Standard Survey Marks Act 1924

The Act is conceptually narrow and built around a few interlocking concepts that determine who may act, what counts as a standard survey mark, what powers accompany survey activity, and what obligations follow placement of marks.

Defined roles and terms

• Authorised land officer: the Act defers the definition of this role to the Land Administration Act 1997 (s 2). The Act therefore relies on that external statutory definition to identify who may exercise the Act’s powers.
• Survey mark: the Act supplies an expansive, materially descriptive definition of a survey mark. A survey mark may be any cairn, beacon, structure, post, peg, block, plug, tube, pipe, spike, pole, or other mark of whatsoever material composed, placed, sunk, or set up as a standard survey mark by the authority of the Surveyor General or, after the cited amendment, of an authorised land officer (s 2). The listing is clearly intended to capture a wide range of physical markers.
• Surveyor: defined as a surveyor licensed under the Licensed Surveyors Act 1909 (s 2). The Act therefore restricts the exercise of surveying functions under s 4 to licensed surveyors or those authorised by an authorised land officer.

Surveying and record-keeping

• Standard surveys are a statutory activity an authorised land officer may cause to be made in any locality to establish standard survey marks (s 3(1)). The Act requires retention of plans representing all such surveys by the Western Australian Land Information Authority, and certified copies must be supplied to specified public offices (s 3(2)). This creates a record-keeping chain linking physical marks to authoritative plans retained by the Land Information Authority and to other government repositories.

Powers of entry and interference with land

• The Act confers express powers to enter and re-enter land and public or private roads, to take materials or bore into land to ascertain soil conditions, to mark buildings or fences for survey purposes, and to fix or set up survey marks (s 4(a)-(d)). The Act also authorises actions necessary for inspection, renewal, repair or alteration of any standard survey mark. These are broad, intrusive powers vested in authorised officers and surveyors acting under their authority.

Obligations on local government and the public

• Local governments are to be notified of intentions to place marks when practicable, reasonable notice is to be given (s 5). After marks are placed, the local government for the time being must protect and preserve them and not destroy, mutilate, deface, alter, or take them away without written authority from an authorised land officer (s 6(1)). Individuals who interfere with marks or obstruct surveyors are criminally liable on summary conviction for a penalty not exceeding $40 (s 6(2)).

Regulatory overlay

• The Governor may make regulations for purposes of the Act (s 7). The Act therefore contemplates further detail being provided by subordinate instruments, but the text as supplied contains no such regulations.

Statutory provenance and amendment

• The Act has been amended on a number of occasions and the compilation table records key amendment acts and reprints. Some operative references and authorities have shifted over time, for example, incorporation of the concept of an authorised land officer after the Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1987 (compilation table and s 2 notes).

These concepts interact to allocate decision-making authority to authorised land officers and their authorised surveyors, to create protections around fixed survey marks, and to require record-keeping with the Land Information Authority and supply of certified copies to other public bodies. The Act is short and leaves several practical matters to regulation or to other statutes it references, for example the definition of authorised land officer.

The Act names a limited set of actors and distributes rights and duties among them. The text itself identifies the primary affected parties and the specific impacts the Act places on them.

Authorised land officers

• The Act grants powers to an authorised land officer to cause standard surveys and to erect and alter standard survey marks (s 3(1); s 4). The definition of authorised land officer is supplied by the Land Administration Act 1997 (s 2), so the class of persons who can exercise those powers is determined in that external statute. Authorised land officers decide where surveys are needed, may authorise surveyors to act for them, and may give written authority to alter marks (s 4; s 6(1)).

Surveyors and specially authorised surveyors

• The Act directly empowers surveyors licensed under the Licensed Surveyors Act 1909 to carry out surveys and exercise the entry and physical powers in s 4 when they are “specially authorised” by an authorised land officer (s 2; s 4). Surveyors thus affected can enter land, dig, drill, mark structures and place survey marks, and carry out inspection, renewal or repair.

Western Australian Land Information Authority

• The Land Information Authority is required to retain plans representing all standard surveys (s 3(2)). The Authority therefore receives, stores and becomes the repository for the authoritative plans produced under the Act. The Act names that Authority by reference to the Land Information Authority Act 2006 s 5.

