Boundaries and land survey: what to check

The cadastral boundary and the line visible on the ground

Every parcel has a boundary in the cadastre, held as coordinates and drawn on the Liegenschaftskarte, and a boundary on the ground, marked by stones, pipes or nothing at all. Buyers often assume that the fence marks the cadastral boundary and that both lines coincide. Both assumptions fail regularly, and the gap between them is where boundary disputes start.

The legal boundary is the one recorded in the cadastre. A fence, a hedge or thirty years of mowing does not move it. Nor does agreement between neighbours, unless that agreement is put through a formal procedure and recorded. So the practical question before a purchase is not where the fence stands but whether the cadastral line and the visible situation agree, and if they do not, which of them is going to have to move.

Buyer’s review path

1. What the cadastre guarantees, and what it does not
2. Grenzfeststellung, Grenzanzeige and Abmarkung
3. The marks themselves, and why moving one is a crime
4. When a building sits over the line
5. Splitting a parcel before a sale

Source: State surveying acts and fee schedules plus BGB §§ 912 to 920; checked August 2026

What the cadastre guarantees, and what it does not

Each state maintains its own Liegenschaftskataster. Federal law governs how the land register refers to the cadastre, while state law governs surveying and boundary marks; municipal by-laws may add local tree-protection requirements. The Brandenburg example in this article is governed by the Brandenburgisches Vermessungsgesetz. § 2 GBO makes the land register describe parcels by reference to it, which means the area printed in the Grundbuch is cadastral data copied across rather than an independent guarantee.

That matters for the protection a buyer enjoys. § 892 BGB protects somebody who relies in good faith on the register when acquiring a right in the land. It does not turn the stated area into a promise. If the register says 1,000 square metres and a survey establishes 940, the buyer has bought the parcel, not the missing sixty metres. The remedy, if any, lies in the purchase contract, which is why a material difference belongs in the deed rather than in an e-mail.

Accuracy also varies by history. Parcels surveyed with modern equipment carry coordinates good to a few centimetres. Parcels whose geometry descends from nineteenth-century maps, which is a great deal of rural land, can be out by a good deal more, and the cadastre records that quality alongside the geometry.

Who is allowed to establish a boundary

Two bodies, and no one else. The Katasterbehörde at the Landkreis, and a publicly appointed surveyor, the Öffentlich bestellte Vermessungsingenieur. A private surveyor without that appointment can measure for you, but cannot produce a result the cadastre will accept. An architect with a tape measure produces nothing legally at all.

Establishing a boundary is a formal administrative act. The surveyor reconstructs the line from the cadastral evidence, invites the affected neighbours, shows them the result on site and records their statements. Neighbours can dispute what they are shown, and the record notes that they did. What they cannot do is negotiate the line into a different place, because the procedure determines where the boundary already is rather than where anyone would like it to be.

Look at the parcel before you look at the fence. A GrundCheck preflight report resolves the address to the official parcel and shows its recorded geometry and context, which is the reference every survey question is measured against. Check a parcel.

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Grenzfeststellung, Grenzanzeige and Abmarkung

Three different services, three different prices, and buyers frequently order the wrong one.

• Grenzfeststellung. The full procedure: the boundary is reconstructed, determined and recorded with binding effect, with the neighbours involved. This is what you need when the line is genuinely uncertain or disputed.
• Abmarkung. Setting or restoring the physical marks on a boundary that is already determined, under § 919 BGB, which gives each owner a claim against the neighbour to have marks set and restored. Cheaper, and often all that is missing.
• Grenzanzeige. The surveyor shows you where the recorded line runs without the full formal procedure. Useful for a decision, not for a dispute.

Ask the surveyor which one your situation needs before accepting a quotation. A buyer who wants to know where to put a fence usually needs an Abmarkung, while a buyer whose neighbour has built a garage near the line needs the full procedure.

What it costs and how long it takes

Fees come from the state surveying fee ordinance, whose tariffs were revised with effect from 1 January 2026, and they scale with the value of the land and the number of boundary points involved. For an ordinary building plot a boundary determination with marking is a four-figure job, and a simple marking of existing points is considerably less. Ask for a written quotation naming the tariff item, because the ordinance prices the components separately.

Weigh that against what is at stake rather than against the rest of the shopping list. Building land in Brandenburg averaged 219 € per square metre in 2025 according to the state market report, so an unresolved two-metre uncertainty along a forty-metre boundary is an argument about eighty square metres, or roughly 17 500 € of land. Around the metropolitan ring, at 318 € per square metre, the same strip is worth more than 25 000 €. The cadastral map that starts the enquiry costs 0 €.

