Cadastre and land registry in Morocco: what each one is for
The cadastre describes the geometry of a plot: its shape, its boundaries, its markers, its registered area. The land registry describes the rights: who owns it, and what encumbrances apply. Both come under the same agency, the ANCFCC, which explains the constant confusion I see in client files, and the months lost when the discrepancy comes to light too late.
Where to consult the cadastre in Morocco, in practical terms
Let us start with what most people searching for "cadastre Morocco" actually need: to find a document or check a piece of information about a plot of land. There is a single competent body: the ANCFCC (National Agency for Land Registry, Cadastre and Cartography), whose official website is ancfcc.gov.ma. That is the source to consult for forms, current fees and the list of regional offices. No third-party site, including this one, replaces it.
To obtain anything at all, you need an identifier for the property. In the vast majority of cases this is the titre foncier (land title) number, for example 12345/C, the letter referring to the registry district, or, for a property in the process of registration, the réquisition (application) number. Without that identifier, a postal address or the name of a subdivision is not enough to retrieve a plan reliably.
The ANCFCC online consultation service allows certain information to be checked using the title number. Graphic documents, however, are usually collected from the cadastre office of the relevant province or prefecture, or through a licensed land surveyor, who knows the procedures and which version of the plan to request.
| What you need | Relevant service | Document issued | Typical range 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find out who the owner is and check encumbrances | Land registry (conservation foncière) | Recent certificate of ownership | A few dozen to a few hundred MAD (Moroccan dirhams) |
| Know the shape and boundaries of the plot | Cadastre | Extract or copy of the cadastral plan | A few hundred MAD |
| Position the project to the centimetre | Licensed land surveyor | Dimensioned topographic survey with official coordinates | 3,000 to 8,000 MAD for a villa plot |
| Mark out the boundaries on site | Licensed land surveyor | Boundary survey report, markers set | 2,500 to 6,000 MAD depending on the number of corners |
These figures are typical ranges observed on ordinary projects in Casablanca and Rabat, to be confirmed with the ANCFCC, the local authority or the surveyor. Official fees change over time and depend on the type of service and the surface area.
Cadastre and land registry: two disciplines, one institution
The confusion stems from the administrative merger: land registration, cadastre and cartography now all fall under the same agency. So people say "I'm going to the conservation" to mean either counter. On a construction project, that approximation is expensive, because the two services answer different questions.
| Criterion | Cadastre | Land registry |
|---|---|---|
| Question answered | Where is the plot, what shape, what area | Who owns it, with what encumbrances |
| Nature | Technical and geometric | Legal |
| Medium | Plan, boundary markers, coordinates | Titre foncier, register, entries |
| Typical document | Cadastral plan, boundary plan | Certificate of ownership |
| Role in the permit application | Base plan for siting the building | Proof of the applicant's standing |
A permit application needs both. The legal side, registration, joint ownership, registered easements, deserves separate treatment: I cover it in the guide devoted to the titre foncier, available from the guides page. This text deals only with geometry, in other words with what determines the shape of your future home.
What a cadastral plan really tells you
When a client sends me their cadastral plan, I look at five things, in this order.
- The actual shape of the plot. Perfectly rectangular plots are rare. An 87-degree corner instead of 90 barely shows on paper, but it shifts a wall by 40 cm over a 12-metre length.
- The number of sides and their lengths. A plot with six corners calls for very different siting decisions from one with four.
- The registered area shown on the plan. This is the official surface area of the title, the basis for calculating the plot ratio.
- The relationship with neighbours and the street. Which side is party wall, which side faces the road, is there a corner onto two streets. This governs orientation, views and setbacks.
- The title number and registry district, which allow everything to be cross-checked against the certificate of ownership.
What the cadastral plan does not give is just as decisive: no levels, so no slope and no threshold height, no survey of existing buildings or of boundary walls as actually built, no position of manholes, poles, utility lines or trees, no road level in front of the entrance. On a sloping site in Rabat or Bouskoura, that missing information can represent several hundred thousand dirhams of earthworks.
| Information | Cadastral plan | Topographic survey |
|---|---|---|
| Official boundaries and registered area | Yes | Yes, with measured discrepancies |
| Levels, slope, road height | No | Yes |
| Existing buildings and walls | Rarely up to date | Yes, as at the survey date |
| Manholes, poles, trees | No | Yes |
| Boundary markers found on site | No | Yes, with formal report |
In short, the cadastral plan tells you what you are entitled to occupy. The survey tells you how you are going to build it. A serious villa plan is drawn on the second, not the first.