Registrar of Titles, department assisting Public Works, and local governments

• Certified copies of plans must be supplied to the Registrar of Titles, to the chief executive officer of the department principally assisting in the administration of the Public Works Act 1902, and to the local government (s 3(2)). These bodies are direct recipients of official survey plans and therefore are affected insofar as they must manage or rely on those certified copies.

Local governments , protective and notification duties

• Local governments have a twofold role. First, they are to be given reasonable notice when practicable of intention to place marks in roads, streets, or ways (s 5). Second, once marks have been placed in roads, streets or ways, the local government for the time being is required to protect and preserve such marks and must not destroy or alter them without written authority of an authorised land officer (s 6(1)). The Act thus imposes an ongoing preservation duty on local governments.

Members of the public and landowners

• The Act affects private landowners and road users indirectly because authorised officers and authorised surveyors may enter and re-enter land and roads, take materials, dig and bore into land, and mark buildings and fences for survey purposes (s 4). The protection provisions in s 6(1) also limit actions by local governments and by individuals with respect to marks in roads, streets or ways. Individuals who, without written authority, destroy, mutilate, deface, take away or alter any standard survey marks, or who obstruct a surveyor carrying out a standard survey, become liable on summary conviction to the stated penalty (s 6(2)).

Who ultimately decides

• Decision-making powers are concentrated in authorised land officers and in the Governor through regulation-making power under s 7. Local government has duties but limited policymaking discretion under the Act; for example local government must protect marks but the Act does not set out a process for compliance monitoring or recovery of costs. Surveyors act under the authorisation of an authorised land officer.

Who pays

• The Act does not set out fees, charges, or compensation mechanisms for taking materials, damaging land during surveys or for costs of protecting marks. It does, however, impose a duty on local governments to protect marks and a criminal penalty for individuals who remove or alter marks without authority (s 6). The Act is silent on compensation where survey activity causes interference with private property; the absence of express compensation provisions is itself a legal feature.

In short, authorised land officers and authorised surveyors are the actors who exercise intrusive and record-keeping powers; landowners and local governments are constrained by those powers and, in particular, local governments have a positive statutory duty to preserve marks placed in public roads, streets and ways. The Act’s effects are concentrated among those classes and the Land Information Authority as record-keeper.

This Act creates specific statutory duties and confers rights that are concentrated in public actors and licensed surveyors. The duties are procedural and protective; the rights are primarily powers to enter land and establish permanent marks.

Duties imposed by the Act

• Duty to retain plans: The Western Australian Land Information Authority must retain plans representing all standard surveys (s 3(2)). That is an express custodial duty. The Authority must also ensure certified copies are supplied to specified public offices.
• Duty to supply certified copies: Certified copies of plans must be supplied to the Registrar of Titles, to the chief executive officer of the department principally assisting in the administration of the Public Works Act 1902, and to the local government (s 3(2)). The Act does not describe the timing, form, cost recovery or dispute resolution for these certified copies; it simply prescribes their supply.
• Notification duty: An authorised land officer or a surveyor authorised by them must give “practicable, reasonable” notice to the local government of the intention to place marks in roads, streets or ways (s 5). The obligation is qualified by the “when practicable” phrase, introducing discretion.
• Local government preservation duty: When marks are placed in roads, streets or ways for permanent marking, the local government for the time being shall protect and preserve such standard survey marks and shall not destroy, mutilate, deface, alter, or take them away without the written authority of an authorised land officer (s 6(1)). This is a positive duty on local governments in respect of marks within their district.

