Contact person for provided information:
|Ahmad Fauzi Nordin
Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia
Director of Cadastral Survey Division
Bahagian Kadaster, Tingkat 7, Bangunan Ukur, Jalan Semarak, 50578
|Information provided on 30
Malaysia covers an area of about 329,758 sq. km, consisting of
11 states in Peninsular Malaysia, 2 states in the island of Borneo
(Sabah and Sarawak) and 3 Federal Territories. Peninsular Malaysia,
covering 131,598 sq. km. has its frontier with Thailand and Singapore
while the states in Borneo covering 198,160 sq. km. borders the
territory of Indonesia's Kalimantan to the South and Brunei to
the North. Malaysia lies close to the equator between latitudes
1°and 7° North and Longitudes 100° and 119° East. The population
is approximately 24.92 million, with a growth rate of about 1.7%.
Malaysia is a muti-racial country and the majority of the population
resides along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
In Peninsular Malaysia, the States of Perak, Selangor, Pahang
and Negeri Sembilan formed themselves into a loose federation
known as the Federated Malay States (FMS), with a system of centralized
government. These four states, together with the states of Kedah,
Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor, had an administration
link with the British Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca and
Singapore, through the High Commissioner for the FMS being also
the Governor of the Straits Settlements.
Following the end of World War II and the period of British military
administration, Malacca and Penang were joined to the nine Malay
states to form in 1946, the Malayan Union; this being superseded
by the Federation of Malaya, in 1948. The Federation of Malaya
became an independent country, with a constitutional monarchy,
on 31st August 1957.
On 16th September 1963, Malaysia became a federation comprising
the 11 states, as abovementioned, and the states of Singapore,
Sarawak and North Borneo, (now known as Sabah). Singapore left
Malaysia in August 1965, thus leaving 13 states, of which Sarawak
and Sabah are jointly known as East Malaysia, and the remaining
11 states are commonly referred to as Peninsular Malaysia.
Current Political and Administrative
Malaysia's government is modelled after the British system, somewhat
modified because Malaysia's federal structure incorporates 13
states and 3 federal territories. Nine of those states have rulers
or sultans and they elect a monarch, the supreme ruler, every
five years. The government is based on a parliamentary system,
headed by an elected Prime Minister. The Parliament consists of
a partially appointed senate and a house of representatives whose
members are elected by universal adult suffrage.
The Federal Government has powers such as over external affairs,
defence, internal security, civil and criminal law, federal citizenship
and naturalization, finance, trade, commerce and industry, taxation,
customs and excise duties, shipping, navigation and fisheries,
communications and transport, federal works and power, education,
medicine and health, social security and tourism. The States'
powers include over land and its administration, Islamic law,
Malay customs, permits and licenses for mines prospecting, agriculture,
forests, local government, states works and water, and riverine
Historical Outline of Cadastral
The Torrens system, based essentially on the Fijian Act, was introduced
into the FMS between the years 1879 and 1890. Through succeeding
political changes in the country, it finds present statutory expression
in the National Land Code, 1965 (NLC) in Peninsular Malaysia,
the Sabah Land Ordinance, in the state of Sabah and the Sarawak
Land Code, in the state of Sarawak.
The National Land Code (NLC) was enacted to establish a uniform
land system to replace the existing systems. Prior to the passing
of the NLC, two quite different systems of land tenure existed
side by side. The former British Colonies of Penang and Malacca
retain a system peculiar to the pre-war "Straits Settlements"
(modelled on the English laws of property and conveyancing) whereby
privately executed deeds are the basis of title to land while
the remaining nine Malay States, by contrast, employ a system
based on the principle that private rights in land can derive
only from express grant by the State or secondarily from state
registration of subsequent statutory dealings.
Peninsular Malaysia is a federation of States, each of which is
responsible for its own land matters. All States operate a Torrens
system of registration, administered by the State Land Offices
and coordinated by the Department of Land and Mines. On the other
hand, cadastral surveys are controlled by the Department of Survey
and Mapping, Malaysia (DSMM) which is a federal department. DSMM
is responsible for undertaking cadastral survey work within Peninsular
Malaysia but is supported by a growing number of licensed land
surveyors, whom are primarily responsible for engineering and
Notwithstanding the above, the cadastre in the states of Sabah
and Sarawak are administered by the Department of Land and Surveys
(DLS). They have the ideal setup of having land administration
and cadastral surveys under the control of a single organisation,
which is a State entity.
