Skip to content

Preparing a Survey Plan for NSW LandXML Export

This guide walks through the complete process of preparing a survey plan in AutoCAD using R3Survey, ready for NSW LandXML export and lodgement via LRS Connect.

How R3Survey differs from other NSW LandXML tools

If you've used Nixon's LandXML for AutoCAD (LXML4AC) or the LRS Digital Plan Builder, you'll find R3Survey takes a similar underlying approach — all three programs store plan data as XData on drawing entities, not as text. In Nixon's LXML4AC, you run XAL to assign bearing/distance data to each line (computed from geometry, with optional rounding). In R3Survey, this happens automatically — you don't need to assign lines one by one.

Key differences in R3Survey:

  • No per-line assignment step. Bearings and distances are computed from polyline vertex coordinates automatically at export time. You don't need to run a command on each line to "assign" it.
  • No separate lines over polylines. In LXML4AC, you draw a lot definition polyline AND separate lines/arcs on top of it for the observations. In R3Survey, the polyline IS the geometry — boundaries, observations, and parcel definition all come from the one closed polyline.
  • Properties panel instead of command prompts. Lot numbers, road names, easement descriptions, RM details, and parcel attributes are all set via the R3PROPERTIES panel — select an entity, fill in the fields.
  • Dimension labels are output, not input. R3DIMS generates the bearing/distance text on the plan from the geometry (or overrides). The text is for plotting only — it is not read back.
  • Global rounding is controlled by R3UNITS — bearing precision, distance precision, and area significant figures apply to all lines and areas in the drawing.
  • Dimension overrides for individual lines are entered in the Dimension Overrides expander in R3PROPERTIES when you need to show a different value (closing legs, compiled dimensions, custom rounding for a specific line).

Use R3SHOWOVERRIDES to see which entities have overrides, and R3CHECKOVERRIDES to review them in detail.

Because properties are stored on the entities, you can redraw geometry, adjust coordinates, or change rounding settings without losing your plan data — the properties travel with the entities.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

  • R3Survey installed and licensed
  • Your survey fieldwork reduced and ready to draft
  • SCIMS data for the control marks on your plan (downloaded from the NSW Spatial Services portal as GeoJSON or CSV)
  • Your plan number (e.g. DP 1234567) — this drives the layer naming. If you don't know the DP number yet, use a working name (e.g. your job reference) and rename later with R3PL.

Step 1 — Create the survey plan

Type [R3PLANLAYERSETTINGS] to open the survey plan dialog.

Enter:

  • Plan name — your DP number (e.g. DP1234567)
  • Datum — typically MGA2020 for modern surveys. Valid values: MGA2020, MGA94, MM, Local, ISG, TM.
  • Zone — your MGA zone (54, 55, or 56)
  • Survey Type — surveyed for most plans, compiled for compiled plans

Fill in the NSW LRS administration fields:

  • LGA, Parish, County, Locality — as they'll appear on the plan
  • Region — Urban or Rural
  • Purpose — select from the dropdown (Subdivision, Consolidation, Easement, etc.)
  • Plan Heading — the description that appears on the admin sheet (e.g. "Subdivision of Lot 1 DP 123456")
  • Surveyor, Firm, Reference — your registration details
  • Date — date of survey

All of these fields populate the LandXML header at export. Getting them right now saves time later.

See Survey Plan Setup (R3PL) for full details.

Step 2 — Import SCIMS control marks

Type R3IMPORTSCIMS and select your SCIMS data file (GeoJSON, CSV, or MOSS format).

Choose your import mode:

  • Select — lets you pick an insertion point in the drawing. Use this when your survey is drawn at a local origin.
  • Adopt — places marks at their MGA coordinates. Use this when working in MGA.

The marks appear as R3_PM_A blocks on the plan's Control Marks layer (e.g. DP1234_PMS) with all their metadata (MGA coordinates, GDA class, positional uncertainty, CSF, AHD height).

Assign datum terminals

After importing, you must designate two marks as your datum terminals — the two SCIMS marks that define the survey datum line.

