Glossary
What does that mean?
Boundary determination, parcel, setback area: in surveying, many things have names you do not use in everyday life. Here you find the terms that you see in letters from authorities, in contracts and on our pages, briefly explained. Each term also shows the German word.
Terms from A to Z
B
- Boundary certificate also: Grenzbescheinigung
Proof that buildings and structures stand within the boundaries of a parcel. Deviations or buildings that cross the boundary are documented in the certificate. Banks often ask for boundary certificates when they finance a purchase. The building must be surveyed already, or we check the buildings on site.
- Boundary indication also: Grenzanzeige
We show you on site where boundary points that are already determined are, and mark them for a short time, for example before you build a fence or a garage. A boundary indication is not official. It does not replace an official boundary survey, the restoration of a boundary point or the setting of boundary markers.
- Boundary investigation also: Grenzuntersuchung, Grenzermittlung
We work out the boundary line from the existing survey records and compare it with what is on site. The boundary investigation is part of the procedure of an official boundary survey or boundary marking, but it can also be done without a formal procedure. The result shows how certain the boundary is and whether the boundary or the boundary point has been determined.
- Boundary meeting also: Grenztermin
The meeting on site where we show and explain the boundary line we have found to the people involved and record what they say about it (hearing, Anhörung). It is part of the administrative procedure of the boundary survey and boundary marking. Only in this meeting is the position and marking of the boundary decided.
§ 29 GeoVermG M-V More
- Building application documents also: Bauvorlage
The documents that belong to a building application. The site plan is one of them. If buildings or setback areas come closer than 0.5 m to the boundary, an official surveying body must prepare it. This is then called the official site plan (amtlicher Lageplan).
§ 7 BauVorlVO M-V More
- Building envelope also: Baufenster, überbaubare Grundstücksfläche
The part of a plot where buildings may stand. It is limited by building lines that buildings must not cross (Baugrenze) or lines on which they must be built (Baulinie). Garages and ancillary buildings may be allowed outside it unless the plan says otherwise.
§ 23 BauNVO
- Building Information Modelling also: BIM
A way of working in which all information about a building or structure comes together in one model, from planning and construction to operation. Our part is the existing building: an accurate model of the building or structure as it really is.
- Building style also: Bauweise
It sets whether buildings keep a distance to the side boundaries of the plot. In the open style they stand apart as detached houses, semi-detached houses or groups of houses, at most 50 m long. In the closed style they are built next to each other without a side gap. With a special style the plan sets its own rules.
§ 22 BauNVO
C
- Cadastral map also: Liegenschaftskarte
The map of the real estate cadastre with parcels, buildings and land use, also called Flurkarte. It shows where the boundaries run, but not how accurately each boundary point was measured. If you need this information, we are happy to tell you.
- Cadastral office also: Katasterbehörde
The authority that keeps the real estate cadastre, often called Kataster- und Vermessungsamt. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, these are the districts and the independent cities. We submit our surveys there, then they are added to the cadastre.
- Certificate of determined boundary points also: Bescheinigung für festgestellte Grenzpunkte
Confirms that a parcel boundary is described by boundary points determined under § 29 GeoVermG M-V. The building authority asks for it when a project comes close to the boundary. If you have this certificate, no official boundary survey is needed for the site plan of the building application.
§ 7 Abs. 2 BauVorlVO M-V More
- Certificate of self-containment also: Abgeschlossenheitsbescheinigung
Confirmation from the building authority that each flat or commercial unit is separated from the others by walls and ceilings and has its own lockable entrance. Without it, the land registry does not register owner-occupied flats.
§ 3 Abs. 3, § 7 Abs. 4 WEG More
- Common property also: Gemeinschaftseigentum
Everything in a divided building that all owners own together, for example the roof, the facade, load-bearing walls and the staircase. These parts cannot become separate ownership.
§ 5 Abs. 2 WEG More
- Construction value also: Herstellungswert
What it would cost to build the building at the time of the survey, without outdoor facilities and special operating equipment. The fee for the official building survey is based on this value.
§ 4 Abs. 2 VermKostVO M-V More
D
- Declaration of division also: Teilungserklärung
The declaration, recorded by a notary, with which an owner divides a building into flats and other units. It must match the division plan. If the two contradict each other, no separate ownership arises in the rooms concerned, and the land registry asks for corrections.
§ 8 WEG More
- Development plan also: Bebauungsplan
The binding plan of a municipality, often shortened to B-Plan. It sets for each plot what may be built where and how, for example building lines, the number of storeys and the type of use. If a development plan applies, it decides whether your project is allowed.
§ 30 BauGB More
- Digital twin also: Digitaler Zwilling
An accurate copy of an existing object, calculated from measurement data. You can use it for planning, to check for collisions or as a template for production. A digital twin can be a 3D model, or it can include a WebGIS in which information is recorded and managed by location.
