geological survey

[ianfromireland]

Hi All, I'm looking to buy some land in Bulgaria and am wondering when and if a geological survey is required before land purchase. If you can send me some details, rough costs or contacts that would be great!

[Rej]

Hi,
Before we bought some land we had a geodesy company peg it for us.That way we knew exactley where the boundaries were etc. Also we found out that part of the land was being contested for ownership but I guess that would have come to light anyway when the lawyer looked into it. It was a while ago but I think it cost 200 / 250 euro.
Rej

[balkankiwi]

I can only speak in relation to restituted agricultural land - in such a case, there is no legal obligation to have the land surveyed before purchase. So long as the vendor has a validly-issued and current (they are good for 6mths at a time) "skitsa" - plan - of the land, recording his/her/their ownership, you can complete the purchase just using that to identify the plot being sold and bought.

However for peace of mind, you may reasonably ask the vendor to have the boundaries of the plot physically marked before you commit to the purchase. The procedure is to approach the survey (in Bulgarian, "geodesiya") company which has undertaken the survey of the area on contract to the relevant obshtina (municipality). They will come with their theodolite and plot as a minimum the four corners of the land and put sticks in the ground there (which you might then want to replace with more robust versions). The fee for this service is around 25-40 leva in my experience.

Note that this is just to fix the borders in accordance with decisions made under the restitution process. Its not a guarantee of the validity of your seller's - or your - title but its worth doing I think.

[ianfromireland]

Hi, Thanks for this. I did actually get this done and I was glad I did because the shape of the plot was slightly different. What I am wondering about is if there is possibly a problem with the land for building. Is it normal to get a survey done before purchase to ensure there is nothing wrong with the land or is this just normally done when building starts?

[hugh569ggl]

Hi there

We have a property on the shores of Iskar Lake, where we are considering replacing the existing summer house with some sort of permanent building.

In discussing the possibilities with an an architect, she has advised us that if we build a wooden cabin type house then a geological survey will probably not be necessary. But if we decide to go for a conventional build ('massive buld' is I believe the Bulgarian term this type of structure)', then to satisfy the planning people, we will definitely require one to be carried out. This will be in the form of an initial viewing by a geologist, who will then decide if a full survey using ultra-sonic equipment will be necessary. The architect actually telephoned a specialist company whilst I was with her to ask the costs and was told that if it was the 'full monty' it would be in the region of 1,200 euros.

However, this is only necessary because our property on the lake shore is in a particularly sensitive area. Under normal circumstances, it may well not be required. It would probably be worth speaking to the planning people at the local Municipality offices before committing yourself to any project.

I hope this helps.

Regards

Hugh

[Pirol]

1200 Euro??

[geordie]

I would recommend anyone thinking of buying a house on the coast to have a geological survey, if only to check your house will not be subject to landslide. When we purchased our property last year we knew it was in a landslide area and had a survey to check if our propery would be ok. Luckilly it was found to be built on rock and should be fine, although it's a risk you take to buy overlooking the sea. It was not a full survey and was arranged by our Bulgarian friends with the local government offices in Varna. I'm sure we only paid 45Leva for it.
Anne

[hugh569ggl]

Hi German

Sorry, you'r right, I meant 1,200 Lev. You must agree though, it can be confusing dealing in 3 different currencies

Regards

Hugh