Time is the bigger constraint. Publicly appointed surveyors in the relevant state are busy, and six to twelve weeks from instruction to appointment is normal, longer in spring. That is why a survey belongs in the timetable at the start of a purchase rather than in the week before the notary date.

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The marks themselves, and why moving one is a crime

Boundary marks are granite stones in older areas, plastic-capped iron pipes in newer ones. They sit at the change of direction of a boundary, often just below turf, and a metal detector finds the modern ones quickly. Before assuming they are missing, ask the surveyor for the cadastral point sketch, which shows where they should be and what they look like.

Removing, moving or making one unrecognisable is a criminal offence under § 274 StGB, and the offence is committed by the person who does it regardless of whether they own the plot. In practice marks disappear during excavation and fencing work by contractors who do not know what they are. Photograph and record them before any machine arrives on site, because restoring a lost mark costs more than protecting it.

When the neighbour disagrees

If the boundary cannot be reconstructed from the cadastral evidence at all, § 920 BGB provides a fallback: the possession situation decides, and where that cannot be established either, the disputed strip is divided equally. This is rare, because the cadastre usually holds enough evidence, but it is the reason a determined boundary is worth having before a dispute rather than after.

A dispute that does arise runs first through the surveyor's record, then through the Katasterbehörde, and only then to court. A buyer inheriting an unresolved disagreement inherits the whole sequence, which is why an open boundary question should be settled by the seller before the sale, or priced.

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When a building sits over the line

§ 912 BGB deals with the case where a building has been built across a boundary. If the builder acted without intent or gross negligence, and the neighbour did not object immediately, the neighbour has to tolerate the encroachment and is compensated by a periodic payment, the Überbaurente. The building stays.

For a buyer this cuts both ways. A garage from the neighbour's plot overhanging yours may be something you must accept and can only be paid for. A shed on your side of a boundary that turns out to be over the line may be tolerated, or may have to come down if the conditions of § 912 are not met. Either way the question has to be answered before the purchase, because after it the problem belongs to you and the payment obligation runs with the land.

Trees, hedges and state distances

Boundary distances for planting are state law. Under the applicable state neighbour law, trees outside forests, shrubs and hedges over two metres of normal growth height must keep a distance from the neighbouring plot of at least one third of their height, measured horizontally at right angles to the boundary, from the centre of the trunk where it leaves the ground. Towards land used for agriculture or commercial horticulture the distance doubles.

Two consequences for a buyer. Mature planting close to a boundary may be something the neighbour can require to be removed, and equally your own planting plans are constrained on the side of the plot you may not have thought about. Note also that removal is a seasonal matter: cutting trees, hedges and scrub is prohibited from 1 March to 30 September under § 39 BNatSchG, and a municipal Baumschutzsatzung can require permission on top.

The classification that decides the next step

Which finding applies?

1. ALKIS geometryOfficial mapped position, not a boundary determination on site
2. Boundary indicationTransfer the existing boundary to the ground
3. Boundary determinationSettle the legal course authoritatively

Source: State surveying acts and fee schedules plus BGB §§ 912 to 920; checked August 2026

Splitting a parcel before a sale

Buying part of a plot is not buying a plot. Until the new piece exists in the cadastre with its own Flurstück (cadastral parcel) number, there is nothing the land registry can transfer. The sequence is: surveyor measures and produces the division, the Katasterbehörde enters the new parcels, the notary conveys the new parcel number.

A deed can be signed on a provisional description before the cadastre has caught up, and often is, but the registration then waits for the survey. Ask for the surveyor's timetable in writing, tie a payment step to the new number existing, and check what the division does to the remaining plot, because a division that leaves either piece without secured access creates a planning problem for whoever owns it. The buildability guide covers the access requirement.

What to do about a difference in area

Small differences appear constantly and mean nothing: a re-survey with better equipment moves a few square metres. Treat a difference under about one percent as data noise and move on. A difference of tens of square metres, or a shape in the cadastre that does not match the shape on the ground, is a different matter and has three possible causes: a data lag after an earlier division, an error in the older geometry, or a real boundary problem.

The response is the same in each case. Do not sign, do not release money, and get a surveyor to say which of the three it is. Where the seller will not pay for that, offer to split the cost against a price adjustment if the survey confirms the smaller area. A seller confident in the figure accepts readily.

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What you can check yourself, for nothing

Brandenburg opened its official geodata for free use on 21 June 2019 under the state geodata-use ordinance. Anyone can pull the cadastral map, the parcel geometry, the recorded area and the aerial imagery from GEOBROKER or look at them directly in the state cadastral viewer run by the state surveying authority, without an account and without a fee.