Rights and powers conferred

• Power to make standard surveys: An authorised land officer may cause a standard survey to be made in any locality for the purpose of establishing standard survey marks (s 3(1)). This is an enabling power permitting public action to create the underlying spatial infrastructure.
• Entry and survey powers: Under s 4, an authorised land officer or any surveyor specially authorised by him may enter and re-enter any land or any public or private road, street or way with assistants, take materials from or dig and bore into land to ascertain soil type, mark buildings, walls or fences, fix or set up survey marks and do all things necessary for carrying out such survey or for inspection, renewal, repair or alteration of any standard survey mark. These are substantive powers affecting property and physical land.
• Power to authorise surveyors: The Act allows an authorised land officer to specially authorise a surveyor to exercise the powers in s 4 (s 4 preamble).
• Written authority requirement: Only an authorised land officer can give the written authority required to destroy, mutilate, deface, alter or remove a standard survey mark in a road, street or way (s 6(1)). That creates a gatekeeper role for the authorised land officer in relation to changes to marks.
• Regulatory power: The Governor may make regulations for the purposes of the Act (s 7), which is the constitutional route for adding detail or procedures not contained in the Act itself.

Enforcement mechanism and limitations

• Criminal sanction for interference or obstruction: The Act prescribes a summary offence for persons who, without authority, destroy, mutilate, deface, take away or alter marks or obstruct a surveyor in carrying out a standard survey, carrying a maximum penalty not exceeding $40 (s 6(2)). The Act specifies the form of enforcement as summary conviction but does not detail enforcement procedures beyond that.

Notable absences in duties and rights

• Compensation: The Act is silent about compensation to landowners for materials taken, damage during surveys, or other intrusions that may result from survey activities. The Act neither confers a direct right to compensation nor prescribes a mechanism for payment where land is entered or materially affected.
• Timing and format: Although the Act mandates the supply of certified copies of plans, it does not specify timing for supply, any charges recoverable by the Land Information Authority, or dispute resolution pathways for contested plans or entries.
• Procedural safeguards: The notification duty in s 5 is qualified by “when practicable,” but the Act does not define “reasonable notice” or provide appeal rights for affected parties against survey decisions or authorisations.

In sum, the Act creates specific operational powers for authorised land officers and authorised surveyors and imposes protection duties on local government. Enforcement is achieved through a summary offence and a small maximum penalty, while key ancillary matters such as compensation and procedural timeframes are left unaddressed in the Act’s text.

The Act’s enforcement regime is narrow and concentrated on preventing unauthorised interference with standard survey marks and obstruction of surveys. The statutory penalty and the procedural vehicle for enforcement are specified directly in the text.

Statutory offence and penalty

• Section 6(2) creates the primary criminal offence in the Act. It applies to any person who, without the authority of an authorised land officer, destroys, mutilates, defaces, takes away, or alters the position of any standard survey marks, or who obstructs any surveyor in carrying out any standard survey. The mode of conviction is by summary conviction and the maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $40 (s 6(2)).
• The Act does not provide for any other civil remedies or administrative penalties within its text. It also does not set out whether injunctive relief, restitution, or other remedies are available under other general law provisions; the Act confines its own enforcement to the criminal charge it prescribes.

Who enforces

• The Act does not specify which prosecuting authority or official enforces the offence in s 6(2). It refers only to liability on summary conviction. The natural inference from the text is that prosecutions would proceed by ordinary criminal process in the courts with jurisdiction over summary matters, but the Act does not itself specify the prosecuting agency or enforcement procedures.

Scope and limitations of enforcement

• The Act limits the sanction to a monetary fine not exceeding $40. There is no provision for imprisonment, for order-making powers to compel repair or reinstatement, or for civil damages within the Act. The penalty is modest as stated in the Act and there is no mechanism in the text for escalating penalties for repeated offences, nor for fixing the amount by reference to a scale or to regulations.
• The Act requires written authority from an authorised land officer for the alteration or removal of marks by a local government or any person (s 6(1)). This creates a precondition to lawful alteration. The Act does not, however, prescribe administrative procedures for issuing such written authority, nor does it prescribe administrative checks, mandatory consultation, or compensation when written authority is granted.

Regulations

• The Governor may make regulations for the purposes of the Act (s 7). That means details on enforcement processes, prescribed forms of notice, or other enforcement tools could exist in subordinate legislation, but none are contained in the Act text supplied. The Act does not indicate whether the maximum penalty in s 6(2) could be adjusted by regulation.

Practical enforcement implications

• Because the enforcement mechanism in the Act is limited to summary conviction and a specified fine, the practical deterrent effect depends on prosecutorial choice, policing attention, and judicial imposition of penalties up to the statutory maximum. The Act itself contains no administrative enforcement powers such as remedial notices, seizure, or on-the-spot fines.