Private Sector Involvement:
A substantial portion of cadastral surveys (roughly about 80%)
are undertaken by the private land surveying firms. However, their
work will have to be submitted to the Department of Survey and
Mapping for checks and approval. With some exceptions, all of
the engineering surveys are conducted by the private sector. Additionally,
a major part of the task of creating the Digital Cadastral Database
for the whole of Peninsular Malaysia, as well as some cadastral
survey tasks assigned to DSMM has been outsourced to the said
sector as well.
Professional Organization or
The Institution of Surveyors, Malaysia (ISM) is the main professional
organisation representing the surveying profession in Malaysia,
whereby membership are open to those in both the government and
private sectors. It consists of 4 main divisions, namely those
of land surveying, property valuation, quantity surveying and
building surveying. Apart from that, the licensed land surveyors
do have their own association, called the Malaysian Association
of Authorised Land Surveyors (MAALS). To a certain extent, MAALS
has obligations pertaining to the professionalism of licensed
land surveyors and the improvement of their surveying services.
Land surveyors (with the exception of those serving with DSMM
or DLS, in the case of Sabah and Sarawak) carrying out cadastral
surveys are required by law to be licensed by the Land Surveyors
Board of Peninsular Malaysia (LSBPM), and in the case of Sabah
- the Land Surveyors Board of Sabah. Sarawak does not, up to now
institute a Land Surveyors Board of its own, and as a consequence
cadastral surveys were placed under the jurisdiction of the Sarawak
Department of Land and Surveys. While it is not a legal requirement
in the case of topographical and engineering surveys as yet, registration
with the LSBPM is insisted upon by most clients and all government
It is a statutory requirement that the Board (LSBPM) keeps a
register where prescribed particulars of all Land Surveyors admitted
into the Register such as names, addresses, qualifications, etc.
are noted. This Register is maintained and kept by the Secretary
at the office of the Board, and is open for inspection by any
person on payment of a prescribed fee.
A license to practice is issued annually to a surveyor whose
name appears on the Register. Any LLS who has not renewed his
license before the 1st February of each year will find his name
removed from the Register. However, the Board may restore to the
Register any name removed there from with the payment of registration
and other fees.
To obtain admission into the Register, one must be a citizen
of good character, 21 or more years of age, has passed all professional
and competency examinations, has the required period of practical
training, is not under any disability, and has paid the required
Government surveyors, as long as they are employees of the Government,
are not issued with licenses, but they can perform cadastral survey
work required by the Government under the overall supervision
of the Director General of Survey and Mapping.
The professional surveyor is required to undergo and receive an
effective and proper formal surveying education in a tertiary
institution. Surveying programmes are offered at two universities,
namely the University of Technology Malaysia (UTM), and University
Institut Teknologi MARA (UiTM). At both universities, the land
surveying course is designed in such a way that it blends academic
requirements with the overall government policy on education and
other requirements considered beneficial to the nation. About
40 graduated annually from both universities, with about 15 or
so postgraduate students involved in surveying or related research
areas. Currently, about 10% of students studying at undergraduate
level are women.
The LSBPM accept any creditable survey degree qualification from
local and overseas institutions / universities, subject to a detailed
consideration of their syllabus, lecture times and practical training
before any recognition is given. However, in the past quite a
substantial number of land surveyors have entered the ranks of
professional licensed land surveyors through the articleship system.
Because of the self-study, the articled student was often not
in a position to learn much more than what was required of a professional
surveyor. Even so many made the grade, and many became successful
surveyors, through professional examinations of the Australian
and New Zealand Boards of Surveyors and later of the LSBPM.
Purpose of Cadastral System:
The objects of the Malaysian cadastral system are to provide security
and simplicity to all dealings with land. It establishes and certifies,
under the authority of the Government, the ownership of an indefeasible
title to land and simplifies, hastens and cheapens all land dealings.
The title is conclusive proof that the person mentioned therein
is the owner of the land described therein. Valid titles require
an accurate description of boundaries and as such cadastral survey
plays an important role in the system.
Types of Cadastral Systems:
The Malaysian cadastral system has essentially two basic components,
which are the very pillars of the system's reliability and credibility,
i.e. the land registration and the cadastral survey components.
The most important element in the land registration component
is the type of title called for by the system of land tenure and
the nature of Government guarantee. The system provides for registration
to confer indefeasible title or interest, except in certain circumstances,
such as through fraud or misrepresentation or registration obtained
by forgery or by means of an insufficient or void instrument.