Half an hour with those two sources answers a surprising number of questions before any professional is paid. Does the parcel shape on the map match what the aerial photograph shows on the ground. Does the fence line follow the cadastral line or cut across it. Is the plot one Flurstück or several. Is there a strip along one edge belonging to somebody else, which is often how an old track or a drainage ditch appears.

What the free data does not give you is a legally usable statement about where the boundary is. The viewer is a picture of the cadastre, not a survey, and its screen accuracy is not the accuracy of the underlying points. Use it to decide whether you need a surveyor. Do not use it to place a fence.

Three mistakes that cost real money

Building to the hedge. It can be a costly boundary error to set a fence, wall or foundation to a visible feature rather than to a boundary established by a surveying professional. A structure a metre over the boundary is a structure the neighbour can require to be removed unless the narrow conditions of § 912 BGB happen to be met, and the removal is at your cost.

Ordering the expensive service by default. Buyers ring a surveyor, describe the problem loosely and accept the quotation for a full determination when a marking of existing points would have answered the question at a fraction of the price. Describe the situation precisely and ask which service fits.

Letting the machine start first. Excavation and fencing contractors destroy boundary marks routinely, and they do not report it. Once the mark is gone, restoring it means paying for a survey that the marks would have made unnecessary. Photograph every mark against the point sketch before the first machine arrives, and tell the contractor in writing that they are there.

Costs and waits at a glance

Service	Who provides it	What it delivers	Typical cost and wait
Cadastral map and parcel record	GEOBROKER, state cadastral viewer	geometry, area, parcel number	free, immediate
Grenzanzeige	publicly appointed surveyor	the line shown on site	lowest of the three, weeks
Abmarkung	surveyor or Katasterbehörde	marks set or restored	per tariff, 6 to 12 weeks
Grenzfeststellung	surveyor or Katasterbehörde	binding determination with neighbours	four figures, 6 to 12 weeks
Division of a parcel	surveyor plus Katasterbehörde	new Flurstück numbers	four figures, months
Hamburg	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Hesse	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Lower Saxony	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
North Rhine-Westphalia	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Rhineland-Palatinate	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Saarland	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Saxony	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Saxony-Anhalt	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Schleswig-Holstein	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.
Thuringia	Additional state checkpoint: consult the current state guide and obtain the plot-specific written answer from the competent authority.

Before the notary appointment

• The cadastral map and parcel record, with Gemarkung, Flur and Flurstück matching the draft deed exactly.
• The area in the contract compared against the cadastre, with any difference explained in writing.
• Photographs of the boundary marks that exist, taken against the point sketch.
• A surveyor's quotation where the line is unmarked, disputed, or close to a structure.
• For a plot being divided, the surveyor's timetable and a payment step tied to the new parcel number.
• Confirmation of what happens to any encroaching structure, and whether an Überbaurente is being paid.

Settle the geometry before the money moves. Order a GrundCheck preflight report and take one consistent parcel reference to the surveyor, the notary and the bank. Check a parcel.

Where these rules are written

• Brandenburg cadastre and surveying: state surveying act, state surveying fee ordinance, free data under state geodata-use ordinance via GEOBROKER and the state cadastral viewer.
• State building-code comparison: Art. 6 Abs. 5 BayBO and Art. 6 Abs. 5a BayBO; § 5 LBO; § 5 Abs. 2 NBauO; § 5 Abs. 7 LBO; § 6 HBauO; § 6 Abs. 5 BbgBO; § 6 Abs. 5 BauO Bln; § 6 Abs. 6 BremLBO; § 6 Abs. 5 HBO; § 6 Abs. 8 HBauO; § 7 Abs. 5 LBO; § 7 Abs. 8 LBO; § 7 Abs. 9 LBO; § 8 LBauO Rheinland-Pfalz; § 8 Abs. 1 LBO; and § 8 Abs. 9 LBauO Rheinland-Pfalz.
• Boundary marks and disputes: § 919 and § 920 BGB; damaging a mark, § 274 StGB.
• Building across a boundary: § 912 BGB.
• Register and area: § 2 GBO and § 892 BGB.
• Planting distances: applicable state neighbour law; cutting season § 39 BNatSchG.

Rules and figures were checked in August 2026. This is general information for buyers, not legal advice on your parcel. Read next: register and cadastre, easements and rights of way and Baulasten.

Once the line is fixed, the next question is what may stand along it: boundary planting and fences.

What differs between states

Surveying procedure, fees and boundary-mark rules are matters of state law. Obtain the current schedule from the competent cadastral authority or publicly appointed surveyor.