In short, enforcement under the Act is confined to a single summary offence with a monetary maximum penalty not exceeding $40 (s 6(2)), alongside the gatekeeping role of an authorised land officer in issuing written authority to alter or remove marks (s 6(1)). The Act leaves procedural enforcement detail and broader remedies either to regulations to be made under s 7 or to other general law mechanisms not addressed in the Act.

The Standard Survey Marks Act 1924 expressly cross-refers to several other statutes, and its operation depends in part on definitions and entities created elsewhere. The Act itself is short and leaves several operational matters to those other laws or to regulations.

Statutory references within the Act

• Authorised land officer: the Act defines this term by reference to the Land Administration Act 1997 (s 2). The identity, powers and possibly appointment or delegation arrangements for an authorised land officer are therefore determined by that Act. The Standard Survey Marks Act does not reproduce or expand that definition; it relies on the external statute.
• Surveyor: the Act defines a surveyor as a surveyor licensed under the Licensed Surveyors Act 1909 (s 2). Licensing and the regulatory regime for surveyors are therefore governed by that separate statute.
• Retention of plans by Land Information Authority: s 3(2) requires that plans representing surveys be retained by the Western Australian Land Information Authority established by the Land Information Authority Act 2006 section 5. The practical storage, custodial responsibilities, and any related obligations are therefore informed by the Land Information Authority Act 2006.
• Certified copies to the department assisting Public Works Act 1902: s 3(2) requires supply of certified copies to the chief executive officer of the department principally assisting in the administration of the Public Works Act 1902, linking operations under this Act to public works administration.
• Amendments effected by the Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1987 and later amending statutes: the Act’s text bears amendment notes (e.g. references to sections commencing on certain dates) and the compilation table records the sequence of amending statutes. This shows the Act’s content has been adjusted to align with new institutional names and administrative structures.

Practical intersections and lacunae

• Custodial and record-keeping integration: by requiring plans to be retained by the Land Information Authority and certified copies to be supplied to other public offices (s 3(2)), the Act integrates survey marks into the public spatial data infrastructure. The Act itself does not specify data standards, access regimes, or fees; those operational matters may be governed by the Land Information Authority Act 2006 or other records and information legislation.
• Local government obligations and general local government law: the Act imposes a duty on local governments to protect and preserve marks placed in roads, streets or ways (s 6(1)) and requires local governments to receive certified copies of plans (s 3(2)). It does not, however, specify how that duty interacts with local government powers to modify or maintain roads under local government legislation. The Act contains no express provision on whether local governments may seek compensation for costs of preservation or repair.
• Property rights and compensation: the Act grants powers of entry and material extraction for survey purposes (s 4). It does not provide for compensation within its text. Any interaction with property rights law, compulsory acquisition provisions, or compensation regimes will therefore depend on those other regimes, if applicable, because the Act itself is silent.
• Enforcement and criminal procedure acts: s 6(2) prescribes liability on summary conviction for certain acts. The Act does not specify procedural aspects, prosecutorial authority, or court jurisdiction beyond the form of conviction. Those aspect will therefore interact with the general criminal procedure and court jurisdiction laws, which the Act does not mention.
• Regulation-making and subordinate law: the Act grants the Governor power to make regulations (s 7). Any detailed procedural, evidentiary or administrative interaction with other laws may be established through regulations made under that power. The Act contains no schedule of those regulations in the supplied text.

Amendment history and statutory evolution

• The compilation table records amendments by several laws over time, including the Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1987, Local Government (Consequential Amendments) Act 1996, Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1997 and the Land Information Authority Act 2006. Those amendments have modified definitions, authority allocation and record-keeping destinations so the Act currently operates in a statutory landscape shaped by later land administration and information management statutes.

In sum, the Act is deliberately compact and delegates definitional and institutional detail to other statutes. Its operational efficacy depends on the definitions and structures supplied by the Land Administration Act 1997, the Licensed Surveyors Act 1909, the Land Information Authority Act 2006, and on any regulations enacted under s 7. Where the Act is silent on interactions such as compensation, procedural safeguards or municipal road management processes, those gaps must be looked for in the other implicated statutes.

