Introduction to ePlan Technical Aspect Electronic Plans of Subdivisions SSI Summit 17 September 2008

Introduction to ePlan Technical Aspect

Electronic Plans of Subdivisions

SSI Summit

17 September 2008

Outline

Overview of ePlan – Chris Lester

• Introduction• What is ePlan? • Scope of ePlan Investigation• Other Jurisdictions• Stakeholders• Matters to be Considered• Benefits• ePlan Project Plan Considerations• Indicative Project Staging

ePlan Technical Aspects – Mohsen Kalantari

• Key Features • What is LandXML?• Victorian Specific ePlan Standard• ePlan Process Loop

What is ePlan?

• National initiative by the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM)

• Managed by ICSM ePlan working group

• National adoption of a data transfer standard

• Specifically for cadastral and survey information

What is ePlan for?

• ePlan will enable the creation of a data file of surveying information related to a subdivision survey– It is based on LandXML (an internationally recognised data

standard for the land development industry)

• ePlan file will replace the paper/PDF Plan of Subdivision– File will be lodged electronically– Data will be extracted automatically

• ePlan will use infrastructure for the digital lodgement, exchange, alteration and examination of plans of subdivisions

ePlan Vision in Victoria

ePlan Vision

Cadastral and Survey Information Download

Survey and Cadastral Data Reuse

Efficiency in Plan Preparation, Examination and Registration

Principles

Survey-accurate Digital Cadastral Database

Digital Plans of Subdivision

Fully Electronic Subdivisionand Examination Processes

Means

Authoritative Digital Cadastral Information

Standardised Data Exchange between Databases and Users

eLand Development

Outcomes

Scope of ePlan Investigation (1 of 2)

• National harmonisation by the adoption of the ICSM ePlan data model for the requirements of plans of subdivisions in Victoria

• Consultation with the stakeholders on the adoption of the ePlan format– Understanding value of ePlan to, and its use in, DSE and

industry– Engaging the CAD software vendors in the development

process– Capacity building within the subdivision process stakeholders

through running regular workshops and seminars and – Providing information on ePlan, eg by publishing articles

Scope of ePlan Investigation (cont’d) (2 of 2)

• Identification of the technical “tools” needed for ePlan and the options for supplying them. These will/might include:– a validation tool to be used by surveyors before application

or data lodgement– an online ePlan visualisation tool– an ePlan examination tool – an ePlan database management system

• Investigation of mechanisms for data base updates, including VicMap property, VOTS, SMES and LANDATA

• Investigation of mechanisms to deliver digital plan data to users

• Integration with SPEAR

Other Jurisdictions - New Zealand

• Fully operational

• Survey-accurate DCDB

• e-Survey system and LandXML based software for – Creating, importing and capturing surveys– Pre-validation of surveys and– Survey lodgement

• Digital lodgement of Cadastral Survey Datasets (CSDs) has been mandatory since 1 September 2007

• Proposals to provide an offline tool for digital plan generation, including diagram creation and editing, to improve efficiency for surveyors.

Other Jurisdictions - Queensland

• Implementing the ePlan model using the Survey Information Processing (SIP) tool

• All 2D plans are being captured via SIP

• The SIP captured digital data is being used to assist in the plan audit process

• Moving towards its second phase of its digital lodgement strategy – exposing its web services to clients and engaging the industry

vendors to provide solutions to industry.

