On the ground

What is demarcation, and when do you need it?

By Adil Builders · Updated 25 September 2026

The neighbour says your boundary ends here. The seller says two metres further over. You do not settle that by arguing. You settle it through demarcation.

What demarcation is

Demarcation is the formal process of determining where a property's boundaries lie, based on the land record and the revenue map, not on anyone's word.

Demarcation is the bridge from map to ground. It is a different kind of evidence from "the man who sold it to me pointed over there."

The legal basis in Punjab

The Punjab Land Revenue Rules set out a demarcation procedure. An application should give the location and full description of the land, with an attested copy of the latest relevant land-record entry and the relevant part of the revenue map.

The Punjab Land Revenue Act gives Revenue Officers powers over land limits and boundary marks. Where a boundary has been settled through that statutory process, that settlement decides where the boundary line is, subject to the Act.

When a buyer needs it

For a clearly marked, fully developed society plot with no discrepancies, formal demarcation is usually less important. It matters much more for:

Raw agricultural or revenue land.
Irregular parcels.
Land with a boundary dispute.
Land partly occupied by someone else.
Large areas, or land where the title covers a bigger parcel.
Land split among several owners, or split without clear mapping.

The more uncertain the boundaries, the more formal your checks should be.

A surveyor alone is not enough

A surveyor measures the physical land. They can tell you where the boundary appears to be based on the information they used. They do not establish that the land legally belongs to you. A lawyer can confirm the documents support your ownership, but does not measure where a wall stands.

For a complicated property you want all three to agree: the lawyer on title, the surveyor on the physical parcel, and the authority or society on the official record and layout.

Shared land

If a Khasra is owned in shares, one owner's 25% is not a particular fenced corner unless the land has been properly partitioned. If someone offers you an "exact portion" of jointly owned land without proper division and identification, stop and have it reviewed.

From Chapter 9, Physical Verification of Understanding Property in Lahore, built from PLRA, LDA and FBR sources.