The compilation table and amendment notes in the Act provide the full statutory lineage and show how the Act has been updated to align with evolving institutional structures. The Act’s amendments are recorded in the supplied compilation table and associated marginal notes.

Founding instrument

• Standard Survey Marks Act 1924, 8 of 1924 (15 Geo. V No. 8). Assent was on 25 November 1924 and the Act commenced on that date (Compilation table).

Subsequent amendments and reprints

• Decimal Currency Act 1965 (No. 113 of 1965). The compilation notes that certain sections were amended in connection with decimal currency changes, with commencement dates provided in the table. The notes specify which sections of the Decimal Currency Act affected this Act but do not state the textual changes in the supplied text.
• Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1987 (Pt. X, No. 126 of 1987). Assent was 31 December 1987 with a commencement recorded as 16 September 1988. The short title notes that various sections were amended by that Act. The Act inserted or clarified the role of an authorised land officer in several provisions; the text shows subsequent references to authorised land officers and cross‑references to this amending Act in the marginal notes for s 2, s 3 and s 4, and s 5 and s 6.
• Reprint of 13 February 1989: the Act was reprinted including amendments to that date.
• Local Government (Consequential Amendments) Act 1996 (s 4, No. 14 of 1996). Assent 28 June 1996; commencement 1 July 1996. The Act’s marginal notes indicate s 2, s 3(2), s 4, s 5 and s 6 were amended with references to this Act.
• Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1997 (s 141, No. 31 of 1997). Assent 3 October 1997; commencement 30 March 1998. The compilation notes this amendment made further changes to the Act and it is included in reprints.
• Reprint 2: the Act as at 5 September 2003 includes the amendments listed above.
• Land Information Authority Act 2006 (s 159, No. 60 of 2006). Assent 16 November 2006; commencement 1 January 2007. Section 3(2) was amended to refer to retention of plans by the Western Australian Land Information Authority established by the Land Information Authority Act 2006 section 5.
• Standardisation of Formatting Act 2010 (s 51, No. 19 of 2010). Assent 28 June 2010; commencement 11 September 2010. The marginal note indicates formatting standardisation amendments.
• Reprint 3: the Act as at 18 September 2015 includes the amendments listed.

Omissions and editorial notes

• The compilation notes that section 8 was omitted under the Reprints Act 1984 s 7(4)(f). The supplied text records “[8.] Omitted under the Reprints Act 1984 s. 7(4)(f).” No substantive effect of that omission is set out in the Act text.

Textual effects of amendments visible in the current text

• Several marginal notes record that references to the Surveyor General have shifted to authorised land officers after amendments. For example, s 2’s definition of survey mark contains a parenthetical insertion referring to the commencement of s 46 of the Acts Amendment (Land Administration) Act 1987 and the role of an authorised land officer.
• Section 3(2) was updated to specify the Land Information Authority as the body retaining plans, reflecting institutional reform effected by the Land Information Authority Act 2006.

The compilation table therefore gives the complete statutory timeline as contained in the supplied materials. It demonstrates that the Act has been maintained and updated to reflect institutional change in land administration and information management, while the Act’s core purpose and operative provisions remain relatively concise.

The supplied Act text and compilation notes do not list any judicial decisions, reported cases, or litigation history relating to the Standard Survey Marks Act 1924. The statutory compilation provided contains only the primary legislation, amendment history, reprint details and marginal notes. It does not include a schedule of cases or annotations of judicial interpretation.

What the absence in the source means for research

• The Act’s compilation in the supplied text does not purport to provide a comprehensive digest of litigation. It contains no case law entries, no citations to judicial decisions, and no paragraphs summarising how courts have interpreted the Act. Therefore this piece cannot identify instances where courts have applied, construe or limited the Act’s scope, because the supplied source does not provide any such material.
• The Act uses terminology that could give rise to litigation - for example, the meaning of “when practicable, reasonable notice” in s 5, the scope of “obstructs any surveyor” in s 6(2), the boundaries of the power to “take materials from, or dig and bore into any land” in s 4, and the interface between the Act’s powers and private property rights where the Act is silent about compensation. Whether courts have been asked to resolve those issues is not recorded in the supplied text.

