Cadastral code in Georgia: the permanent registry identifier of a property and how to read it

Cadastral code: the permanent identifier of a registered property

A cadastral code (in Georgian საკადასტრო კოდი) is the string of digit groups, separated by dots, that the Public Registry gives a plot of land, a building or a flat when a right to it is first registered, and that identifies that one object for as long as it exists.

Its current legal basis is Article 9(1) of the Instruction on the Public Registry, approved by Order No 487 of the Minister of Justice of 31 December 2019. The order makes the code unique to each immovable thing and ties its creation to registration. It does not spell out the format. Instead, the way codes are formed is fixed by a separate decision of the head of the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR), which has never been published as a law. So anyone who claims to "decode" every digit of a modern code is going further than the public rules allow.

The word means something narrower in Georgia than in many other countries. Elsewhere a cadastre is often a tax or survey record kept apart from the land register, and its parcel number may say nothing about ownership. Here the cadastral data and the legal data sit in one database kept by NAPR, and the code is the key to both. Type it into the registry and you reach the owner, the area and the burdens. The step-by-step check of a code is in our guide to the cadastral code in Georgia. Below are its origin, real examples and its limits.

Zones, sectors and quarters: how the code was first structured in 2006

The clearest public description of the code's structure is older than today's order. Order No 800 of the Minister of Justice of 13 December 2006, the Instruction on registration of rights to immovable things, was in force until 20 January 2010. It set out four rules in Article 5:

Article 6 also said that quarter borders follow lines on the ground such as roads, rivers and canals. The base code was called საბაზო საკადასტრო კოდი. The same instruction gave an extract a validity of 10 calendar days (Art. 73(5)); Order 487 now sets no fixed expiry (Art. 6(9)), which is one sign of how far the rules have moved since 2006.

Two things carry over in practice. Codes are still dot-separated digit groups, and a flat's code is still longer than the code of the land under it. What we could not confirm is the official meaning and length of each group today, because the current formation rule was never published.

When a property gets a code, and when it does not

A code exists only once something is registered, and several rules decide when that happens.

• Survey first. Government Resolution No 388 of 8 August 2016, in force since 1 September 2016, sets how cadastral survey work on land is done and documented. The surveys are made by certified surveyors listed by NAPR. Since 1 June 2026 NAPR may also measure buildings and units itself; the fee is in our 2026 law changes tracker.
• No unit before its papers. Under Article 15-6 of the Law on Public Registry, a building or unit is not shown on extracts and cadastral plans until the title document and the construction documentation, or the commissioning act, are registered. An off-plan flat therefore often has no code of its own yet.
• No overlap. Article 2(l) of the same law defines "coincidence of cadastral data": the new data match data already registered. That overlap is a ground for suspending an application (Art. 21(1)).
• Unregistered land. The 2022 systematic registration reform aims to register 1.2 million hectares in 59 municipalities within three years, so a rural plot may still be waiting for its first registration and its first code.
• Permits on the map. Since 1 February 2026, under Law No 952, building permit applications are shown on the public cadastral map.

What a cadastral code looks like on paper

On a registry extract the code is the first data line, labelled საკადასტრო კოდი; Order 487 Article 6(4) lists it first among the extract's data. The same code is printed on the cadastral plan and should be repeated in the valuation report, the notarised contract and the power of attorney. Official acts quote real codes, which shows the format:

These parcel codes have four groups of 2, 2, 2 and 3 digits. The first group is the same for every code from one area in these examples, 74 around Gudauri and 02 in Rustavi, but we could not confirm a published list that ties each first group to a place. Codes in sale listings are usually masked, so we have no confirmed example of a full flat code to show.

Worked example: the "flat code" that turns out to be the land

A buyer reserves an off-plan flat in a new building in Gudauri and asks the developer for the cadastral code of the flat. The answer is a code with four groups, in the same pattern as 74.06.11.058 from the 2025 order above. What has the buyer actually received?