Other Jurisdictions - New South Wales

• Building out of the electronic examination tool

• Developing and documenting data capture methodology for manually lodged plans

• Prototyping a lodgement environment

• Workshops with industry bodies

• Questionnaires to all surveyors who prepare plans

• Presentations to regional surveyors groups and industry seminars

• Designing new plans including separate entities– Plan drawings– Administrative data

Other Jurisdictions - Western Australia

• LandXML Project Board being formed

• Still investigating and developing a LandXML format for WA

• Contemplating a LandXML pilot program for plan lodgement with selected survey companies

• Existing digital format for lodgement

• Existing survey-accurate cadastral database (nearing completion)

• eLand development (linking digital Approvals and digital Plans (ePlan))

ePlan Stakeholders

Stakeholder Class

Surveyors and Professional

BodiesPrimary

CAD Developers Primary

Local Government Primary

Statutory Authorities

Primary

Spatial Information Infrastructure

Core Internal

SGV Office Core Internal

Land Victoria Subdivision Branch

Core Internal

SPEAR Core Internal

Land Developers and Property

Industry Secondary

ICSM Secondary

Matters to be considered - Surveyors

• Introducing new procedures– Initial discomfort– Self-checking approach

• Purchasing or upgrading to a LandXML certified software package– Necessity for surveyors to upgrade their current CAD software.

Need to develop strategies for surveyors to acquire an ePlan-enabled software package

• Connection to MGA grid

• Using a survey-accurate cadastral database

Matters to be considered - CAD developers

• LandXML import / export modules

• Certification from LandXML organisation • Certification from ICSM working group

• Integration with ePlan validation web service

• Integration with ePlan delivery web service

• International CAD software developers

Matters to be considered - DSE

• Survey-accurate cadastral database– Survey back capture – Automatic least square adjustment

• VicMap Property / SMES / VOTS / LANDATA updates

• Change to the provision of data to users

• Legislation changes • Plan examination process changes

• Plan registration process changes

ePlan Benefits - General

• Efficiency in plan preparation – Fewer geometric and associated human errors

• Efficiency in plan examination– Labour-intensive nature of paper-based or PDF plan

examination – Reducing risks for the examination process

• Efficient update process for cadastral databases– Automatic and simultaneous update of the internal data bases

– VicMap property, VOTS, SMES databases, etc

– Survey-accurate cadastral database benefits many other users • Standardisation

– Compliance with the national digital standard

• Data re-use– Re-use the data without further enhancement

ePlan Benefits - Surveyors

• Enhance the quality of plan data– Pre-validation of surveys

• Survey lodgement

• Survey-accurate cadastral database

• Improve access/delivery of survey info

• Reduce anomalies and requisitions

• Improve turn around times

ePlan Project Plan - Progress to Date

• Testing the standard– Testing that the standard is complete and comprehensive– Definition of the Victorian Registrar’s requirements for an

electronic Plan of Subdivision– Initial proof of concept

• Setting up for investigating the adoption of ePlan– ePlan co-ordinator / LV Steering Committee– Draft Project Plan– Preliminary consultation plan

• Using the standard– Identification of technical issues and needs– Identification of technical components needed to use ePlan– Use of ePlan in other areas, eg SII, CAD developers

ePlan Project Plan - What are we proposing to do?

• Technical– Components definition and development– Piloting / proof of concept

• Consultation– Industry– Government agencies and municipalities– CAD developers

• Co-ordination– DSE – LV, IBHT (SII), PLD– Other jurisdictions / ICSM

ePlan Project Plan - What does it mean to LV? (1 of 2)

• Resourcing– People – technical specialists, communications, organisational

support– Support materials– Infrastructure

• Costs– Business Case - cost / benefits – Technical components– Implementation in Victoria

ePlan Project Plan - What does it mean to LV? (cont’d) (2

of 2)

• Risks– Uncertainty of outcome– Interstate issues, ICSM– Funding– Industry support

• Benefits– BPR for subdivision examination– Survey-accurate cadastral database and updates– Survey information

Indicative Project Staging (1 of 2)

• Stage 1

– Consultation – Data standard specification– Identification of components and designing the infrastructure– Business case for survey-accurate cadastral database– Co-ordination with ICSM and other jurisdictions– Proto-type system for demonstration

Indicative Project Staging (cont’d) (2 of 2)

• Stage 2

– Working with CAD developers– Development and testing of the ePlan infrastructure– Identification of Subdivision Branch electronic examination needs– Identification of cadastral database infrastructure enhancement – Development of (ERC?) funding bids

• Stages 3, 4, …..