Boundary markers, formal boundary setting and the surveyor's role
Boundary markers are the physical points that translate the plan onto the ground: concrete blocks, iron pins, sealed marks at the corners of the plot. They often disappear, torn out during earthworks, buried under fill, or moved when a neighbour builds a boundary wall.
Boundary setting consists of locating or re-establishing those points from the coordinates in the title. It is carried out by a licensed land surveyor. It is called contradictory boundary setting when the adjoining owners are formally invited and sign the report: this is the version that carries the most weight in the event of a future dispute, because the neighbour can no longer claim to have been unaware of the boundary.
What the surveyor provides and the plan never will:
- a link to the official coordinate system, giving a legally defensible layout rather than an interpretation;
- a comparison between theoretical boundaries and actual occupation of the ground, with any encroachments quantified;
- levels, essential for setting floor heights, gravity drainage and garage access;
- a dated, signed document that the authorities accept, unlike a sketch.
On my sites, I always require a setting-out report before the first bucket of soil is moved, when the surveyor marks the building axes on the ground. It is a modest expense compared with the cost of rebuilding foundations that are 60 cm out of position.
Registered area versus actual area: the classic discrepancy
It is common for the area measured on site to differ from the registered area shown in the title. The gaps I see most often range from a few square metres on a recent subdivision plot to several dozen square metres on older land resulting from successive divisions or from titles established long ago.
The usual causes: a boundary wall built on the boundary line rather than inside the plot, an encroachment tolerated for years, a strip given up for road widening and never formalised, or simply older measuring methods.
The practical rule to remember: it is the registered area in the title that governs the regulatory calculations, plot ratio, building footprint, number of permitted dwellings. A client who buys 320 m² on the ground but whose title states 300 m² will build on the basis of 300 m². Checking this before signing a preliminary sale agreement avoids a five-figure surprise, particularly when land is priced per square metre. This ties in with the reasoning I set out in the guide to the cost of building a house in Morocco: buildable area drives the budget far more than architectural style does.
When the discrepancy is significant and problematic, correcting it involves a technical procedure with the cadastre, processed on the basis of a surveyor's survey. Timescales depend entirely on the file and the registry district, so I will not venture a figure.
Division, construction, and an up-to-date base plan for the permit
The cadastral plan is not fixed. It must be updated whenever an event changes the geometry or the subdivision:
- Subdivision: splitting one title into several plots, each receiving its own title and its own plan.
- Merger of two adjoining titles, common when you buy the neighbouring plot to enlarge a project.
- Split into co-ownership units after an apartment building is completed, to create individual titles for the flats.
- Recording the completed building once construction is finished.
For a permit application, the local authority expects a recent base plan, generally no more than a few months old depending on local practice, to be confirmed with the relevant counter. The reason is simple: the plan is used to check setbacks, alignment and footprint. A 2011 plan on which the road has since been widened has no verification value at all. The application itself is submitted in Morocco through the Rokhas platform, and law 016-89 requires the signature of an architect registered with the National Order of Architects: the process is described in detail in my guide to the building permit in Morocco.
In practice, when I put together a file in Casablanca or Rabat, I ask the client at the very first meeting for a recent certificate of ownership, a recent cadastral plan and, if the land is in a subdivision, the approved subdivision plan with its regulations. Without those three documents I can sketch, but I cannot guarantee anything.
What causes hold-ups in practice
Here are the situations that come up most often and cost weeks or months.
A plan that is too old
The client produces a plan found in the 2009 purchase file. In the meantime, the road has been realigned or a neighbouring plot has been divided. The application comes back from the counter as non-compliant, and it is back to the cadastre office.
A registered area that does not match
The survey shows 420 m², the title says 396 m². The project was designed for 420. It has to be redrawn, the areas recalculated, sometimes a bedroom removed. This is sorted out upstream, never downstream.
