Appointed Chartered Surveyor: When the state expropriates

Projects

The Appointed Chartered Surveyor from LE34 acts as a professional sparring partner for the State Commissioner, who implements the compulsory acquisition of land and rights to state construction projects, such as new motorways and bridges. A trusted role before, during and after the actual expropriation activity.

LE34 shows the way

PROJECT DETAILS

Client:

Danish State Commissioner for Expropriations – the Islands

Period:

Since1919

Ydelser:

Assistance to the expropriation commission
Assistance to the appraisal commission
Quality assurance of compulsory acquisition material
Participation in inspections
Participation in expropriation meetings
Real property advice
Cadastre rectification and registration

The construction of a new motorway is not just about engineering and asphalt work. It is very much about rights – and how to infringe people’s property rights in the most considerate way.

Commissioner-appointed chartered surveyor – a job with rules and respect

It is difficult to build a new road, bridge, gas pipeline, high-tension mast or other large new facility without affecting the landowners and those who live nearby. Many smaller projects involve the developer making a voluntary agreement on amended rights with the affected landowners.

However, when it comes to large-scale government construction projects, the state uses its legal authority to gain control over the necessary land through expropriation. In this way, the State guarantees itself the necessary rights for the construction project to start on time.

Expropriation, however, is a major interference in the landowner’s proprietary rights, and therefore there are high requirements as to how expropriation takes place and who plays what role in the process. The parties are the facility authority (for example, the Road Directorate or Fehmarn A/S), the landowners concerned and the expropriation commission.

The expropriation commission consists of five voting members, including the State Commissioner for Expropriations. The State Commissioner is chair of the Commission and leads the commission’s work. As the appointed chartered surveyor, our role is to support the State Commissioner.

The appointed chartered surveyor is a person who has been appointed to serve in the role by the Danish Transport Minister, in accordance with Section 8 of the Danish Expropriation Procedure Act. LE34’s Dorte Ellegaard has been the Appointed Chartered Surveyor since 2012.

Section 73(1) of the Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark

“The right of ownership is inviolable. No one can be required to dispose of his property without the general interest requiring it. This can only be done by law and in return for full compensation.”

Quality assurance at the office of the Appointed Chartered Surveyor

The expropriation commission is required to make its decisions on a satisfactory and professional basis so that the citizens concerned receive professional treatment. That is why it is an entrusted task that the Appointed Chartered Surveyor carries out as the Commission’s land surveyor, and our tasks span all stages of the expropriation process – both before, during and after the actual expropriation.

Only after the Appointed Chartered Surveyor has examined the facility authority’s material for inspection and expropriation will it be sent to the other parties.

Ledende Landinspektør: Når staten eksproprierer

Dorte Ellegaard, partner at LE34 and Appointed Chartered Surveyor

“Each expropriation case affects new citizens who are entitled to professional and human treatment, and each expropriation case contains new professional issues for which a sensible solution must be found. The LE34 team helps to ensure that every new expropriation case, despite its unique characteristics, is always solved competently.”

No new state roads or bridges without the Appointed Chartered Surveyor

Dorte Ellegaard and her LE34 team are involved in all new motorway projects on Zealand, Funen and all bypass roads, bridges and gas projects on Zealand, Funen and the Islands.

Specific construction projects include:

Crown Princess Mary’s Bridge (in Frederikssund)
The new Storstrøm Bridge
Extension of the Køge Bay Motorway (multilane)
Extension of the Funen Motorway (more lanes and more on-ramps and exits)
Establishment of underground cables transporting power from the offshore wind turbines at Kriegers Flak
Highway south of Regstrup connecting Holbaek and Kalundborg
Baltic Pipe
Frederikssund Motorway
Naestved bypass

After expropriation: Property boundaries are set and registered

When cars begin using the new motorway or bridge, our work as a Appointed Chartered Surveyor is far from over.

It is now that the facility authority gives the green light to set the new property boundaries. The work is a combination of studies and field work to hammer dozens of solid iron boundary markers into the ground. Finally, it is a task that requires close coordination with the facility authority and the Danish Geodata Agency.

We finish the task by completing the cadastral case processing and registration.

Anna Langhorn, Assistant Chief Inspector, LE34

“Before the actual marking of new boundaries takes place, we send a letter to the landowners, notifying them that we will be working on their property and what the purpose of the work is. This way they can feel safe when they see our vehicles coming to their property because they know why we are there.”

The story of the Appointed Chartered Surveyor

There is a great deal of honour and professional pride in being an Appointed Chartered Surveyor, and for many decades it has been a special assignment that passed been passed on.

The role of Appointed Chartered Surveyor has lied with LE34 since Otto Budtz was appointed Appointed Chartered Surveyor in 1919. He was succeeded by Axl Hjartinger in 1956, Knud Nielsen in 1979, Gunnar Aage in 1993 and Dorte Ellegaard in 2012. As well as being a trained land surveyor, you must be trained by the current Chief Inspector in order to inherit the role. But the story of the Appointed Chartered Surveyor is also the story of a job which, like the rest of society, has opened up more and more.

Therefore, in 2013 the job was put out to tender for the first time ever, with a high level of professionalism and thorough understanding of the human aspects of the expropriation process as the criteria for winning the tender.

The appointment as Appointed Chartered Surveyor is normally valid for a 4-year period, at which time it is resubmitted for tender. It is a personal appointment for the individual land surveyor who has been appointed to fill the role by the Transport Minister in accordance with Section 8 of the Expropriation Process Act, and who is either a co-owner or employee of the surveyor company.

Both in 2013, 2017 and 2021, LE34’s Dorte Ellegaard was chosen as the Appointed Chartered Surveyor of the Danish State Commissioner for Expropriations – the Islands.