. These marks mathematically achieved 6th order but were not fully reliable for their intended purpose and should have been set to an order of 7i.

Many of these marks were created during the now completed survey conversion project. Generally this was due to the cross-over and boundary bridging ties implemented to strengthen parcel block geometry during the adjustment process. In most cases, this bridging used two to three observations creating one or more intermediate traverse marks in Landonline.

Regulatory

e-dealing guidance notes

Requirements for verifying client identity

When completing a transaction for submission via the Landonline e-dealing system, the certifying lawyer must take reasonable steps to verify the identity of their client. The guidelines issued by the New Zealand Law Society outline two possible approaches:

1. if the certifying lawyer can confirm identity on the basis of having personally known the client for more than 12 months, he or she may simply sign a statement to that effect in the space provided on the Authority & Instruction (A&I) form; or
2. if the certifying lawyer has not known the client for more than 12 months, or the identity of the client is being verified by some other person (e.g. a legal executive within the firm), an acceptable form of photo ID must be sighted and copied and the person undertaking the identity check must sign the relevant statement in the A&I form.

Note that under option b) it's not necessary for the certifying lawyer to personally undertake the identity check provided the person who does so is someone upon whom the lawyer can reasonably rely.

More detail is provided in section J of the NZLS e-dealing guidelines see NZLS website.

Authority for withdrawal of caveat or discharge of mortgage or statutory land charge

Requirements relating to proof of identity and authority apply equally to the removal of a caveat lodged on behalf of a private individual or company. Appropriate identity checks must be made and an A&I form completed when a withdrawal of caveat is lodged electronically.

An exception applies in the case of caveats lodged by banks or lending institutions – a paper form withdrawal executed in the traditional manner will be sufficient authority to enable the lawyer to whom it is provided to certify a withdrawal for electronic registration. The same applies to mortgage discharges executed by banks or lending institutions and the removal of statutory land charges where the discharge is executed by a Crown agency or local authority.

Landwrap

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