The Land Administration Domain Model is at Draft International Stage

The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) has been published as a Draft International Standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as ISO 19152. P-Members of ISO/TC 211, Geographic Information/Geomatics, can comment on the draft and are in the position to vote on continuation of the development. Liaisons to ISO/TC 211, such as FIG, can also comment on the draft. The deadline for voting and comments is June 20th, 2011. The Draft International Standard has also been submitted to CEN/TC 287, the European Committee for Standardization member body, for a parallel five months’ inquiry.

The development of this standard is an initiative from FIG. It is a comprehensive, extensive, formal process with a continuous review and a continuous, creative approach to find common denominators in land administration systems and included data sets.

The draft standard covers basic information related to components of land administration (including water and elements above and below the earth). It includes agreements on data about administrative and spatial units, land rights in a broad sense and source documents (e.g. deeds or surveys). The rights may include real and personal rights as well as customary and informal rights. Restrictions and responsibilities can be represented in a flexible way.

LADM describes the data contents of land administration in general, based on a practical approach. The roots are in FIG’s Cadastre 2014. Implementation can be performed in a flexible way; the standard can be extended and adapted to local situations. External links to other data bases, e.g. addresses, are included. The draft standard defines the core issues in land administration. The LADM is a conceptual schema organised in packages: (1) Party Package, (2) Administrative Package and (3) Spatial Unit Package. Existing standards have been re-used, particularly from the ISO 19100 series from ISO/TC 211. It also includes the standard, ISO 19156, Geographic information – Observations and Measurements, which is under development in ISO/TC 211.

LADM can be a basis for combining data from different Land Administration Systems. The Draft International Standard includes informative example cases with people and land relationships demonstrating the flexibility of the draft standard. Further, the relationships with the INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) Cadastral Parcels model and LPIS (Land Parcel Information System – this is a part of the Integrated Administration and Control System established by the European Union Member states) are described in annexes. 3D Cadastres are covered in such a way that these seamlessly integrate with exiting 2D registrations.

Several reviews have been performed by the Editorial Committee. Formal comments as provided by the ISO/TC 211 member bodies have been discussed and processed. The Editorial Committee’s members are from nine countries and from UN HABITAT and European Commission.

Those efforts resulted in the Draft International Standard. This is a milestone and an achievement where FIG may be proud of. Comment can be provided via the national member bodies of ISO. If anyone would like to comment on the draft through FIG, please contact us at chrit.lemmen@kadaster.nl  

Christiaan Lemmen
Peter van Oosterom
Harry Uitermark

28 February 2011