- Distance to water also: Gewässerabstand
Along waters, building is not allowed: 50 metres along first-order waters and along lakes and ponds of one hectare or more, 150 metres along the coast, each measured from the mean water line. On the coast, a project within 200 metres must also be reported to the authority.
§ 29 Abs. 1 NatSchAG M-V, § 89 LWaG M-V
- Distance to woodland also: Waldabstand
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, buildings must keep 30 metres from woodland, as protection against falling trees and forest fire. It is measured from the outer edge of the tree crowns. An area of 0.2 hectares or more already counts as woodland. So before you buy a plot near a wood, check the map.
§ 20 Abs. 1 LWaldG M-V
- Division plan also: Aufteilungsplan
The building drawings that show which rooms belong to which flat and what all owners share: site plan, floor plans, sections and elevations. All rooms of one unit have the same number. The drawings must match the declaration of division. For the outdoor areas they are completed by a site plan that shows separate ownership and common property.
§ 7 Abs. 4 WEG More
E
- Encroachment also: Überbau
A building reaches over the boundary onto the neighbouring plot. A boundary certificate shows whether this is the case. For a new building, a check survey before and during construction gives you certainty.
- Exclusive right of use also: Sondernutzungsrecht
The right to use part of the common property alone, for example part of the garden or a parking space. It is set in the declaration of division. It does not make the holder the owner of this area.
F
- Final boundary marking also: Schlussabmarkung
Boundary marking that was put off and is done later. In new building areas, boundary points often get their boundary markers only after the roads are built or the house is finished. The marking was put off when the building plots were formed. The final boundary marking is often ordered by the seller, because the seller also applied for the division into plots. Who pays should be clear from the purchase contract.
§ 30 Abs. 4 GeoVermG M-V More
- Full storey also: Vollgeschoss
A storey that counts as a full storey under the state building code. The development plan limits how many a building may have. Basements and attic storeys with sloping ceilings often do not count, because they do not reach the required height over enough of their area. The calculation for the building application shows whether a storey counts.
§ 20 BauNVO
G
- Geometric tolerance also: Form- und Lagetoleranz
How far a component may differ from its target shape and position, for example in flatness, roundness or squareness. We measure the real geometry and compare it with the design.
H
- Height of buildings also: Traufhöhe, Firsthöhe, Oberkante
The development plan can limit how high you may build. The eaves height is where the outer wall meets the roof, the ridge height is the highest point of the roof and the top edge is the highest point of the building. It is measured from a reference point set in the plan, for example the street in front of the plot.
§ 18 BauNVO More
I
- Initial setting out also: Erstabsteckung
Marking the main axes of the building, the boundaries of the site and at least two fixed height points before construction starts. This is the job of the client who builds, not of the construction company. For the construction company, the setting out it receives is binding.
§ 3 Abs. 2 VOB/B More
L
- Land parcel also: Flurstück
A defined piece of land and the smallest unit in the real estate cadastre. It is sometimes also called Parzelle. Official surveys, divisions and mergers always concern parcels, even when people talk about their plot in everyday life. A plot (Grundstück) can consist of one or more parcels. Which parcels belong to a plot is shown in its land register sheet.
- Land readjustment also: Umlegung
A procedure of the municipality, also called Baulandumlegung. It reorganises the plots in an area so that their position, shape and size allow building as the development plan requires. The plots are merged on paper, the public land for roads and green spaces is taken off and the rest is shared out again.
§§ 45 bis 79 BauGB More
- Land register also: Grundbuch
The public register of the local court (Amtsgericht) that records ownership of plots and rights in them, for example owners, conveyances (Auflassung), rights of way, rights for utility lines and land charges. Public easements are not kept in the land register but in the register of public easements.
- Living area also: Wohnfläche
The floor area of a flat that counts as living space. The result depends on the rules you use. The Living Space Ordinance (Wohnflächenverordnung) usually counts balconies at one quarter, other rules come to other results. So every figure needs the rules it is based on.
WoFlV More
O
- Official boundary survey also: Grenzfeststellung
The official procedure that fixes the line of a parcel boundary in a binding way. It usually includes a boundary meeting, which the neighbours concerned are also told about. After that, the boundary is legally secure. Before, the cadastre shows a boundary line, but it has not been determined in a legally binding way.
- Ownership of a non-residential unit also: Teileigentum
Separate ownership of rooms that are not used for living, for example a shop, a practice or a storeroom. In law, it is treated like an owner-occupied flat.
P
- Plot of land also: Grundstück
In the land register, a plot is one parcel or several parcels that are kept together on one land register sheet. So a part of a plot can only become a plot of its own, or be added to the neighbouring plot, once it is a parcel of its own.
