Background of the Central Plan Office
The Central Plan Office (CPO) was formally established by the Survey Co-ordination Act 1944 (the Act) as a central lodgment location for surveys, plans and information relating to surveys and plans to support land dealings prepared for public authorities that were not for the purposes of the Land Titles Act 1980.
The Act also created the Central Plan Register (CPR) within the CPO under the custodianship of the Surveyor-General to register plans and associated surveys and documents when lodged. A plan or document becomes official once registered in the CPR and issued to support an order or proclamation pursuant to relevant legislation.
The term Central Plan Office is now used to describe the repository of all plans lodged with and held under the custodianship of the Surveyor-General since the earliest days of the Van Diemans Land colony.
Searching the Central Plan Office
Between 2009 and 2019 all hard copy plan information in the CPO was scanned to produce archive quality digital copies and uploaded into an internal NRE Digital Image Library (DIL) in 2020. The original plans, along with the digital scans, were then transferred to Tasmanian Archives within Libraries Tasmania. A publicly accessible App, the Central Plan Office Records Search option, was implemented in the LIST in June 2025 to enable the public to search the DIL and obtain digital copies of maps, plans and supporting information held in the CPO free of charge.
CPO Search Option on LIST
A Central Plan Office Records Compendium describing the different record series has been prepared to support the release of CPO records on the LIST, and additional fact sheets to assist with searching are available on the LIST page.
CPO Records Compendium (PDF 990Kb)
The Land Titles Office (LTO) continues to provide a service to the public to obtain copies of documents held in the Central Plan Office - refer to the LTO webpage: How to Search the Central Plan Office.
Examples of CPR Plans lodged in the CPO
Documents continuing to be lodged in the CPO range from plans derived from a field survey for a specific purpose to compilations of datasets represented in a map to describe administrative areas.
Examples of plans and maps include, but are not limited to, those prepared to support:
Leases over unalienated Crown land.
Registration of entries in the Tasmanian Heritage Register where boundaries are described by GDA2020 coordinates or related to physical features.
Marine farm leases.
Conservation Covenants entered into under the Nature Conservation Act 2002.
Description of administrative areas such as local government regions, planning scheme zones, electoral divisions, national parks or irrigation districts.
An order setting aside Crown land for the purposes of any Act, department or statutory body under the Crown Lands Act 1976.
Boundary Description in CPR Plans
In accordance with the Act the Surveyor-General reviews plans to ensure they achieve an accurate and, as near as possbile, unequivocal definition of the location of boundaries on the ground before they are accepted for lodgment. However, this assessment does not confirm whether the location of the described boundary of a legal interest is satisfactory for the required purpose. It is the responsibility of the officer preparing an administrative CPR Plan to ensure that the boundaries described on the plan satisfy the purpose they are required for.
It is important to recognise limitations in the spatial accuracy of the LIST Cadastral Parcels layer when describing boundaries on an administrative CPR Plan to avoid potential ambiguity in the location of boundaries.
Please contact the Office of the Surveyor-General for advice on preparing administrative CPR plans, including tips on utilising a range of administrative datasets of varying spatial accuracy and production lineage to achieve an unambiguous boundary definition.
CPR Plan and Survey Note Templates
Template files in PDF and AutoCAD Drawing format are available for downloading to prepare Administrative CPR plans and Survey Notes supporting CPR plans.
CPR Plans and surveys may currently be prepared on GDA2020 or GDA94 coordinate datum.
Administrative CPR Plans
If preparing an Administrative CPR Plan on GDA2020 coordinate datum, please read this information about the Terms and Conditions of Use of the GDA2020 logo.
Administrative CPR Plan Template GDA2020 (ZIP 1Mb)
Administrative CPR Plan Template GDA94 (ZIP 1Mb)
Plan of Survey CPR Plans
A Registered Land Surveyor undertaking a survey supporting a CPR Plan is generally required to draft the plan to be lodged in the CPO.
Please contact the office for advice on, or assistance with, document preparation.
Survey Notes Supporting Plan of Survey CPR Plans
Survey Notes Template for CPR Plan GDA2020 (ZIP 490Kb)
Survey Notes Template for CPR Plan GDA94 (ZIP 526Kb)
Lodging a Plan or Field Book in the CPO
There is no charge to government agencies to lodge a CPR plan or Field Book in the CPO - please contact the OSG on the details below to arrange lodgements.