Submitting the plans: three files, a frame with twenty items and a 24 by 36 sheet

It is Rule 2.8.4 of Chapter 2.8 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the chapter containing the Plan Drawing Standard. It does not say what may be built: it says how the plan must arrive at the system so it is not rejected. The chapter itself warns that non-compliance with these requirements may result in the system rejecting the information or in a delay in the case’s evaluation.

The standard is directed at every surveyor or licensed engineer on the Permanent Surveying Registry, under Law No. 173 of 12 August 1988, who files plans before OGPe, an autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III, the Concerned Governmental Entities or the Authorized Professionals. The plan types subject to it are those certified by authorized professionals: segregation, lotification, registration, urbanization and area-rectification plans. It may also be required of the electrical, water and sewer and transportation infrastructure components, among others.

• Submitting the digital plans through the SUI, in three files: the DWG containing the plan with the CEC, the plan in PDF format and the CEC in PDF format.Verified against the official source
• That the DWG contain objects in both work environments: model space with the drawn objects, including at minimum the applicable fundamental elements and the CEC, and paper space with a tab for the plan inside the frame and another with the completed CEC.Verified against the official source
• That the PDF be the plan exported from the DWG as it appears in paper space, with all drawn elements together with the frame, the per-parcel survey table and the summary with totals.Verified against the official source
• That the plan’s dimensions be twenty-four by thirty-six inches (24" x 36").Verified against the official source
• That every plan filed by an RPA surveyor or engineer contain the frame included in the seed file, with the company seal, the professional’s seal and signature, their physical and postal address, the scale, the type of process by acronym, the date, their name and licence number, the company’s name and telephone, the CIAPR Digital Electronic Stamp, the area for revisions, the names of the designer, draftsman and supervisor, the plan’s name, the project’s description and address, the space for OGPe’s certification seal in the lower right, and the aerial photo and the flood, calification and location maps.Verified against the official source
• Delivering the CEC in PDF format with the signature and seal of the licensed surveyor certifying the project’s georeferencing, submitted using the SUI.Verified against the official source
• Naming the files with the case number the SUI provides on filing, differentiating them by extension, and adding to the CEC’s a hyphen and the acronym CEC at the end of the numbering.Verified against the official source
• That every plan be georeferenced to the State Plane Coordinate System with the Lambert Conformal Conic projection method, using as Horizontal Datum NAD 83 (NA2011), epoch 2010, or its latest revision, and as Vertical Datum PRVD02 or its latest revision.Verified against the official source
• Using the seed file without changing or altering it in composition, nomenclature, content, layer design or symbols; the only change possible is adding a new layer where an element must be represented that is not among the preset layers.Verified against the official source

• DWG file with the plan, the title frame and the CEC, in model space and paper space.
• Plan in PDF format, twenty-four by thirty-six inches, with the frame, the per-parcel survey table and the summary with totals.
• Control Station Certification (CEC) in PDF format, signed and sealed by the licensed surveyor.
• Seed file in DWG format, downloadable from the Planning Board’s portal, with the layers, symbols, attribute blocks, line symbology and the CEC.

1. 1

   Step 1: Whom it binds and why it matters

   The drawing standard is directed at every surveyor or licensed engineer on the Permanent Surveying Registry filing plans before OGPe, an autonomous municipality with hierarchy I to III, the Concerned Governmental Entities or the Authorized Professionals. The plans subject to it are those certified by authorized professionals: segregation, lotification, registration, urbanization and area rectification. And the consequence of non-compliance is stated by the chapter itself: it may result in the system rejecting the information or in a delay in the case’s evaluation.

2. 2

   Step 2: The seed file

   To ease compliance a template or seed file was designed, a digital version of the standard containing the layer names, symbols, attribute blocks, the line symbology assigned to each layer and the CEC. The file must not be changed or altered in its composition, nomenclature, content, layer design or symbols. The only change possible is adding a new layer, and only where the professional must represent an element not among the preset layers; that new layer must meet the nomenclature and graphic-element creation specifications. The seed file was created in DWG format and is downloaded from the Planning Board’s portal.