  1. Click on a SCIMS mark in the drawing
  2. In R3PROPERTIES, open the SCIMS Control Point expander
  3. Set the Datum field to X (Terminal A) or Y (Terminal B)
  4. Repeat for the second mark

Tip

X and Y are used for the Datum Terminals in [R3PROPERTIES] however, they export as datum terminals A and B in the LandXML file as per the recipe.

See Import SCIMS Control Points for full details.

Adding SCIMS marks manually

If you don't have a SCIMS data file, you can enter control marks manually:

  1. Type R3PM to insert a permanent mark block at a picked point on the plan's Control Marks layer (in model space)
  2. Select the block — the SCIMS Control Point expander appears in R3PROPERTIES
  3. Fill in the fields:
Field What to enter Example
Mark Mark type SSM, PM, TS
Number SCIMS mark number 66367
Easting MGA easting 323456.789
Northing MGA northing 6234567.890
GDA Class Horizontal class C, D, U
PU Positional uncertainty (metres) 0.030
Currency SCIMS date (ISO format) 2024-06-15
AHD AHD height (if known) 45.678
Datum Datum terminal designation X or Y (for the two datum marks)

All fields are editable — type a value and press Tab to save it to the entity. Fields left blank are omitted from the export.

Tip

The same fields are populated automatically when you use R3IMPORTSCIMS to import from a SCIMS data file. Manual entry is useful when you have mark data from a previous plan or field notes rather than a SCIMS download.

Step 3 — Draw the survey

Understanding survey plan layers

When you created the plan in Step 1, R3Survey created a set of component layers for you. Each layer type serves a specific purpose in the LandXML export:

Layer component What to draw on it LandXML result
Boundaries Lot boundaries (as closed polylines) Parcel with class="Lot"
Roads Road, reserved road, railway parcels (as closed polylines) Parcel with class="Road"/"Reserved Road"/"Railway"
Easements Easement and secondary interest parcels (as closed polylines) Parcel with class="Easement"/"Covenant"/etc.
Hydrography Water body parcels (as closed polylines) Parcel with class="Hydrography"
Administrative Areas LGA/parish/county boundaries (as closed polylines) Parcel with class="Administrative Area"
Adjoining Boundaries Existing adjoining lot boundaries (solid lines) ReducedObservation with desc="Connection" (exported as dimensioned connection observations)
Miscellaneous Drafting-only linework — not exported to LandXML Not exported
Reference Marks Lines from boundary corners to their reference marks ReducedObservation with desc="Reference"
Connections Lines from SCIMS marks to boundary corners (dashed lines) ReducedObservation with desc="Connection"
Control Lines between SCIMS marks (the control traverse) ReducedObservation with desc="Connection" + combined scale factor

Layer names follow the pattern {planName}_{componentName} (e.g. DP1234567_BOUNDARIES).

Draw on the right layer

The exporter only picks up entities from recognised plan component layers. A polyline on the wrong layer won't appear in the exported file.

Drawing parcel boundaries

Draw each parcel as a closed polyline on the appropriate component layer.

  • Lots → Boundaries layer
  • Roads, Reserved Roads, Railway → Roads layer
  • Easements, Covenants, and other secondary interests → Easements layer
  • Water bodies → Hydrography layer
  • LGA, Parish, County boundaries → Administrative Areas layer
  • Building, Common Property, and other types → Easements layer (set Class in R3PROPERTIES)

You can use R3TRAV to draw with precise bearing and distance entry, or use standard AutoCAD drafting tools (LINE, PLINE, etc.) and ensure the geometry is accurate.

Switching layers during R3TRAV

While in R3TRAV, type a prefix letter at the bearing prompt to switch component layers without leaving the command: b (Boundaries), r (Reference Marks), c (Control), o (Other/Connections), e (Easements). This is faster than manually changing layers.

Drawing reference marks

Draw a line on the Reference Marks layer from each boundary corner to its reference mark. The line direction (corner → mark or mark → corner) doesn't matter — the exporter handles both.

