SG Diagram South Africa: Free vs Paid Options (2026)
Quick answer: The Chief Surveyor-General's own portal at csg.dlrrd.gov.za lets you search for and view your SG diagram for free by province, town and erf number. A paid private provider does the search for you and delivers a copy, typically for a fee around R235, useful if you don't have your erf details to hand or want it done quickly.
Every SG diagram in South Africa traces back to one office, the Chief Surveyor-General, and its underlying record is public. Most people never learn this and pay a private search service by default, without knowing a free government portal does the same lookup. This guide shows exactly how to search that free portal yourself, what a paid provider actually adds when it's worth paying for, and the inconsistent turnaround times one popular paid provider states across its own pages, worth knowing about before you pay. For how your SG diagram fits alongside your zoning certificate, see our Zoning Certificate & SG Diagram Guide.
In this article
- What an SG diagram actually is, and why you might need one
- The free route: the Chief Surveyor-General's own portal
- How to search the free portal, step by step
- The paid route: when a private provider is worth it
- Free vs paid, side by side
- What your SG diagram actually shows you
- SG diagram vs general plan vs sectional plan
- Common mistakes when searching for your SG diagram
- Frequently asked questions
What an SG Diagram Actually Is, and Why You Might Need One
An SG diagram (Surveyor-General diagram) is the official document defining a single erf's boundaries, dimensions and coordinates, prepared and examined under the Land Survey Act 8 of 1997. A land surveyor produces it using equipment such as a total station, measuring every boundary beacon on the ground before the result is lodged with the Surveyor-General and archived as the erf's permanent record. Every registered piece of freehold land in South Africa has one, and it's the source document your title deed, your zoning certificate and any subdivision or building plan application ultimately rely on for exact measurements.
You'll typically need your own copy when you're checking your erf's true size before a renovation or subdivision, confirming a boundary before building near it, or supplying supporting documents for a bond, rezoning or building plan application. Most people go looking for one the first time an attorney, bank or municipal official specifically asks for it, not before.
The Free Route: The Chief Surveyor-General's Own Portal
The Chief Surveyor-General, which sits under the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development following the 2024 post-election split of the former Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development department, runs a free public search portal at csg.dlrrd.gov.za. You can search for and view a scanned copy of your SG diagram there at no cost, with no account and no application form.
Use this exact domain. Older bookmarks and forum posts may still link to csg.dla.gov.za or csg.drdlr.gov.za, both leftovers from before the department split and the office's move to its current address. Neither resolves to the live portal.
How to Search the Free Portal, Step by Step
The portal offers two separate search modes, and picking the right one first saves a few wasted attempts.
- 1Go to the free portalGo to the Chief Surveyor-General's own search page at csg.dlrrd.gov.za, not a similarly named domain.
- 2Choose your search methodChoose Search on Town/Region/Farm Name if you know the property's location, or Search on Document No if you already have the diagram or general plan number.
- 3Enter your property detailsFor a location search, select the province, mark it as rural or urban, and enter the town and erf number. Portion defaults to 0 for a full erf, and farm name is optional for rural searches.
- 4View or download the scanned diagramOpen the search result and view or download the scanned image of your SG diagram.
- 5Confirm it before relying on itHave a land surveyor or your conveyancer confirm the diagram before relying on it for a legal or building matter, since an old scan can be hard to read and doesn't itself certify current boundaries.
The Paid Route: When a Private Provider Is Worth It
A private provider doesn't have access to anything the free portal doesn't; it runs the identical search against the same government record and charges for doing it on your behalf. That's worth paying for in a few specific situations: you don't have the province, town or erf number to hand, you want the search done and delivered without doing it yourself, or you'd rather have one email with the result than navigate a government site.
One widely used provider, eDEEDS, charges R235 per diagram, confirmed directly on its own service pages. Its stated turnaround isn't consistent across its own site: one page promises delivery "within minutes" of payment clearing, another states a standard "1 working day," with a further note elsewhere of "2 to 3 working days" in some cases. None of this makes the service unreliable, but it does mean the fastest figure quoted isn't necessarily what you'll get. Confirm the current turnaround directly with whichever provider you choose before assuming the quickest quoted figure applies to you.
