How do I find my lot and plan number?

Look at your rates notice first, since most councils print the lot and plan number on it, sometimes as the property description. It is also on the title and the contract of sale, and the state’s online property search or map shows it from the street address. The number names the lot and the registered survey plan it was created on, and every application, from a shed to a granny flat, uses it to identify the land.

What does the number tell me?

It points to the survey plan, which is where the boundary lengths and the easements come from. Each state writes it its own way. Some put the lot before the plan, some add a section or a parish, and older titles can use a volume and folio instead, so copy it exactly as the title shows it. A lot that has been subdivided, amalgamated or resurveyed gets a new number, and the old one stops working on applications.

Why does the certifier ask for it?

Because an address can change and a lot cannot. Street numbers get reassigned and a corner lot can carry either street’s name, while the lot and plan number points at one piece of land. The certifier and the council use it to pull up the survey plan, the zone and any overlays, and a site plan that carries it matches the right land. The post on site plans and survey plans explains what the survey plan shows.

What if the address covers more than one lot?

Then the house can stand on several lots, each with its own number, which is common on older blocks made of small lots and on rural properties. The application lists every lot the work touches, and the site plan shows the boundary between them, because building across a lot boundary raises a question of its own. Some owners amalgamate the lots first.

Reading it for your own lot

RapidSiteplan finds the lot from the street address in a minute, with its boundaries from the land records, and in some states it can search by lot and plan as well. Place the work and the sheet dimensions it to every boundary of the lot you looked up. The retaining walls page shows the sheet for a wall near the boundary, the post on getting a site plan for council covers what goes with the application, and the council pages for every state show what each council maps. Start with the address. The post on site plan templates covers the parts every sheet carries.

Common questions

How do I find my lot and plan number? It is on your rates notice, your title and the contract of sale, and the state’s online property search shows it from the street address. It points to the registered survey plan, which gives the boundary lengths, so the council and the certifier use it to identify the land.