After drawing the line, select it and use the Reference Mark expander in R3PROPERTIES to set:

Field What to enter When to set
Type The mark type — DH&W, GIP, Peg, PM, Nail, etc. Always
State Found, Placed, Not Found, Gone, or Found By Me Always
Origin The plan the mark was originally placed on (e.g. DP123456) When State is Found or Found By Me — hidden when Placed
Desc Optional physical description of the mark (e.g. "ON KB", "IN CONCRETE") Optional

The State field controls how the reference mark is exported:

State Meaning Export effect
Found Mark found, original reference accepted distanceType=Adopted, distanceAccClass=Found, adoptedDistanceSurvey set from Origin
Placed New mark placed by you distanceType=Measured, distanceAccClass=Placed, no Origin needed
Found By Me Mark found but re-referenced (you disagree with the original reference and re-measured it) distanceType=Measured, distanceAccClass=Found By Me, adoptedDistanceSurvey set from Origin
Gone / Not Found Mark is missing No observation exported — monument record only

All of these export attributes are derived automatically from the State and Origin fields — you don't need to set them separately.

Labelling reference marks

Use R3RMT (or R3ADDRMLABELS) to place reference mark labels on the drawing. The command reads the RM data from each line on the Reference Marks layer and places multi-line MText showing:

RM DH&W FD
256°15'56" - 16.935
(DP123456)

The label format adjusts automatically based on the mark state:

  • Found: RM TYPE FD / bearing - distance / (Origin DP)
  • Placed: RM TYPE / bearing - distance
  • Found By Me: RM TYPE FD / (Origin DP) / bearing - distance / (BY ME)
  • Gone: RM GONE / (Origin DP)
  • Not Found: RM NOT FOUND / (Origin DP)

Drawing adjoining boundaries

Draw existing adjoining lot boundaries on the Adjoining Boundaries layer. These are the solid lines showing where neighbouring lots sit relative to your subject parcels — the existing boundaries that define the context around your new lots.

Entities on the Adjoining Boundaries layer export as desc="Connection" observations (dimensioned connection lines). The key difference from the Connections layer is the plotted appearance — adjoining boundaries plot as solid lines, while connections plot as dashed lines.

Use the Adjoining Boundaries layer for existing boundary lines that you want dimensioned on the plan (e.g. existing lot frontages along a road). For context lines that don't need dimensions, use the Miscellaneous layer instead.

Adjoining folio parcels

The NSW LandXML Recipe supports adjoining parcels with state="adjoining" and lot/plan names (e.g. 1/DP123456). R3Survey does not currently export adjoining folio parcels — adjoining boundary lines are exported as connection observations only. See Known Limitations for details.

Drawing connections

Draw connection lines on the Connections layer. These plot as dashed lines and export as desc="Connection" observations.

Connections include any line on the plan shown as a dashed line:

  • SCIMS marks to boundary corners (the "two connections to boundary" required by the SSIR)
  • Corner to corner connections across the plan
  • Lines across roads
  • Any other survey connection line that shows how the survey definition was obtained

Drawing the control traverse

Draw lines on the Control layer between SCIMS marks. These get the plan's combined scale factor applied automatically.

Miscellaneous (drafting only)

Draw any linework on the Miscellaneous layer that should appear on the plan but should NOT be exported to LandXML. Use this for:

  • Broken adjoining boundaries shown for context that don't require dimensions
  • Building outlines or other annotations
  • Any other drafting element that is not part of the survey definition

Entities on the Miscellaneous layer are not exported and will not be picked up by R3DIMS.

Labelling permanent marks

Use R3ADDPMLABELS to place labels at each permanent mark and dimension the control connections:

  • Mark labels — automatically placed next to each R3_PM_A block showing the mark name and state (e.g. SS 62274 FD, PM 3458 GONE)
  • Connection dimensions — placed along each control line showing both the survey bearing/distance and the MGA ground bearing/distance

The connection dimensions can be placed as:

  • Text along lines (default) — bearing and distance text placed at the midpoint of each control line, with BY SURVEY on one side and MGA GROUND on the other
  • Table — rows added to an existing R3_COORD_CONNECTIONS table in the drawing
  • Text table — a text table (rows without borders) placed at a picked point

Configure the mode in R3PMLABELSETTINGS (or R3LABELSETTINGS → Permanent Marks tab).