Essentially, for alienation under final title, it only becomes
effective from the time of the registration of the Register Documents
of Title (RDT) at the Land Office or the Land Registry, whereby
the Issue Document of Title (IDT) would be simultaneously issued
to the registered proprietor of the land. Both the RDT and the
IDT have affixed to them and appropriately sealed, a plan of the
land, certified as correct by or on behalf of the State Director
The proprietor of any land enjoys the right of effecting dealings
with respect to his land and the interest therein. Such dealing
is effected by an instrument being registered into the documents
of title. The instruments capable of being registered include
any transfer of land, lease or sub-lease, charge, or surrender
thereof. Effectively, the register is conclusive evidence that
the person named in it as the proprietor of an interest in land
is the legal owner of that interest. More importantly, the system
compels that interests in land can only be varied or changed by
The Government having decided the nature of the land registration
system and given statutory expression to it, it is then the business
of the cadastral survey authority to decide the scope of the surveys
and the standards of accuracy essential to the validity of the
type of title called for by the law. The law specifies the manner
in which surveys are to be carried out for the purpose of the
issuance of a final title. It is only after this survey that other
transactions such as subdivision, amalgamation, etc, of that parcel
of land can be carried out.
As mentioned, the law requires every parcel of land to be surveyed
and demarcated on the ground prior to the issuance of final title.
It provides for 'fixed' rather than 'general' boundaries. Parcel
definition is by officially emplaced and mathematically coordinated
boundary marks rather than by topographical details. The surveyor
emplaces the boundary marks which demarcate the parcel and carries
out a survey of these boundary marks based on the state survey
controls provided. On the completion of the survey, a plan is
drawn and when authenticated by the Director of Survey becomes
a certified plan. Copies of the certified plan are utilised in
the preparation of title documents.
One important aspect of the registration system is the peculiar
practice of issuing temporary land titles, termed as qualified
titles (QT). The purpose for this is to enable land to be alienated
in advance of survey or prior to survey and in the broader context,
to speed up land development.
Content of Cadastral System:
The Malaysian cadastral system provides for textual as well as
spatial information that is consistent with the two aforementioned
components of the system. They are as follows:
- Textual aspect - the land register furnishes all necessary
information, the basic ones being the name of the proprietor
and the actual land alienated - through a description of its
area and location, and the survey plan showing the limits. Other
information include those on owner's rights, encumbrances, express
conditions, caveats and prohibitory orders, if any. However,
not all imposed conditions and restrictions are stated in the
register; there are some that are provided by law and have to
be abided by the proprietor.
- Spatial aspect - the country's cadastral parcel fabric can
be conveniently viewed from the cadastral map produced and maintained
by DSMM. With the exception of land parcels that are held under
temporary titles (awaiting surveys and finalisation of boundaries)
the map depict all land parcels (i.e. surveyed) together with
their unique lot numbers or identifiers, as well as the certified
plan numbers for ease of reference and search. Hard copy maps
are now completely replaced with digital ones through a conversion
exercise which ended in 2002.
Although not strictly part of the cadastral system, valuation,
local government and planning authorities are heavily reliant
on the cadastral system. They made use of the information provided
by the system in the conduct of their businesses and work in close
coordination with the institutions supporting the system.
There are approximately 7.2 million land parcels throughout the
country, of which 2.5 million are still held under temporary titles
(awaiting surveys). Surveyed parcels are now completely in digital
form and kept in each States' digital cadastral database (DCDB).
Current surveys would also result in data being immediately captured
in digital form and would eventually be automatically deposited
in the DCDB through the "field-to-finish" concept. Cadastral survey
data in the form of certified plans and cadastral maps are made
available through the Internet for a fee.
On the other hand, the Computerised Land Registration System
(CLRS) was implemented in 1990 and currently access to title information
can be made at the computer terminals of all Registry and Land
Offices of the concerned States. However, all land dealings will
have to be conducted at the appropriate office in which the land
title was formerly registered. The information in the CLRS database
are based on the records kept in the land registers and relevant
files. They include information on ownership, land identification,
restrictions and record of dealings. The system also produces
various outputs amongst which are the RDT and IDT, search certificates
and specific reports.
Cadastral mapping is based on the Cassini-Solder Coordinate System.
Each State has its own origin and reference meridian resulting
in a total of 9 different State coordinate systems. Cadastral
maps are used primarily for identification of land parcels for
land management. On these maps are plotted all lots that are surveyed
by both government and licensed land surveyors. Prior to their
conversion to digital form, the scales of these maps vary from
1 inch to 1 chain in urban areas, to 1 inch to 8 chains, in rural
areas. All states currently have cadastral maps in digital form
based on a graphical representation of geometric components, through
the implementation of the Cadastral Data Management System (CDMS)
project, which was completed in 2002.
Example of a Cadastral Map:
Below are two examples of the aforementioned cadastral maps. Fig.