A boundary wall outside the boundary
The existing wall, built fifteen years ago, encroaches 70 cm onto the neighbour's land or onto public property. As long as nobody builds, nobody says anything. On the day of the boundary survey, it all surfaces.
A division never formalised
The seller "cut" the land in two and sold half by deed, without registering the subdivision with the cadastre. The title still covers the whole. No permit can be processed for a plot that does not exist administratively.
A right of way used on the ground but absent from the plan
The track the neighbour has always used crosses the land. If it is registered in the title, it constrains the project. If it is not, the matter must be settled before drawing, not after.
Unregistered land
No title, therefore no cadastral plan, therefore no standard application file. This is a serious legal matter, to be dealt with by a notaire (notary) or a lawyer before any investment in design.
This guide describes what I observe on design projects. It does not constitute legal advice. For ownership, inheritance, joint ownership or a boundary dispute, consult a notaire, a lawyer or the ANCFCC directly.
How I use these documents on a project
My work begins with a cross-reading of the certificate of ownership, the cadastral plan and the applicable planning regulations. From that reading emerges a buildable envelope: what can actually be built, on what footprint, at what height, with what setbacks. It is the foundation for everything else.
I offer a feasibility assessment at 1,500 to 2,500 MAD, which consists precisely of checking these elements before the client commits any further. For a villa of 150 to 200 m², a design assignment including the permit application runs between 15,000 and 40,000 MAD, and a full assignment with site supervision between 8 and 12% of the works value, 10 to 20% for interior architecture. The details are on the fees page, and these 2026 ranges remain subject to a quotation depending on how complex the site is.
Surveyor, cadastre and land registry fees are paid directly by the client to the bodies and providers concerned. I include them in the budget forecast; I do not invoice them on.
To understand where each professional's role ends, the guide architect or interior architect and the about page explain how I work, and projects shows the kind of commissions I handle, including the My Laser centres in Casablanca and Tangier.
What clients ask me most
Can the Moroccan cadastre be consulted online free of charge?
The ANCFCC offers online consultation services at ancfcc.gov.ma, accessible using the titre foncier number. They allow certain information to be checked, but obtaining an official cadastral plan extract or a certificate of ownership remains a paid service, collected at the counter or ordered according to the procedures published by the agency. Always check fees and procedures on the official website.
What is the difference between the cadastral plan and the titre foncier?
The cadastral plan describes the geometry: the shape of the plot, the length of each side, the position of the boundary markers, the registered area. The titre foncier describes the rights: the owner's identity, mortgages, easements and various entries. Both are issued by the ANCFCC and complement one another. A permit application needs both, one to draw with, the other to prove the applicant's standing.
My land is bigger than what the title says. Can I build on the actual area?
No. Regulatory calculations, plot ratio and building footprint, are based on the official registered area in the title. If the survey shows more, the surplus is not buildable until the situation is formalised with the cadastre, on the basis of a survey by a licensed land surveyor. This point should be checked before purchase, not afterwards.
Do I need a surveyor if I already have the cadastral plan?
Yes, as soon as building is involved. The cadastral plan gives no levels, no position of utility lines and no record of the actual state of boundary walls, and the markers have often disappeared from the site. A topographic survey tied to official coordinates and a setting-out report before earthworks prevent level errors and misplaced foundations, which are the most expensive things to put right on a site.
My cadastral plan is several years old. Is it still valid for a permit?
Generally no. Planning counters expect a recent base plan, with the accepted age varying from one local authority to another: check with the relevant planning department or on Rokhas. An old plan no longer reflects road widening or divisions carried out around the plot, and the application risks being returned as non-compliant.
The land was divided by notarial deed but not at the cadastre. Is that a blocker?
Yes, it is a complete blocker. Until the subdivision has been processed and the plot has its own title and its own plan, it does not exist administratively and no permit can be filed in its name. Putting it right requires a licensed land surveyor and a notaire, and it takes time.
Tell me about your land
Send me your cadastral plan, your certificate of ownership and, if you have it, the subdivision regulations. I will tell you what these documents actually allow you to build and what is missing before any drawing starts. Write to me via the contact page or call +212 661 25 78 84.
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