Filling the MGA Coordinates table

Use R3MGATABLE to automatically populate the R3_COORD_SCHEDULE table in the drawing with MGA coordinates, accuracy class, and CSF for all control marks on the working plan.

Inserting boundary corner symbols

Use R3INSERTCORNERS to automatically place boundary corner symbols at every vertex of the boundary polylines:

  • R3_BC_A — placed at corners with no reference mark connection
  • R3_RM_A — placed at corners that have a reference mark line connecting to them, and at the end of every reference mark line
  • Corners where both legs are natural boundary are skipped
  • An RM line ending anywhere other than a subject boundary corner gets State No Mark Required (not exported as a monument)

You can also insert individual symbols manually with R3BC or R3RM. All mark symbols are annotative blocks in model space — see Annotative mark blocks for scale setup.

Freezing control line geometry

If you need to move or shorten control lines to fit them on the plan form (a common requirement when the traverse is much larger than the plan sheet), use R3FREEZECTRL:

  1. Run R3FREEZECTRL
  2. Select the control lines you want to freeze
  3. Move or shorten the lines to fit your plan layout
  4. If you move PMs to the new line ends, use MOVE in the Model tab then R3RESETMARKS so every viewport shows them in the new place (see Moving marks)

The frozen values (bearing and distance) are stored as XData overrides on each line. R3ADDPMLABELS, R3DIMS, and the LandXML export all read the frozen values instead of the current geometry, so labels and export remain correct.

Use R3SHOWFROZEN to highlight all frozen lines in the drawing (shown in green). Press Enter to dismiss.

Step 4 — Set parcel attributes

Select each parcel polyline and set its attributes in the Parcel expander in R3PROPERTIES.

Lot number

Enter the lot number in the Lot field. For new proposed lots, just enter the number (e.g. 1, 2, 101).

Part lots

For part lots (where one lot number appears in multiple non-contiguous areas), prefix the lot number with PT — for example, PT101.

R3Survey automatically:

  • Detects the "PT" prefix
  • Sets the parcel type to Part in the exported XML
  • Strips the prefix from the lot name (so PT101 exports as name="101" parcelType="Part")
  • At export, groups all Part lots with the same base number under a Multipart parent with the summed total area

You don't need to set the parcel type manually or worry about letter suffixes — the export handles all of this automatically:

<!-- Multipart parent (auto-generated at export) -->
<Parcel name="101" parcelType="Multipart" area="950.5" ...>
  <Parcels>
    <Parcel name="101A" pclRef="101A"/>
    <Parcel name="101B" pclRef="101B"/>
  </Parcels>
</Parcel>

<!-- Individual parts (each drawn as a separate polyline with LotNo = "PT101") -->
<Parcel name="101A" parcelType="Part" area="450.5" ...>
  <CoordGeom>...</CoordGeom>
</Parcel>
<Parcel name="101B" parcelType="Part" area="500.0" ...>
  <CoordGeom>...</CoordGeom>
</Parcel>

Parcel class

The Class dropdown determines the parcel type in the LandXML. The class is auto-populated from the layer component type, so you usually only need to change it for non-standard cases.

Standard classes:

Class When to use
Administrative Area LGA, parish, county boundaries (Administrative Areas layer)
Association Property Association property lots (Boundaries layer)
Building Building parcels (Miscellaneous layer)
Common Property Common property in community/strata plans (Miscellaneous layer)
Hydrography Water bodies — rivers, creeks, etc. (Hydrography layer)
Lot Standard lots (default for Boundaries layer)
Railway Railway parcels (Roads layer)
Reserved Road Reserved road parcels (Roads layer)
Road Road parcels (Roads layer)

Secondary interest classes (require a description):

Class When to use
Caveat Caveat areas
Covenant Covenant areas
Designated Area Designated areas
Easement Easement parcels (default for Easements layer)
Exclusive Use Area Exclusive use areas
Footprint Building footprints
Lease Lease areas
License License areas
Permit Permit areas
Positive Covenant Positive covenant areas
Profit A Prende Profit a prendre areas
Restriction On Use Of Land Restriction on use of land
Restriction On User Restriction on user