- Point cloud also: Punktwolke
The direct result of a laser scan: millions of single measured points with position and height. Floor plans, sections and 3D models are made from it. The point cloud itself is kept as a record of the current state.
- Preliminary building decision also: Vorbescheid
A binding answer from the building authority to single questions about a project, before you submit the full building application. The request is called Bauvoranfrage. It makes sense before you buy a plot or when it is unclear whether and how you may build.
§ 75 LBauO M-V More
- Public easement also: Baulast
A voluntary obligation to the building authority to allow something on your own plot or not to do something there. Examples are an access road or a neighbour’s setback area. It is entered in the register of public easements and also binds later owners.
§ 83 LBauO M-V More
- Publicly appointed surveying engineer also: Öffentlich bestellter Vermessungsingenieur (ÖbVI)
Appointed by the federal state and given official powers. In cadastral surveys (Katastervermessung or Liegenschaftsvermessung), we act as an authority and have our own official seal. Only publicly appointed surveying engineers, the cadastral offices and the Landgesellschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern mbH may determine boundaries officially.
R
- Readjustment benefit also: Umlegungsvorteil
The extra value a plot gains from land readjustment, for example because only then does it get road access and can be built on. The owner pays for it with a share of land or with money.
§ 58 BauGB More
- Real estate cadastre also: Liegenschaftskataster
The official record of all parcels and buildings in the federal state, with position, boundaries, size and use. The land register describes plots with this data. Every cadastral survey is added to the cadastre and is then officially recorded.
§ 2 Abs. 2 GBO More
- Register of public easements also: Baulastenverzeichnis
The register of the lower building authority that lists all public easements. You can look into it if you have a legitimate interest, for example as a buyer. As publicly appointed surveying engineers, we may look into it without this proof.
§ 83 Abs. 5 LBauO M-V More
- Registered area also: Buchfläche
The size of a parcel as it is recorded in the real estate cadastre and the land register. An area newly calculated from coordinates can differ slightly. The site plan for the building application states the registered area.
- Rentable area also: Mietfläche
The area that the tenant is given to use. For housing, the rentable area is not the same as the living area. Under the guideline for calculating the rentable area of residential space (MF/W) of the Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung e. V. (GIF), every area given to the tenant is recorded and main and secondary areas are separated. How these areas are valued is left to the parties to the contract. For commercial space, the GIF has the guideline MF/G.
- Responsible designer also: Entwurfsverfasser
The person who prepares the building design, usually your architect or planner. This person is responsible for a complete and usable design, including the setback areas. In the site plan, we are responsible for the surveyed content.
§ 54 LBauO M-V More
- Reverse engineering also: Flächenrückführung
The way back from an existing component to its design. We turn the measured surface into a CAD model. With it, the part can be rebuilt, changed or made on a CNC machine.
S
- Separate ownership also: Sondereigentum
Ownership of a certain flat or of other rooms in a divided building. Since 2020, parking spaces and adjoining open areas can also belong to it, if the division plan shows them with dimensions.
- Setback area also: Abstandsfläche
The area in front of a building wall that must stay free. As a rule, it lies on your own plot. Its size depends on the height of the wall. The site plan for the building application shows it with its dimensions.
§ 6 LBauO M-V More
- Site coverage ratio and floor area ratio also: Grundflächenzahl und Geschossflächenzahl
Two figures from the development plan, short GRZ and GFZ. The site coverage ratio says what share of the plot may be built on. The floor area ratio says how much floor area is allowed compared with the plot area. A GRZ of 0.4 means buildings may cover 40 % of the plot. Garages, parking spaces with their driveways and ancillary buildings may usually exceed this by half, up to 0.8. The calculation is part of the documents for the building application.
§§ 19, 20 BauNVO More
- Special use area also: Sonstiges Sondergebiet
A building area that the municipality sets in the development plan for a special use, for example for plants that use wind or solar energy. It is often shortened to SO-Gebiet. Most development plans for solar farms set such an area.
§ 11 BauNVO More
T
- Topographic survey plan also: Lage- und Höhenplan
A survey of a plot as it is, with boundaries, buildings, heights, trees, other topography and, if needed, the utility lines of public agencies. Your architect or planning office uses it as the basis for planning. We agree the content with you and your planning office. When a planned new building is added to it, it can become the site plan for the building application.
- Type of building use also: Art der baulichen Nutzung
The development plan sets which kind of zone applies and so what may be built and run there. A general residential area (WA) is mainly for housing; shops and non-disturbing craft businesses that serve the area are allowed too. A mixed area (MI) combines housing and business, a commercial area (GE) is mainly for companies.
§§ 1 to 11 BauNVO More
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