3. 3

   Step 3: Three files, not one

   Digital plans must be submitted through the SUI. Each plan submitted consists of two file types, DWG and PDF, and to comply with the georeferencing laws and regulations they must be delivered together with the CEC in PDF format. The three files are: the DWG containing the plan with the CEC, the plan in PDF format and the CEC in PDF format. The chapter itself recommends consulting OGPe on the additional requirements the various transactions may have.

4. 4

   Step 4: What the DWG carries

   The DWG is the drawing file containing the field elements observed and represented on the plan, the title frame and the CEC, plus the seed file version used. It must contain objects in both work environments: model space with the drawn objects forming part of the plan, including at minimum the applicable fundamental elements and the CEC; and paper space, with a tab for the plan with the objects represented inside the frame and another with the completed CEC.

5. 5

   Step 5: The PDF and the 24 by 36 inches

   The plan in PDF is the plan exported from the DWG as it appears in paper space, the equivalent of the final printed plan. It must contain all drawn and represented elements together with the frame, the per-parcel survey table and the summary with totals. The frame, in turn, must meet the chapter’s requirements. And the plan’s dimensions must be twenty-four by thirty-six inches.

6. 6

   Step 6: The frame’s twenty items

   The frame is the outline bordering the sheet where the project, company and professional information is included. Every plan filed by an RPA surveyor or engineer must contain the frame included in the seed file, with: company seal; professional’s seal and signature; professional’s physical and postal address; plan scale; type of process for which the plan is filed, acronym only; date filed; professional’s name; licence number; company name; telephone number; CIAPR Digital Electronic Stamp; area for revisions; names of the designer, draftsman and supervisor; plan name; project description and address; space for OGPe’s certification seal, located in the lower right; aerial photo; flood map; calification map; and location map. A note on the source: that list’s numbering column comes out illegible in the document, so we reproduce it by content, in the order printed, without numbering it ourselves.

7. 7

   Step 7: The CEC in PDF

   The Control Station Certification must be delivered in PDF format with the signature and seal of the licensed surveyor certifying the project’s georeferencing, in compliance with the laws and regulations governing surveying practice in Puerto Rico. The document must meet the information required in Section 2.8.2.2 and must be submitted using the SUI.

8. 8

   Step 8: How the files are named

   The file name must contain the case number the SUI provides on filing, and the difference between each is its extension: the DWG and the PDF carry the same name with a different extension. For the CEC the same case number is used followed by a hyphen and the acronym CEC at the end of the numbering. It is a mechanical rule, but it is what lets the system tie the three files to the same file.

9. 9

   Step 9: The exact datum

   Every plan filed as part of the permit process must be georeferenced to the State Plane Coordinate System with the Lambert Conformal Conic projection method, using as Horizontal Datum NAD 83 (NA2011), epoch 2010, or its latest revision, and as Vertical Datum PRVD02 or its latest revision. That is the fine figure completing the general georeferencing rule of Chapter 2.1.

The three files are submitted through the SUI, under the case to which the system itself assigned the number that names the files. The seed file, the CEC and the symbol library are downloaded from the Planning Board’s portal. The additional requirements of each transaction type are consulted with OGPe.

• Submitting only the DWG and the PDF, without the Control Station Certification in PDF.
• Modifying the seed file in its composition, nomenclature, content, layer design or symbols.
• Adding new layers for elements that already have a preset layer.
• Delivering a DWG with objects only in model space, without the paper space tabs for the plan and the CEC.
• Exporting the PDF from model space instead of paper space.
• Delivering the plan in a size other than twenty-four by thirty-six inches.
• Omitting from the PDF the per-parcel survey table or the summary with totals.
• Using one’s own frame instead of the frame included in the seed file.
• Leaving the frame without the CIAPR Digital Electronic Stamp or without the space for OGPe’s certification seal in the lower right.
• Omitting from the frame the aerial photo or the flood, calification and location maps.
• Naming the files without the case number the SUI provides, or the CEC without the acronym at the end.
• Georeferencing with a datum other than NAD 83 (NA2011) epoch 2010 horizontally or PRVD02 vertically.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Planning Board

  jp

  jp.pr.gov

• OGPe Single Business Portal

  ogpe

  www.permisos.pr.gov