Description (conditional)

When you select certain classes, a description field appears with a context-specific label:

Class Field label What to enter
Road / Reserved Road Road Name Road name, type, and width — e.g. SMITH STREET (20.115 WIDE)
Railway Railway Name Railway name
Easement Easement Desc Easement description — e.g. Easement to Drain Water 0.5 wide
Hydrography Water Body Name of the water body — e.g. Pioneer River
Common Property CP Desc Purpose — e.g. Visitor Parking
Building Building Desc Building description — e.g. Two Story Brick Units
Administrative Area Admin Area Area description
Covenant / Positive Covenant Description Covenant description
All other secondary interests Description Appropriate description

For standard Lot parcels, the description field is hidden — it's not needed.

Auto-numbering at export

You do not need to manually number roads, easements, or other non-lot parcels. At export, R3Survey automatically assigns prefix numbers:

  • Roads get R1, R2, etc.
  • Easements and other secondary interests get E1, E2, etc.
  • Hydrography parcels get H1, H2, etc.

Just enter the description name (e.g. the road name or easement description) and R3Survey handles the numbering.

Use of Parcel

For certain parcel classes, a Use dropdown appears in R3PROPERTIES:

  • Hydrography — Creek, River, Bay, etc.
  • Administrative Area — Parish, County, LGA, etc.
  • Lot — Public Reserve, Cemetery, etc.

This is an optional field that provides additional classification for the parcel.

Area Override

In the Areas expander in R3PROPERTIES, you can set an Area Override to specify a legal area that differs from the polyline's geometric area. This override value is used in the LandXML export instead of the computed area.

For road parcels, the Export Road Area checkbox controls whether the road area is included in the exported file.

Parcel state

State When to use
proposed New lots, roads, and easements being created by this plan (default)
existing Existing parcels within the subject area (e.g. an existing easement crossing a new lot)
adjoining Entities on the Adjoining Boundaries layer (auto-set)

Note

The adjoining state is auto-set for entities on the Adjoining Boundaries layer. Adjoining boundary lines export as connection observations (dimensioned). For lines that don't need dimensions, use the Miscellaneous layer.

Parcel format

Leave as Standard for normal deposited plan lots. Select Stratum for stratum lots (cubic space parcels). Strata format is not currently supported by LRS for digital plans.

Plan and section number

  • Plan — the plan number for adjoining parcels (e.g. DP123456). Not needed for proposed lots.
  • Sec — section number. This field only appears when populated (typically from imported LandXML files). You don't need to enter it for new plans.

Step 5 — Set observation overrides and survey method

For most segments, the drawn geometry is the legal dimension — R3Survey computes bearings and distances from the coordinates and exports them directly.

Where the legal plan dimensions differ from the drawn geometry, enter overrides:

  1. Select the polyline
  2. Open the Dimension Overrides expander in R3PROPERTIES
  3. Use the Current Leg selector to navigate to the segment
  4. Enter the legal bearing and/or distance

Common reasons for overrides:

  • Adjusted values — where the legal bearing/distance differs slightly from coordinate geometry after least-squares adjustment
  • Rounded values — where the plan shows a rounded distance
  • Compiled dimensions — on compiled plans

Survey Leg Properties (observation type)

The Survey Leg Properties expander is collapsed by default and shows the observation method and boundary type for each line or segment.

Boundary / Road / Easement lines (parcel segments)

Field Options Notes
Method Measured, Compiled Default is Measured for surveyed plans, Compiled for compiled plans. Only set if different from the plan default.
Dim. Suffix Free text Text appended after the distance on the plan (e.g. PO, OCC-OCC, Per Original). Stored as a FieldNote in the LandXML export.

Control / Connection lines

Field Options Notes
Method Measured, AUSPOS, Static GNSS, RTK GNSS, CORS NRTK GNSS, CORS RTK GNSS, CORS Static GNSS, Cadastral Traverse Set the GNSS method used for the observation.
Dim. Suffix Free text Optional annotation text.

Reference Mark lines

The Survey Leg Properties expander is hidden for reference mark lines — the observation type is derived automatically from the State field in the Reference Mark expander (see Drawing reference marks above).