How to proceed if litigation history is needed

• The natural follow‑up from the supplied Act is to consult law reports, legal databases and court records for decisions that mention the Standard Survey Marks Act 1924, search for cases that interpret the Act’s key phrases and provisions, and check whether any statutory interpretation or enforcement proceedings have arisen. The Act text provided does not itself supply such material.

In short, the Act’s supplied text contains no litigation history. Any claims about judicial treatment, contested enforcement, or case-law development would require external case research beyond the content of this Act as supplied.

The Act’s brevity and reliance on other statutes create a number of practical caveats and points where parties should take care. These “gotchas” arise from the Act’s silences, its allocation of discretion, and the small range of enforcement tools it provides.

1. Broad entry and land-interference powers with no express compensation mechanism

• Section 4 authorises authorised land officers, or surveyors authorised by them, to enter and re-enter land and roads, take materials from land, and dig and bore into land. The Act does not address compensation for damage or loss resulting from such activity. The absence of an express compensation provision in the Act is material for landholders who may suffer interference to property. The Act itself is silent on compensation.

2. Local government preservation duty but no operational funding or remedial procedure

• Section 6(1) obliges the local government for the time being to protect and preserve marks placed in roads, streets or ways. The Act does not provide for funding, cost recovery or a remedial procedure where preservation imposes costs on local government. The duty could therefore impose an unfunded operational obligation. The Act is silent on whether local governments can seek reimbursement or assistance from the agency that caused the marks to be placed.

3. Low statutory penalty and limited enforcement tools

• The Act prescribes a maximum penalty of $40 on summary conviction for interference or obstruction (s 6(2)). The modest statutory maximum may limit deterrence. The Act does not supply administrative enforcement mechanisms such as comply notices, remedial orders, on-the-spot fines, or escalation measures.

4. “When practicable, reasonable notice” is subjective

• Section 5 requires giving reasonable notice to local governments “whenever practicable” before placing marks. The Act does not define what constitutes reasonable notice or provide a minimum timeframe. That vagueness allocates substantial discretion to authorised land officers and could be a point of dispute if a local government claims inadequate notice.

5. Gatekeeping via written authority

• Section 6(1) makes written authority of an authorised land officer the precondition for destroying, altering, or removing marks. The Act does not prescribe the form, content, or process for seeking that written authority. Practitioners should note that lawful removal or alteration depends on acquiring such authority; failure to secure it attracts the offence in s 6(2).

6. Reliance on external statutory definitions and agencies

• The Act’s operation is linked to the Land Administration Act 1997 for the definition of authorised land officer and to the Land Information Authority Act 2006 for the custodian of plans (s 2; s 3(2)). Users must consult those statutes to understand who is authorised and how plans are managed. The Act itself does not supply the organisational detail.

7. Lack of procedural safeguards for affected landowners

• There is no appeals process or prescribed consultation procedure for landowners affected by entry or by placement of marks. The only statutory procedural requirement is the qualified notice to local governments in s 5. Affected landowners’ recourse is therefore unclear in the Act itself.

8. Records and certified copies without detail on access or costs

• Section 3(2) requires certified copies be supplied to certain public officers. The Act does not specify the process for other stakeholders to obtain such copies, whether fees apply, or how certified copies are authenticated if a dispute arises.

9. Potential overlap with local government road management and public works statutes

• The Act requires certified copies to the department assisting administration of the Public Works Act 1902 and imposes duties on local government, but does not harmonise its rules with local government or public works powers. Operational conflicts could arise; the Act does not provide a conflict-resolution mechanism.

10. Amendment and reprint history to track

• The Act has been amended multiple times and reprinted. Practitioners should ensure they rely on the current, consolidated text and take account of any regulations made under s 7. The compilation table in the Act provides dates of amendment and reprints for that purpose.

These points are drawn from the statutory text and its marginal notes. They identify areas where the Act’s silence, modest sanctions, or delegation of definition to other statutes generate practical risks or uncertainty requiring attention when planning or challenging survey activity.

