FMB Sketch, Tippani and Akarband: Verifying a Bengaluru Plot's Boundaries

A buyer about to pay for a corner plot in a Bengaluru layout in October 2026 walked the site with a tape and a copy of the seller's sketch, and the numbers almost matched. Almost. One side was shorter than the paper claimed, and the compound wall of the neighbour sat a little inside where the boundary should have been. The seller's sketch could not resolve it, because a seller's sketch is just a drawing. The survey department's field measurement book could, and when the buyer pulled the FMB sketch and the tippani, the shortfall was there in the official record. What looked like a small discrepancy was a strip of the plot he would have paid for and never owned.

The short answer. Survey documents, the FMB sketch, the tippani and the akarband, tell a buyer the true boundaries, measurements and extent of a Bengaluru plot, independent of the seller's drawing. They establish where the plot is and how big it is, not who owns it, so they sit beside the title documents rather than replacing them. The trade off is a modest effort to obtain them against the risk of paying for land that is short, encroached or wrongly described.

Why a seller's sketch is not enough

Most plot purchases begin with a sketch from the seller or the layout promoter, a neat drawing with dimensions and a north arrow. It is useful for orientation and nothing more, because it carries no official standing and can be drawn to flatter the plot. The land itself is defined not by that drawing but by the government survey, which measured every survey number during the settlement survey and recorded the result. When you want to know the real shape and size of a plot, you go to those survey records, not to the brochure.

This matters because boundary and extent problems are common and expensive. A plot can be a few feet short on one side, overlap a neighbour's wall, or sit across a survey number boundary in a way the seller's sketch simply does not show. Each of these reduces what you actually get for your money, and each is far cheaper to discover before payment than to litigate after. The survey documents are the tool that turns a vague sense that the numbers look right into a checked, recorded fact.

There is a second reason to care. Banks and courts recognise the survey records, not the seller's sketch. If a boundary dispute ever arises, the question will be decided on the official measurements, so a buyer who verified against them is standing on the same ground the system will use. A buyer who relied on a drawing is not.

The problem is worse on the edges of the city, where much of Bengaluru's new supply sits. Plots carved out of former agricultural survey numbers, sub divided informally over the years, are exactly the ones where the paper and the ground drift apart. A survey number that was one farm may now be a dozen sites, and unless each sub division was properly recorded, the boundaries that look obvious on the ground may not match any official measurement at all. For these plots the survey check is not a formality, it is the main event.

The survey documents and what each one shows

Karnataka's survey records come in a few related documents, maintained by the department of survey, settlement and land records. Each answers a slightly different question, and together they describe the plot precisely. The table sets them out so you know what to ask for and what each will tell you.

One relationship is worth remembering. The FMB sketch is derived from the tippani, so if the two ever disagree, the tippani is generally the record treated as primary. For most buyers the FMB sketch is the readable, practical document, but knowing the tippani sits beneath it tells you where to go if a measurement is ever questioned. The akarband, meanwhile, is where you confirm the total extent of the survey number, a useful cross check when a plot is carved out of a larger holding.

Boundaries, not ownership

The most important caution is that none of these documents proves ownership. As the guidance on the field measurement book makes clear, the FMB establishes boundaries and measurements, not ownership rights, which must be established separately through the registered sale deed and the chain of title. The survey documents answer where and how big, while the deed answers whose. Confusing the two is a classic error, and it cuts both ways. A perfect FMB sketch does not make a seller the owner, and a clean title does not guarantee the plot on the ground matches the paper.

That is why the survey check and the title check are separate and both necessary. You confirm ownership through the deed, the encumbrance certificate and the record of rights, as set out in our guide to the encumbrance certificate and title search in Karnataka, and you confirm the physical plot through the survey documents. A plot that passes one but fails the other is not a plot you have fully verified, and the gap is exactly where buyers get hurt.

How to verify a plot's boundaries before buying

The verification is a sequence of matches, paper to paper and paper to ground. The steps below give you a defensible read on the plot's extent and boundaries.

1. Note the exact survey number and hissa number of the plot from the title documents.
2. Obtain the FMB sketch and the tippani for that survey number from the survey records.
3. Confirm the survey number, hissa and extent match what the RTC record of rights shows.
4. Measure the plot on the ground and compare each side against the FMB measurements.
5. Check that neighbouring walls and structures sit outside your recorded boundary.
6. Use the akarband to confirm the total extent of the parent survey number.
7. Where anything disagrees, commission a licensed surveyor to reconcile paper and ground.

If the plot was carved from a larger parcel, the sub division record matters, and a fresh survey by a licensed surveyor is often worth its modest cost. For a plot in an organised development such as Spectra Mira plots at Gunjur, the boundaries are usually already surveyed and demarcated, but you should still match the survey records to the specific plot number you are buying rather than assuming the layout as a whole is accurate for yours.

Reading the gaps between paper and ground

The real value of the survey documents shows up in the differences they reveal. When the recorded boundaries are laid over what is actually on the site, encroachments, overlaps and missing strips appear as measurable gaps rather than vague worries. A side that is short, a corner that is clipped by a neighbour, or a plot that does not close to its stated area are all things the numbers expose before you pay. These are negotiating facts if you catch them early, and expensive disputes if you do not.

None of this requires you to become a surveyor. It requires you to insist on the official documents, match them against the land record and the ground, and bring in a licensed surveyor the moment something does not line up. The cost of that check is trivial next to the price of the plot, and it is the single most reliable way to be sure that the land you pay for is the land you receive, in the right place and the right size. Record what you find, because the same documents will reassure your own buyer when you eventually sell.

One practical habit makes this easier. Ask for the survey documents early, at the same time you ask for the title papers, rather than treating them as a last step before registration. Obtaining a tippani or FMB copy can take time, and having them in hand while you still have room to negotiate means a discrepancy becomes a price conversation rather than a reason the deal collapses at the end. Sellers of clean plots rarely object, because the documents only confirm what they are selling, and a seller who resists producing them has told you something worth knowing.

Frequently asked questions

What is an FMB sketch in Karnataka?

An FMB sketch, from the field measurement book, is an official survey document that shows a plot's boundaries, linear measurements and survey number drawn to scale. It is issued by the survey and land records department and lets a buyer confirm where the plot's limits actually lie, which a seller's sketch cannot reliably do.

Does an FMB sketch prove who owns the plot?

No. The FMB establishes boundaries and measurements, not ownership. Ownership is proved separately by the registered sale deed and the chain of title. The sketch answers where the plot is and how big it is, while the deed answers whose it is, so a buyer needs both rather than treating one as the other.

What is the difference between the tippani and the FMB?

The tippani, or tippan, is the original field measurement record of dimensions and angles from the government survey, and the FMB sketch is derived from it. If the two disagree, the tippani is generally treated as the primary record. For a buyer, both are useful, but the tippani is the deeper source to fall back on in a dispute.

How do survey documents help detect encroachment?

They let you compare the recorded boundaries against what is physically on the ground. By matching the FMB measurements and the survey number against the plot and the land record, you can see whether the plot is short, overlaps a neighbour, or has a missing strip. Gaps between paper and ground are exactly how encroachment shows up.

Last updated 2026-10-07. PropNewz Team.