Haw. R. Land. Ct. 101

As amended through September 30, 2024

Rule 101 - Surveys, Descriptions and Maps

(1) The field survey made for the purpose of registering title to, or subdividing registered land, shall be made on the ground by or under the direct supervision of a registered professional surveyor duly licensed under the laws of the state who shall also have been found qualified by the judge and registered to practice in the land court, and whose registration to practice therein remains unrevoked.

(2) The description of survey filed with an application for registration or title shall be prepared from a recent actual field survey and shall be printed or typewritten on unruled white paper with a flyleaf in the manner directed in Rule 3 of these Rules, shall be filed in duplicate, and shall be dated and signed by the surveyor making the field survey, or under whose supervision the field survey was executed.

(3) Unless elsewhere specifically referred to, the surveying instruments to be used, degree of accuracy, extent, manner, form, and other matters covering the procedure and things to be done in executing field surveys, compiling descriptions and preparing maps, shall be in accordance with practices heretofore obtaining in the land court subject to modifications from time to time by the state land surveyor with the approval of the judge of the land court.

(4) The map filed with the original application for registration of title or for any subsequent purpose shall be in electronic format, though the original shall be of one of the following sizes, figures indicating inches: 10x15, 15x21, 21x32, 30x36, 36x42 or any length thereof up to 72, or 42x42 or any length thereof up to 72. There shall be a 1/2-inch border along the edges of all the maps. The lettering and the representation of the boundaries and other features of the survey, as well as the surveyor's electronic signature, registration stamp and Land Court Registration number, shall be in black ink and the plat shall be drawn to one of the following scales: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 feet to the inch, or any power of ten times the above mentioned scales. Letters I and O shall not be used to designate lots and when letters are combined with numbers, I and O shall be skipped. A hyphen or dash shall not be used between degrees, minutes or seconds or between courses and distances.

(5) The map shall be in 2 parts showing as far as practicable the drawing of the plat of the land on the left-hand side with true north pointing towards the top on the right-hand side near the top of the map, the title of the court, the number and title of the cause and reference to the locality in which the land is situated which shall include the number of the award and name of awardee, or the number of the patent or grant, or other class of original title, and the name of the patentee or grantee, the 'ili, and ahupua'a, district and island, and any local name in common use together with a brief general description of the land sufficient to identify the same; all writing shall have a space not less than 2/10 of an inch between the written lines. The scale to which the plat is drawn shall also be noted. Beneath this, sufficient space, approximately 2 1/2 inches, shall be reserved for signatures, certificates, orders of the court and other writings.

(6) The map shall be wet-ink or electronically signed by the applicant, or by the applicant's attorney or authorized agent, in black ink, and shall also have endorsed thereon and properly filled in, as indicated by the text, a certificate reading substantially as follows:

This map is from an actual survey on the ground made by, or under the direct supervision of the undersigned, between the dates ____________ and ____________ and may be checked by the state land surveyor with my field book number __________, calculation book number ____________, and working sheet number ________.

Date: __________________

Address: ________________

______________________________

Registered Professional Surveyor

Certificate Number ________

(7) As noncontiguous lands may be registered under 1 application, more than 1 map may be filed under the same number or the several parcels of land may be shown in separate panels in the same map. Insert maps delineating in more detail or on a different scale particular features of the land sought to be registered may be inserted and shown in panels on the map. One or more supplementary maps may be filed with the original map or at any time prior to the issuance of the decree and shall be indicated by letters of the alphabet, as "Supplemental Map A," "Supplemental Map B," etc. When 2 or more maps are filed, each map shall carry in the lower right-hand corner the" notation: "Sheet____ of____ Sheets," with the appropriate figures inserted in the blank spaces

(8) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the description and map shall be referred for check as to form and mathematical correctness to the state land surveyor who shall then make a report of the state land surveyor's findings by written return. In the event it is found that certain changes or corrections are to be made prior to the date of the return, applicant's surveyor in consultation with the state land surveyor may correct the description and map without order of the court where such correction is found necessary to adjust the survey, but no alteration shall be made after the return has issued except by the state land surveyor on an order of the court, and in such case the description and map shall be marked "Amended" and subsequent amendments by orders of the court shall be indicated by the notation "Second Amendment," "Third Amendment," etc., as the case may be. These expressions are to be used only up to the date of the decree. Thereafter, references to the application shall be solely by its number. In new applications, adjacent registered titles (completed cases) noted on the map or referred to in the description shall be designated by the application number only; but adjacent pending applications, if amended, shall be designated with the number and the kind of amendment, to which shall be added the word "Pending" in parentheses. Example: Land Court Application 1000 -2nd Amendment (Pending). Adjacent pending applications, if unamended, shall have added after the number the word "Pending" in parentheses. Example: Land Court Application 1200 (Pending). In preparing subdivisions of registered titles (completed cases), the fact that the application had been amended before final decree, shall no longer be noted and the caption of a subdivision map shall designate the application by its number only. The notation "Re-Amended" shall not be used. The state land surveyor shall revise the description and engross on the map the subject matter contained in the order of the court which shall be authenticated by a suitable certificate written on the description and engrossed on the map. If there be more than 1 map, each map shall have thereon a statement referring to the order of the court and the subject matter thereof.