1 shows the conventional type that is prepared in hard copy form
- commonly referred to as standard sheet. It basically depicts
the land parcel, parcel number, boundary marks, boundaries, parcel
area (if unconstrained by space), number of the certified plan
on which the dimensions and other details of the surveyed parcel
would be shown, road names, etc. Fig. 2 shows the current cadastral
map produced from the DCDB.
Fig. 1: The Standard Sheet (survey accurate)
Fig. 2: Cadastral Map From DCDB (survey accurate).
Role of Cadastral Layer in SDI:
The Malaysia SDI (acronymed NaLIS) was formally established in
1997 through a directive from the Secretary General of the Government.
It is based on an open system platform of distributed databases,
whereby data is kept in the databases of land related agencies
and not in a centralised system.
The information that can be made available to land information
users under NaLIS consist of datasets obtained from the land related
systems, or more specifically, the databases of agencies linked
to NaLIS. They are essentially data that the agencies maintain
in their systems for their business operations. Notably, of importance
in the said arrangements is the acceptance of the base map as
the basic building block for the NaLIS data model and that the
cadastral layer is one of the main constituents of this base map.
1. Existence of Different Coordinate Systems
Malaysia has a rigorous cadastral system, which provides a secure
basis for land and property ownership. However, it is not altogether
flawless. One of the major drawbacks includes the incompatibility
between cadastral and mapping data due to the use of different
coordinate systems. The establishment of DCDB which is based on
different State Cassini-Soldner cannot be integrated with other
spatial data such as topographic which is based on the RSO Projection.
To overcome those deficiencies, studies had and are still being
carried out to determine the feasibility of implementing a coordinated
cadastral system for Malaysia.
2. Legalising the DCDB
This issue goes hand in hand with the intention of having
a continuous Certified plan (CP), which may eventually result
in the termination of the use of the said document and the consequent
need to give legal significance to the DCDB. The adoption of a
continuous CP seems favourable over the long term; however, for
the present it appears apt for the move to be put on hold until
the CDMS properly uses and related issues such as on reliability,
currency as well data quality and integrity are adequately resolved.
3. Complete Cadastre
The absence of Qt information in the DCDB is the biggest hurdle
in creating a complete and up-to-date DCDB for the whole country.
Such information is either in graphic form from Land Office or
digital form of pre-comp plans from licensed land surveyors. Although
the previous CDMS has limitation in dealing with large amounts
of data due to its storage problem the recently completed upgrade
of CDMS should be able to handle the deposition of extra information.
Nevertheless, the challenge is to overcome the estimated 0.7 million
land parcels where QT plan is not readily available or recoverable.
1. Accreditation of Surveyors
Significant steps have been taken in Malaysia to adopt the
quality philosophy both within the public and private sector.
DSMM has introduced a system of field auditing, apart from office
checks, which is considered essential for monitoring professional
standards. However, DSMM could not afford the conventional approach
as the workload had over the past years increased tremendously.
Thus, there is this current move to look into the introduction
of an amicable form of accreditation that would be able to address
the issue of quality assurance over cadastral survey work conducted
by licensed land surveyors.
2. Enhancing the DCDB
The importance of the DCDB has been recognised; without a
complete DCDB, it is unlikely that NaLIS would be able to meet
the expectations of the government. Already there is an increased
demand for spatial information in government agencies. Increased
pressure has been placed to further develop the DCDB for not only
the obvious role it has in the cadastral process but, just as
importantly, in national spatial planning. In this regards efforts
are underway to capture other data in the recently upgraded CDMS,
which include those on graphically accurate surveys (demarcation
and 3rd class surveys), administrative boundaries as well as road
and street addresses.
3. Integration of CDMS and CLRS
There could evidently be extensive benefits if the CDMS of
DSMM and the Computerised Land Registration System (CLRS) of Land
Office are linked together. With the integration of spatial data
from CDMS and attribute data from CLRS and through identified
applications, efficiency of land administration can be greatly
improved. As such, efforts are currently underway to integrate
them with a pilot project being undertaken to develop operational
systems that can subsequently be implemented throughout the country.
Although conceptually tenable, the eventual implementation would
need substantial negotiation and compromising in between the concerned
4. Propagating Work in the Digital Environment
To complement the initiatives of DSMM, the LSBPM has also
initiated several programmes of its own, which are aimed at providing
the impetus for licensed land surveyors to modernise and increase
the cost-effectiveness of their own operations. In one of the
programmes, the Board allocated computer software that will standardize
cadastral survey processing on a basic desktop computer. Although
the computer software is very basic, it not only satisfy the requirements
of the regulations, but more importantly, it serves as the vehicle
to introduce digital processing techniques to the smaller surveying
companies that would not have so readily ventured into the digital