– Adoption of ePlan in SPEAR– Subdivision Branch infrastructure– SII VicMap cadastral database upgrade – ?

Outline

ePlan Technical Aspects – Mohsen Kalantari

• Key Features • What is LandXML?• Victorian Specific ePlan Standard• ePlan Process Loop

ePlan - Key Features

• Standard data format - LandXML

• Common interface - Web-based

• Paperless/PDF-less (ultimately)

• Automated data extraction

• Efficient data re-use

• Version control managed by the ePlan file

• Electronic lodgement

• Automatic updates of VicMap Property / VOTS / SMES for proposed and registered subdivisions

• More timely, accurate and complete updates to cadastral databases

What is LandXML?

• A specialized XML data file format

• Contains civil engineering and survey measurement data

• Can be used in the Land Development and Transportation Industries.

LandXML.org Goals

Specify an XML file format for civil engineering design and survey measurement data for the purposes of:

1. Transferring engineering design data between producers and consumers.

2. Providing a data format suitable for standard data archival.

3. Providing a standard format for electronic design submission.

LandXML is a “grass roots” Industry Standard

• LandXML-1.0– July 17, 2002 Ratified as an industry standard by LandXML.org.

– Based on W3C XML Schema Recommendation May 2, 2001.

– LandXML Software Developers Kit 1.0 and documentation.

• LandXML-1.1– Ratified July 21, 2006– LandXML Software Developers Kit 1.1 available now.

• LandXML-1.2– Ratified July 29, 2008– LandXML Software Developers Kit 1.2 available now.

Some Open Source Tools

LandXML Data ModelAdministrative Data

• Project – Project name and description, date.

• Application – Application used to produce the data, version.

• Author – Who created the data.

• Units – Linear, angular, area, time, temperature, pressure, diameter, volume, flow

and velocity.– Elevation unit and LatLong Angular unit

• Coordinate Systems – Grid and Projected coordinate systems

• Survey – Equipment, and data collection parameters. – Optical, EDM and GPS supported.– Personnel, surveying company– Annotations– Acts– Field book data: raw and reduced survey observations.– Scale Factor

LandXML Data ModelDesign Geometry Data

• Points– The basic 3D point with name, number, description, code and

purpose– All points support Latitude, Longitude, ellipsoid elevation

attributes• Geometry

– Contiguous Lines, circular curves, spirals, irregular lines and chains

• Parcels– Closed parcel coordinate geometry– Area, centroid, owner, class, type– 3D parcel volumes

• Monuments– Survey monument data– Survey order, class, type, description

LandXML Data ModelDesign Geometry Data

Alignments – Road centerline 2D coordinate geometry. – Profiles: vertical design alignments and sampled ground profiles.– Cross Sections: design cross sections (1.1) and sampled surface

sections.– Superelevations– Station Equations

• Surfaces (digital terrain models)– TIN – The computed Triangulated Irregular Network of 3-point triangle

faces.– Grid – 4-point grid faces.– Source Data: breaklines, contours and points used to compute the TIN

or GRID.• PlanFeatures

– Generic geometric data like fence lines, as-built data (curbs, building outlines, etc…).

Victorian Specific ePlan Standard

• Based on LandXML• Victorian specific data

– Administrative area list• County list• Parish list

– Annotation definitions list • Covenants, Owner corp.