(9) If an order of the court amending the survey contains a description which cannot be reconciled to the survey in the application, or which is mathematically incorrect, the state land surveyor in consultation with the applicant's surveyor shall make the necessary corrections and report the facts to the court. Applicant on being notified thereof shall by motion in writing secure the approval of the court, but after final decree has issued, no change shall be made under any circumstance except by an order of the court.

(10) Where it is desired to withdraw a description or a map from registration and substitute others in place thereof, the originals shall not be withdrawn from the records but shall be cancelled by an order of the court and the substitutions designated "Amended" or "Amendment" in the manner directed in this Rule.

(11) The state land surveyor may require applicant's surveyor to file temporarily the original field notes, calculations and working sheets while an application is being examined. Such original records shall be returned when the state land surveyor makes his final report.

(12) Exceptions to this Rule may be made in specific instances by order of the court upon good cause being shown therefor.

(13) Previous to entry of decree and the recording of same on map, no print or other form of reproduction shall be furnished to any person, unless such copy shall have marked thereon in large type letters the notation: ADVANCE SHEET - SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

(14) Unless otherwise requested or ordered, only 2prints shall be furnished the land court and said prints shall have marked thereon the notation referred to above, viz: ADVANCE SHEET -SUBJECT TO CHANGE. A similar print on paper shall be retained for the files of the survey office with an added certificate reading as follows:

I hereby certify this print to be a true and correct copy of the map filed with Land Court Application ________ and returned, ____________.

Honolulu, Hawai'i, ____________, 20____

______________________________

Surveyor, State of Hawai'i

(15) When an original application is ready for report to the land court, there shall be written on the map the following certificate for the state land surveyor's signature:

I hereby certify that the description of survey and map hereon have been examined and the boundaries checked and verified on the ground and found to be in accord.

Honolulu, Hawai'i, ____________, 20____

______________________________

Surveyor, State of Hawai'i

(16) Upon the entry of decree, the map will be returned to the survey office and the following certificate shall be written thereon:

I hereby certify that Decree of Registration dated ____________, and numbered ____________, has been issued to __________________ covering the land described hereon and that Owner's(s') Certificate of Title No. ____________ has been transcribed therefrom.

Honolulu, Hawai'i, ____________, 20____

______________________________

Surveyor, State of Hawai'i

When the above certificate is filled in and signed, prints will then be distributed without the notation in (14) above or other certificates, except that 1 print shall be made for the files of the survey office bearing the following certificate:

I hereby certify this print to be a true and correct copy of the map filed with Land Court Application ____________ on which Decree of Registration has been entered.

Honolulu, Hawai'i, ____________, 20____

______________________________

Surveyor, State of Hawai'i

(17) When a subdivision map is filed and referred to the state land surveyor for examination before decree is entered, the certificate of the state land surveyor shall read as follows:

I hereby certify that the map hereon being a subdivision of Land Court Application __________ (NOW PENDING) as herein entitled has been examined and checked as to form and mathematical correctness and found to be in accord.

Honolulu, Hawai'i, ____________, 20____

______________________________

Surveyor, State of Hawai'i

Haw. R. Land. Ct. 101

Amended November 6, 2019, effective 11/17/2019.

There shall be endorsed on such a map ADVANCE SHEET - SUBJECT TO CHANGE, which legend shall not be removed until the subdivision is approved by the judge of the land court.

Approval by the judge of the land court will be withheld until final decree is entered and original certificate of title issued, upon which appropriate order shall be issued and the subdivision map endorsed with a certificate bearing the same date as the decree, as follows:

Approved by order of the Judge of the Land Court dated ____________.

Honolulu, Hawai'i, ____________, 20____

______________________________

Surveyor, State of Hawai'i

NOTE: The legend ADVANCE SHEET - SUBJECT TO CHANGE shall then be erased.

If a resubdivision is wanted during pendency of an application, the first subdivision should be withdrawn and cancelled and a substitute map offered.

Previous to issuance of order of approval by the judge of the land court and the recording of same on the subdivision map, no print or other form of reproduction of the map shall be furnished to any person, unless such copy shall have marked thereon in large type letters, the notation: ADVANCE SHEET - SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

The map shall be retained in the survey office, but a report of the findings of the state land surveyor shall be forwarded to the land court, and upon receipt back of a certified copy of the Order of Approval, the spaces provided for dates shall be filled in and the certificate signed by the surveyor.

The map shall then be forwarded to the land court with the number of prints requested in the Order of Reference and prints shall then be prepared for distribution. All such prints shall no longer bear the notation: ADVANCE SHEET - SUBJECT TO CHANGE, and no other certificate is required thereon, except that 1 print on paper shall be made for the files of the survey office and shall have thereon the following certificate:

I hereby certify this print to be a true and correct copy of map filed with subdivision of Land Court Application _________ and approved _____________.

Honolulu, Hawai'i, ____________, 20____

______________________________

Surveyor, State of Hawai'i