Free vs Paid, Side by Side
What Your SG Diagram Actually Shows You
An SG diagram states your erf's boundary lines, side lengths and area, along with coordinates on the Hartebeesthoek94 datum, which replaced the older Cape Datum in 1999, using the Lo (Gauss Conform) projection system. An older diagram may still use the Cape Datum, so check which one yours uses before relying on its coordinates for a boundary dispute or a new survey.
What it doesn't tell you is what you're allowed to build. Coverage, floor area ratio, height restrictions and building lines come from your zoning certificate and your municipality's land use scheme, a separate document entirely. Our Zoning Certificate & SG Diagram Guide walks through both documents side by side, including a worked coverage-and-FAR example once you have both figures in hand.
Once you have your own erf's coverage and FAR figures from your zoning certificate, see what you're actually allowed to build.
Use the Floor Area Ratio Calculator →SG Diagram vs General Plan vs Sectional Plan
These three terms get used loosely and shouldn't be. An SG diagram defines a single erf. A general plan covers an entire subdivision or township at once, showing every erf created by that development in relation to each other, useful mainly if you're investigating how your own erf was originally subdivided rather than checking your own boundaries. A sectional plan is different again: it defines the individual sections and common property inside a sectional title scheme, prepared under the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 rather than the Land Survey Act.
If you own a freehold erf, you almost certainly need your SG diagram, not the general plan. If you own a sectional title unit, the sectional plan is the equivalent document for your specific section, and it's obtained through the scheme's own records rather than the CSG portal's standard erf search.
Common Mistakes When Searching for Your SG Diagram
⚠️ Watch out for these
- Searching an old, dead domain (csg.dla.gov.za or csg.drdlr.gov.za) and assuming the portal itself is offline
- Confusing your SG diagram with your title deed or your zoning certificate, three different documents with three different jobs
- Guessing at the erf number instead of confirming it first on a rates bill, title deed or zoning certificate
- Relying on an old, hard-to-read scan for a live boundary dispute without a land surveyor confirming it first
- Paying a private provider's rush fee for a "within minutes" promise a different page on the same site doesn't confirm
Want the full picture of what your zoning certificate and SG diagram let you build? Read our Zoning Certificate & SG Diagram Guide, with a free PDF checklist →
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The Chief Surveyor-General, under the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, runs a free public search portal at csg.dlrrd.gov.za where you can search for and view scanned SG diagrams at no cost. It isn't a certified copy, but it's the same scanned document a paid provider ultimately pulls from.
For a location-based search you need the province, whether the property is rural or urban, the town, and the erf number, with portion defaulting to 0 for a full erf and farm name optional for rural properties. If you already have the diagram or general plan number from a previous document, you can search directly by that number instead.
You'll almost always want your own SG diagram, not the general plan. An SG diagram covers just your own erf's boundaries and coordinates, prepared under the Land Survey Act 8 of 1997. A general plan is the wider document behind an entire subdivision or township, showing every erf a development created at once, useful mainly if you're tracing how your own erf came to exist rather than confirming its current boundaries.
Those are earlier addresses from before the Chief Surveyor-General's office moved under the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, following the 2024 post-election split of the former Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development department. If an old bookmark or printed guide sends you to either one, update it to csg.dlrrd.gov.za rather than assuming the portal itself is down.
One widely used private provider, eDEEDS, charges R235 per diagram, confirmed directly on its own service pages. Its stated turnaround isn't consistent between its own pages: one states delivery within minutes of payment clearing, another states a standard one working day, with a further note of 2 to 3 working days in some cases. Paying doesn't get you a different or more accurate document, only convenience, so it's worth it mainly when you don't have your own erf details to hand.
An SG diagram confirms your erf's boundaries, dimensions and coordinates, not what you may build on it. Coverage, floor area ratio, height and building lines come from your zoning certificate and your municipality's land use scheme instead. Once you have both figures, the Floor Area Ratio Calculator works out your maximum footprint and floor area in one step.
For most everyday checks, confirming your erf's dimensions before a renovation, a subdivision enquiry, or satisfying your own curiosity, the free scanned copy is enough. A certified copy matters more when a bank, attorney or municipal application specifically requires one; ask whoever is requesting it whether a certified copy is actually required before paying for one you may not need.