Limitation– Jurisdiction enumerated types

• Administration area type: County, Parish …

• Monument type: Bolt, Plug, Disc,…

• Surveying Regulation – Abstract of Field Records, – Permanent Mark Sketches

and – Surveyors Report

Victorian Specific ePlan - example

ePlan Process Loop

ePlan Preparation

Work Station (Enhanced CAD

Software)

ePlan Validation Web

Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database

ePlan Examination Workstations

ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)

ePlan Database Server

ePlan Delivery Web Service (Enhanced LANDATA)

VicMap Property VOTS LANDATA SMES

Relationship between components and stakeholders

Components User Developer

ePlan Preparation Work Station

Surveyors CAD software vendors

ePlan Validation Tool Surveyors, LV Subdivision Branch

Land Victoria

ePlan-enabled SPEAR (Visualisation Tool)

Surveyors, LG, SAs,Land Victoria, SII

Land Victoria

ePlan Examination Database

Land Victoria Land Victoria

ePlan Examination Tool Land Victoria Land Victoria

ePlan Database Land Victoria Land Victoria

ePlan Database Server SII, Land Victoria SII / Land Victoria

ePlan Delivery Web Service Surveyors, LG, SAs Land Victoria / SII

ePlan Preparation Work Station

• A mechanism to prepare an ePlan file by surveyors

– Upgraded pack of the current CAD packages by CAD vendors

• Data Reuse– To transfer project information

between software programs – With stylesheets to export

LandXML data and create customized reports

• Engagement of the CAD vendors – through the ICSM ePlan working

group

– National approach will be an incentive for the vendors.

– 9 commercial softwares have registered with LandXML

ePlan Preparation

Work Station (Enhanced

CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




CAD Software converting to ePlan

ePlan Validation Tool

• Preliminary examination of ePlan files• Self checking facility for surveys

• ePlan validation communicates with • ePlan preparation work station• ePlan enabled database server through

SPEAR

• A multi stage validation• Structural validation of the ePlan files• Preliminary validation ( to lodge the

application)• Content validation (to receive the

statement of compliance)• Geometrical validation (to be lodged at

Land Victoria)

• Equipped with validation reporting • Identification of errors• Prompting to errors• Reduces requisitions

ePlan Preparation


CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




ePlan validation web service

ePlan Enabled SPEAR

• Integration to SPEAR

• Version of SPEAR with capabilities of

• uploading, • visualising and • locating ePlan files

• Visualisation tool options• Interactive map• Google Map• MS Virtual Earth• Scalable Vector Graphics

• Query from digital plans for LGs and SAs

• Restrictions• Number of lots• Area….

ePlan Preparation


CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




ePlan visualisation in Google Map

ePlan visualisation in SVG

ePlan Examination Database

• A temporary storage for the submitted ePlan files

• Strong versioning functionality to manage the retrieval of the plans

ePlan Preparation


CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




ePlan Examination Work Station

• Automating the examination process

• Making queries on digital plans

• Reducing examiners’ work load by modelling the examination steps in a software package

• Linked to a database management system capable of communicating to the ePlan examination database and ePlan database.

• Registration of the Plan in the ePlan database

ePlan Preparation


CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




ePlan Database

• A database for registered ePlan files

• A DBMS to communicate with the ePlan management system

• ePlan database can be established by

• back capturing current registered plans of subdivision and

• converting the imaged plans to ePlan data format.

ePlan Preparation


CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




ePlan Management System

• Interface for updating • Vicmap property, • VOTS, • SMES, • ….

• Interface between internal databases and ePlan delivery web service

• Interface between SPEAR and internal database

ePlan Preparation


CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




ePlan Delivery Web Service

• Online application for extracting data from

• the ePlan, • Vicmap property and • VOTS databases

• Combining the extracted data to create an ePlan file.

• ePlan preparation workstation will also be communicating with the web service to create an ePlan file.

ePlan Preparation


CAD Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




ePlan

ePlan Preparation

Work Station (Enhanced CAD

Software)


Service

ePlan-enabled SPEAR

(Enhanced SPEAR)

ePlan Examination

Database


ePlan Registration

Database (Enhanced

VOTS)




Documents

Introduction to ePlan Technical Aspect Electronic Plans of Subdivisions SSI Summit 17 September 2008