18-Geom-B5 Survey Law · May 2014
Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)
National Exams — May 2014 — 04-Geom-B5 Survey Law. Three hours; CLOSED BOOK, NO CALCULATOR. Twelve questions constitute a complete paper (the first twelve as they appear are marked); most answers require sentence-and-paragraph format. All twelve questions are solved in full below. Content is framed in the Canadian common-law and Ontario land-registration context named by the source.
Reference texts: Survey Law in Canada (Canadian Council of Land Surveyors / Carswell, 1989); Brown, Robillard & Wilson, Brown's Boundary Control and Legal Principles (7th ed., Wiley, 2017); Ontario Land Surveyor educational materials and the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors (AOLS) Survey Review; the Land Titles Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.5, the Registry Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. R.20, the Surveys Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.30, and the Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19; Re Ellenborough Park, [1956] Ch. 131 (C.A.).
Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.
A condominium (governed in Ontario by the Condominium Act, 1998, and created by a registered declaration and description) divides a property into distinct real-property elements:
Units. The portions owned exclusively by individual owners — typically the dwelling or commercial space, defined by boundaries set out in the declaration and shown on the description (the condominium plan). The unit is the parcel that is bought, sold, and mortgaged.
Common elements. Everything in the property that is not part of a unit — the land, structure, lobbies, corridors, roofs, mechanical systems, driveways, and amenities — owned in common by all the unit owners collectively.
Exclusive-use common elements. Parts of the common elements the exclusive use of which is allotted to a particular unit — a balcony, a parking space, a locker, or a patio. They remain common elements in law but only the designated unit may use them.
Common interest and common expenses. Each unit carries an inseparable proportionate undivided interest in the common elements, together with a corresponding obligation to contribute to the common expenses. The unit and its common interest cannot be dealt with separately; ownership of the unit automatically carries the proportionate share and the shared-cost obligation.