Dim. Suffix on plan labels

Text entered in the Dim. Suffix field is appended after the distance when R3DIMS places dimension labels. For example, entering PO produces 25.450 PO on the plan.

Checking overrides

Use these commands to review your overrides before exporting:

Command What it does
R3SHOWOVERRIDES Draws magenta highlights over segments with overrides
R3HIDEOVERRIDES Clears the highlights
R3CHECKOVERRIDES Opens a report dialog listing all overrides with warnings

See Observation Overrides for full details.

Reviewing lot dimensions and area (R3LOTEDIT)

Type R3LOTEDIT and select a closed parcel polyline to open the Lot Edit form. This shows:

  • All legs with geometric dimensions (from polyline) and legal dimensions (rounded/overridden)
  • Legal area — calculated from the legal dimensions (this is what gets exported)
  • Geometric area — from the polyline coordinates
  • Misclose — from the legal dimension traverse
  • s26(2) compliance — PASS/FAIL against 15mm + 100ppm tolerance

Warnings are shown if:

  • The polyline is self-intersecting (geometric or legal)
  • Duplicate vertices or backtracking legs are detected

Click OK to save the calculated legal area as an area override. See R3LOTEDIT for full details.

Step 6 — Validate before export

Before exporting, run R3XMLVALIDATE to check for common issues:

  1. Type R3XMLVALIDATE
  2. Select any entity on the plan
  3. Review the validation report — fix any FAIL items

The validation checks NSW LRS rules (misclose, area, SCIMS marks, datum terminals, lot numbers) and R3Survey rules (metadata, descriptions, closed parcels, geometry issues). See R3XMLVALIDATE for the full list of checks.

Step 7 — Export the LandXML file

Type R3EXPORTLANDXMLNSW.

  1. Select any entity belonging to the plan (a parcel polyline, reference mark line, etc.)
  2. Choose a save location and filename
  3. R3Survey writes the LandXML file and runs automatic schema validation
  4. Check the command line for validation results

The exported file includes:

  • All parcel geometry (CgPoints, Parcels with CoordGeom)
  • Multipart parent elements for Part lots (auto-generated)
  • All observations (bearings, distances, arcs) with legal overrides where set
  • Survey header, coordinate system, administrative areas
  • SCIMS control data (RedHorizontalPosition elements)
  • Monuments (reference mark type, state, origin)
  • Instrument setups

Schema validation

R3Survey validates against the NSW ePlan CIF Protocol v4.0 schema automatically. Check the command line output:

  • PASSED — your file is structurally valid
  • Errors — fix the reported issues and re-export

Note

Schema validation checks XML structure, not NSW business rules (misclose tolerances, mark requirements, etc.). Use the LRS Connect Digital Plans Validation Tool for full validation before lodgement.

See Export NSW LandXML for the full export command reference.

Step 8 — Review the exported file

After exporting, run R3XMLREPORT to generate a human-readable report from the XML:

  1. Type R3XMLREPORT
  2. Select the exported XML file
  3. Review: plan metadata, SCIMS marks, control traverse, lot dimensions, reference marks
  4. Check bearings, distances, and areas against your plan

The report can be copied to clipboard or saved as a text file. See R3XMLREPORT.

Step 9 — Validate and lodge

  1. Log in to LRS Connect
  2. Create or open a workspace for your plan
  3. Upload the LandXML file
  4. Review the LRS validation report — fix any issues and re-export if needed
  5. Upload the PDF plan and complete the Digital Forms
  6. Lodge the plan

