Land surveyor in Xàtiva

A plot map made of inheritances

If you look at the cadastral map of la Costera you will see thousands of long, narrow plots. They are the result of generations of inheritance in which each property was split between the children. Many are still described in hanegadas (the old local land measure), with boundaries that name neighbours who died decades ago and areas that nobody has ever checked.

When you need to sell, subdivide or simply know what you own, we measure with GNSS, look for whatever boundary stones or references remain (an irrigation channel, a terrace edge, an old carob tree) and compare them with the title deed and with the Cadastre (Catastro, Spain's land and property register for tax purposes). If the neighbours want to be there, so much the better: a boundary agreed on site avoids arguments later.

• What a surveyor measures in la Costera

The Cadastre in Xàtiva and la Costera

If you are searching for the "Cadastre in Xàtiva", one thing needs clearing up: we are not the Cadastre or an office of it. We are the technical office that prepares what the Cadastre and the Land Registry ask for when a property does not match what is on record: the survey, the georeferenced plan and the GML file.

In la Costera, what we see most are inherited plots that have been divided several times, with one area in the deed, another in the Cadastre and another on the ground. With them we do four things. We update the plot when its shape or its cadastral area is not the real one. We resolve discrepancies between the Cadastre and the Registry, such as an excess of area or a plot drawn out of position. We prepare the GML and the IVGA that the notary's office or the Registry asks for. And we provide the technical side of inheritance subdivisions: the plan and the GML of each resulting property.

The GML and the IVGA are technical documentation, signed by Vicent Doménech, chartered surveyor no. 8948. They do not prove ownership or replace the procedure of the Cadastre or the Registry. To find out which procedure applies to you and where it is submitted, ask your notary's office or your lawyer; we prepare the technical part.

• Cadastre, Registry, GML and IVGA
• What a GML file is
• Excess of area

Plot measurement in Xàtiva: irrigation channels and slopes

Xàtiva lies between the Cànyoles and the Albaida rivers, and much of its huerta depends on old irrigation channels. It is not unusual for the boundary in the deeds to be a brazal, a side channel that no longer exists. On the slopes of the Vernissa and the Bixquert the problem is a different one: terraces, walls and tracks that have moved over time and have to be measured as they stand today.

Country houses built decades ago

Within the municipality there are still many country houses built or extended without being declared. To sell or inherit them without trouble they have to be registered, and that requires a technical certificate of age and the cadastral building location report (ICUC) with the exact position of what has been built. We date the work using historical orthophotos and tell you clearly whether or not it can be declared on the grounds of age.

For architects, lawyers and notaries in la Costera

Being in Xàtiva means we can visit a property, come back with more data and sit down with the client in the office. For architects we survey building plots and buildings in the old town; for lawyers and notaries' offices we prepare expert surveying reports on boundaries, areas and the history of properties, with signed graphic documentation.

Typical cases in Xàtiva

Four siblings who inherit a 12-hanegada orange grove and want to divide it into equal parts. A buyer who cannot find the boundary stones of an olive plot on the hillside. A lawyer who needs a report on a track that a neighbour has closed off. An architect restoring a house in the old town next to the city wall.