Compliance under the Act splits across the roles the Act recognises: authorised land officers and their authorised surveyors, local governments, and members of the public or private landowners. The Act specifies precise duties and limited procedures; the following steps reflect what the Act itself requires.

For authorised land officers and authorised surveyors

• Ensure authorisation: an authorised land officer should confirm that they meet the statutory definition in the Land Administration Act 1997 before exercising powers under this Act (s 2). When delegating to a surveyor, ensure the surveyor is licensed under the Licensed Surveyors Act 1909 and is “specially authorised” by the authorised land officer to exercise s 4 powers (s 2; s 4).
• Give practicable, reasonable notice to local government: when intending to place standard survey marks in roads, streets or ways, give the local government reasonable notice when practicable (s 5). Because the Act does not define “reasonable notice,” document the notice provided, including dates, methods of delivery and any responses from local government, to support a record of compliance.
• Maintain and supply plans: cause plans representing standard surveys to be prepared and ensure they are retained by the Western Australian Land Information Authority, and ensure certified copies are supplied to the Registrar of Titles, the chief executive officer of the department principally assisting the Public Works Act 1902, and the relevant local government (s 3(2)). Keep records of the certified copies supplied, including dates and recipients.
• Issue written authority for alteration or removal: if any alteration, removal or work affecting a standard survey mark is required, issue or obtain written authority from an authorised land officer as required by s 6(1). Ensure the written authority is recorded and retained.
• Exercise entry and land-interference powers lawfully: when entering land, taking materials, marking buildings, or carrying out work, document the purpose, scope and necessity of the intervention and ensure work complies with applicable environmental, safety and other statutory obligations outside this Act, because the Act itself does not set out limits or compensation requirements (s 4).

For local governments

• Accept and preserve plans: when you receive certified copies of plans under s 3(2), catalogue and retain them in accordance with local government's records policies. The Act makes local government a recipient of certified copies, so ensure staff responsible for land records are aware of this duty.
• Protect and preserve marks: once a standard survey mark is placed in a road, street or way, protect and preserve it and do not destroy, mutilate, deface, alter or take it away without the written authority of an authorised land officer (s 6(1)). Develop operational procedures for routine works near known marks to check for written authority before any work that might affect marks commences.
• Participate in notification process: request clarification from authorised land officers where the reasonable notice provided under s 5 is inadequate for local government planning. Although the Act uses the phrase “when practicable,” local governments should record any concerns about notice to preserve a documentary trail.

For private landowners and the public

• Do not interfere with marks: do not destroy, mutilate, deface, take away or alter the position of any standard survey mark placed in roads, streets or ways without written authority from an authorised land officer (s 6(1)). Doing so risks summary prosecution and a fine up to $40 (s 6(2)).
• Where surveys are to occur on private land: expect authorised land officers or specially authorised surveyors to enter land for the purpose of making standard surveys (s 4). If notice is not received and you expect surveys are imminent, contact the relevant authorised land officer or the Land Information Authority to seek clarification and to request a record of the survey plan once completed.
• Seek certified copies of plans if needed: the Act requires that certified copies be supplied to local government, the Registrar of Titles and the department assisting the Public Works Act 1902 (s 3(2)). If you need to verify the location of marks or boundaries, consult local government or the Land Information Authority records to obtain copies.

Administrative record-keeping and risk mitigation

• Keep documentary evidence of notices, written authorities, certified copies received, and any communications about the placement or alteration of marks. The Act places weight on written authority and on certified plans; those are the core legal documents under the Act.
• Where the Act is silent on compensation or other statutory safeguards, consult the Land Administration Act 1997 and other relevant statutes to identify additional procedural or compensation rights that may apply. The Act itself authorises action but does not describe compensation, so compliance planning should include a check of other applicable legislation.

Regulations

• Monitor subordinate legislation: the Governor may make regulations for the purposes of the Act (s 7). Compliance procedures should be updated to reflect any regulations made under s 7 that prescribe forms, processes, or further duties.

In practice, compliance under the Act requires careful administrative practice by authorised land officers and local governments, a strict rule for private parties not to interfere with marks without authorisation, and documented handling of plans and written authorisations as the principal legal instruments the Act relies upon.