Quick reference — what goes where

Survey element Component Type Example Layer R3PROPERTIES expander Key fields to set
Lot boundary Boundaries DP1234_BDYS Parcel Lot number, Class = Lot
Road parcel Roads DP1234_ROADS Parcel Class = Road, Road Name (auto-numbered R1/R2)
Reserved road Roads DP1234_ROADS Parcel Class = Reserved Road, Road Name
Railway Roads DP1234_ROADS Parcel Class = Railway, Railway Name
Easement Easements DP1234_EASE Parcel Class = Easement, Easement Desc (auto-numbered E1/E2)
Covenant / secondary interest Easements DP1234_EASE Parcel Class = Covenant/etc, Description (auto-numbered E1/E2)
Water body Hydrography DP1234_HYDRO Parcel Class = Hydrography, Water Body, Use of Parcel (auto-numbered H1/H2)
Administrative area Administrative Areas DP1234_ADMIN Parcel Class = Administrative Area, Use of Parcel
Adjoining lot boundary (solid line) Adjoining Boundaries DP1234_BDYA — Exports as dimensioned Connection observation (solid line plotting)
Connection line (dashed) Connections DP1234_CONNS Survey Leg Properties Method (if GNSS)
Drafting-only linework Miscellaneous DP1234_MISC — Not exported
Reference mark tie Reference Marks DP1234_RMS Reference Mark Type, State, Origin (if Found/Found By Me)
Connection to boundary Connections DP1234_CONNS Survey Leg Properties Method (if GNSS)
Control traverse Control DP1234_CTRL Survey Leg Properties Method (if GNSS)
SCIMS mark Control Marks DP1234_PMS SCIMS Control Point Mark, Number, State, Datum (X or Y)
Boundary corner symbol Symbols DP1234_SYMBOLS Monument Type, State (default Peg / Placed) — auto-placed by R3INSERTCORNERS
Legal dimension override — (on existing entity) Dimension Overrides Legal Brg, Legal Dist
Observation method (parcels) — (on existing entity) Survey Leg Properties Method (Measured/Compiled)
Observation method (control) — (on existing entity) Survey Leg Properties Method (GNSS type)
Dimension annotation — (on existing entity) Dimension Overrides Dim. Suffix (e.g. PO, OCC-OCC)

Common scenarios

Simple two-lot subdivision

  1. Create plan → import SCIMS → assign datum terminals
  2. Draw two closed polylines on Boundaries layer for Lot 1 and Lot 2
  3. Draw road frontage as part of each lot boundary (shared segments are deduplicated automatically)
  4. Set Lot = 1 on one polyline, Lot = 2 on the other
  5. Draw reference mark ties on Reference Marks layer
  6. Set RM Type, State, and Origin on each tie
  7. Draw connections from SCIMS to corners on Other layer
  8. Draw control traverse on Control layer
  9. Set any legal dimension overrides
  10. Export

Plan with part lots

  1. Draw each part as a separate closed polyline on Boundaries layer
  2. Set Lot = PT101 on both polylines (or PT102, etc.)
  3. Each part gets its own area from its polyline geometry
  4. At export, R3Survey groups them automatically — Multipart parent with summed area, children with letter suffixes (101A, 101B)

Plan with existing easement

  1. Draw the existing easement as a closed polyline on the Easements layer
  2. Set Class = Easement, State = existing
  3. Enter the easement description (e.g. Easement for Drainage 1 Wide (DP1234))

Plan with water body (Hydrography)

  1. Draw the water body as a closed polyline on the Hydrography layer
  2. Set Class = Hydrography
  3. Enter the water body name in the Water Body field (e.g. Pioneer River)
  4. Optionally set the Use of Parcel dropdown (Creek, River, Bay, etc.)

Plan with reserved road

  1. Draw the reserved road as a closed polyline on the Roads layer
  2. Set Class = Reserved Road
  3. Enter the road name in the Road Name field

Plan with administrative area

  1. Draw the boundary as a closed polyline on the Administrative Areas layer
  2. Set Class = Administrative Area
  3. Enter the area description in the Admin Area field
  4. Set the Use of Parcel dropdown (Parish, County, LGA, etc.)

Adjoining boundaries and connections

  1. Draw existing adjoining lot boundaries on the Adjoining Boundaries layer — these plot as solid lines
  2. Draw survey connection lines (SCIMS to corners, corner to corner, across roads) on the Connections layer — these plot as dashed lines
  3. For linework that appears on the plan but doesn't need dimensions and shouldn't be exported (e.g. broken adjoining lot lines shown for context), use the Miscellaneous layer

Both Adjoining Boundaries and Connections export identically as desc="Connection" observations. The layer choice controls the plotted appearance only (solid vs dashed).

See also