General

It is acceptable for a voluntary registration application to use digital data as an alternative to paper based plans and deeds. With a VR, the application may or may not include digital copies of the paper deeds, or they may not contain sufficient information to identify the location and extent of the property. In this scenario, the submitting agent may choose to submit plans information in digital format. In this case, a PDF of the plan is also required.

The extent of the subjects can be mapped using the digital data along with the PDF for visual representation. The PDF is essential to ensure that the digital data accurately represents the property being registered. Without either a signed and docuetted version of the paper plan, or a PDF for visual representation, the digital data is not on its own sufficient to enable the Keeper to delineate the plot's boundaries on the cadastral map, and the applications would therefore fall to be rejected as it would not comply with section 28(1)(a) of the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012..

It should be noted that a PDF file is not digital data, it is a digital image. This is also the case with other file types such as TIFF, JPEG, GIF and PNG. These are essentially a picture of a map and do not contain digital co-ordinate data so cannot be loaded into Plan Creator, and so would need to be geo-referenced in QGIS.

Common digital data formats used in CAD and GIS packages are SHP, TAB, DXG and DXF, and also GeoJSON but only digital data in .json/geojson format can be imported into Plan Creator. Please see the external digital data guidance leaflet for further technical details on the requirements for digital data. As part of the registration process for applications using digital data, a technical quality assurance check will be carried out to ensure that the digital data complies with our technical requirements. This includes checking that it is actually digital map data and not a digital image.

If it is found that the digital data has not been correctly submitted or it fails the technical quality assurance check, then the agent should be contacted about this and asked to submit compliant digital data.

Useful Links

Voluntary Registration

Digital Map Data & Digital Deed Plans

Digital Data guidance (external link)

Land Register Completion - Voluntary Registration (external link)

Process Steps

Initial submission

1.1 Where digital data is being submitted as part of an application, it will be sent by email to the following address - Digital.Data@ros.gov.uk. Emails sent to this address go to a shared mailbox with restricted access.

Customers will be informed by the GIS team by email whether the data was imported successfully or unsuccessfully.
If the import was unsuccessful, the agent will be advised what is wrong and be asked to fix this and re-submit a fresh dataset.
If no replacement data is received, there would be a note to that effect in the digital data archive spreadsheet that is held by the GIS team.

1.2 The agent should submit the email containing the digital data before, or on the same day as the application for registration.

1.3 The GIS team will import the data into Plan Creator on receipt of the data, even if this is prior to the application being received.

GIS

2.1 The GIS officer should ensure that the digital data files can be opened and that they meet the relevant technical specifications. See the external digital data guidance for details. This technical quality assurance check must include checking that the file attachments in the email can be opened correctly, it is actually digital date and not just a digital image, that the data is accurate, and that it resembles the pdf.

2.2 If the data is acceptable, the GIS officer should then import the digital data into Plan Creator. This will be in the form of a COF file named in the following format - "COF GIS-1234", with the GIS job number matching the COF file number.

2.2.1 In the event that the digital data has not been correctly submitted or it fails the technical quality assurance check, the GIS team will contact the agent informing of the issues and asking for a fresh dataset. If an acceptable dataset is not submitted, this will be noted by the GIS team.

2.3 Where the pdf plan has been attached to the email from the agent, these can be accessed directly from the Customer Digital Data Archive, do not email the GIS team. If staff are unsure how to access this read only archive, then contact the GIS team. The plan can be added to the digital casebag (see 5.5.2, below).

2.4 The digital data files will be saved by the GIS officer to the Customer Digital Data Archive within the RoS fileshare. The files will be named with the GIS job number which matches the COF import reference, e.g., GIS-1234.

Intake

3.1 The application for registration will be submitted by the agent in the normal manner. See Initial Examination - FR Intake and Closing Notes.

3.2 Examine the application form Further Information question. In the Further Information section of the application form, agents have been asked to include details of digital data which they may be submitting as part of their application. This should include a note of the file reference associated with the digital data.

3.3 Where a VR application is identified which does not include an image of a paper plan, .pdf or other suitable format of the signed and docquetted plan for extent purposes it is essential that intake officers check the Further Information question on the application form to see whether or not the agent has submitted digital data to identify the location and extent of the property.

Where the agent has indicated on the application form that digital data is being submitted intake officers will accept this information without further investigation. A note should be added to the application workdesk N&I saying that the application form states that digital data is being submitted.

Although not a common occurrence, customers may submit the pdf plan with the digital data and not with the rest of the documents in the application. In this circumstance, a check can be made by Intake to the GIS team to find out if the pdf plan is held in the Customer Digital Data Archive.

3.4 In the event that the application does not include images of a paper plan, .pdf or other suitable format of the signed and docquetted plan and the agent has not stated on the application form that digital data is being submitted, then the application should be referred for rejection.

3.5 When the create process has been completed the application should be released to plans manual ident in the normal way.

Manual ident

4.1 Where the application form states that digital data has been submitted, the manual ident officer should check the Plan Viewer to view the digital data. This will be held in a COF file, named in the following format "COF GIS-1234".

There will be case notes detailing when the digital data was submitted, the submitting agent, and the subjects. For example:

Digital data submitted by Brodies on 22/11/2021 for VR subjects at Riverside Business Park, Irvine.

4.2 The manual ident process should be completed as normal.

4.3 When the manual ident process has been completed the application should be released to plans settle in the normal way.

Any queries regarding the digital data, contact the GIS team by email at GIS@ros.gov.uk .

Plans settle

5.1 The plans officer should take on and plans settle the application as normal. See FR Plans.

5.2 If there is neither a sufficient pdf copy of the plan nor any digital data, the agent may be contacted and allowed 5 days to submit the plan, a better copy of the plan, or digital data. If this is not submitted within 5 days, refer the application for rejection.

5.3 Where digital data is being used, check carefully that the polygons and any lines in the COF file have been imported into the Plan Creator correctly, and make any necessary adjustments. In particular, checks must be made:

for competing titles;
to ensure that the mapping accurately reflects the extent of the plot on the cadastral map, taking into account the tolerances of the OS map at the base scale.

5.4 As with normal plans settle procedures, if the data is insufficient to accurately identify the location and extent of the property, or any areas of competition with registered titles are identified, refer to a referral officer for rejection. See Post Intake Rejections.

5.5 It is the responsibility of the plans settler to ensure that the LRS and Land Register Archive have clear cross referencing to the digital data archived in the Digital Data Archive within the RoS fileshare. The files will be saved by the GIS team under the GIS job number which matches the COF file. The digital data forms part of the archive record under sections 2(c) and 14 of the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 and therefore it must be retained by the Keeper.

5.5.1 A note should be added to the Application Workdesk N&I and Title N&I. This should state that the digital data used to map this title is saved in the Digital Data Archive and refer to the COF number.

5.5.2 (a) If the application is on the CMS then ensure the pdf plan is uploaded onto the CMS, and classified as a VR plan to ensure it is marked for Add to Archive.

5.5.2 (b) If the application is not on the CMS then add the pdf plan to the Land Register Archive, marking this for the Archive Record.

5.6 When the plans settle process has been completed, the application should be released to legal settle in the normal way. See Complete the Case - FR Plans.

Legal settle

6.1 For the avoidance of doubt, the legal settle process should be completed in the normal way as per the guidance in the manual.

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