1. Read the shape. Four groups ending in three digits is the pattern of a land parcel code. Under the 2006 structure, a building and a unit add further groups to the base code, so this is most likely the plot, not the flat.
2. Find the reason. Article 15-6 of the Law on Public Registry keeps a unit off extracts until its construction documentation or commissioning act is registered. No unit code yet is normal for a flat being built.
3. Check what exists. Order an extract for the land code: who owns the plot, and what burdens sit on it. Ask whether a preliminary ownership right in the flat has been registered.
4. Check the permit. Since 1 February 2026 permit applications appear on the public cadastral map, which helps confirm that the building on this plot is the one being sold. Our guide to checking a construction permit covers the classes.
5. Wait for the longer code. When the unit is registered it receives its own code. Order the extract for it and confirm that it names the same building and plot.

Nothing here is a warning sign in itself. The risk is a buyer who believes the land code is the flat's code and copies it into a power of attorney or a contract as if it identified the unit.

Easily confused: code, address, numbers and the plan

The plan's fee is in our Public Registry fees guide. For the register that holds every code, see our Public Registry entry, and for the document the code opens, the registry extract entry.

The term in five languages

Georgian contracts and extracts use the full form საკადასტრო კოდი, and the related plan is საკადასტრო გეგმა.

Cadastral code mistakes that cost buyers time

• Taking the land code for the flat code. On an off-plan purchase the only code may be the plot's.
• Trusting an old code after a merger or division. The new property gets a new code, so a code from an older document may no longer lead to the object being sold.
• Decoding the digits. The current formation rule is unpublished; a code's groups do not prove a district, a floor or a flat number.
• Using the address as the identifier. Addresses change and are shared; the code does not change while the object exists.
• Ignoring a suspension for overlapping data. A "coincidence of cadastral data" means the new data match data already registered, and the application waits until that is resolved.
• Buying one code when the deal is two objects. A plot and a house, or a flat and a parking space, may each carry a code.

How to use a cadastral code when you buy

1. List every object

   Flat, parking space, storage room or plot: one code each.

2. Ask what each code covers

   Land, building or unit; an off-plan flat may have only the land's code.

3. Search the code

   Order the extract and view the parcel on the public map.

4. Look for a recent merger or division

   A new code means a new object; older papers may cite the old one.

5. Check the plan against the ground

   For land, compare the plotted outline with the fences.

6. Repeat the code exactly

   Same digits and dots in the contract, power of attorney and valuation.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cadastral code in Georgia?

The unique identifier the Public Registry gives a plot, building or unit when a right to it is first registered.

Which rule defines it today?

Article 9(1) of Order No 487, which the Minister of Justice issued on 31 December 2019.

Is the format of the code published?

No. It is set by an individual act of the NAPR chair, not by a published law.

What does a real code look like?

Dot-separated digit groups, for example 74.06.11.058, a Gudauri land parcel cited in a 2025 order.

Why does my off-plan flat have no code?

A unit is not shown until its construction documentation or commissioning act is registered (Law on Public Registry, Art. 15-6).

Does the code change?

Not while the object exists. A merger or division creates a new property with a new code.

Is the code the same as the address?

No. An address can change and many units share one; each code belongs to one object.

Who surveys land for a code?

Certified surveyors listed by NAPR, under Government Resolution No 388 of 2016.

Sources

1. Instruction on the Public Registry, Minister of Justice Order No 487 of 31 December 2019, Arts. 6 and 9, Legislative Herald of Georgia
2. Instruction on registration of rights to immovable things, Minister of Justice Order No 800 of 13 December 2006, Arts. 5, 6 and 73 (accessed 28 October 2026)
3. Law of Georgia on Public Registry, Arts. 2, 9, 15-6 and 21 (accessed 28 October 2026)
4. Order No 1-1/52 of 24 June 2025, Spatial and Urban Development Agency (accessed 28 October 2026)
5. Rustavi detailed plan, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 28 October 2026)
6. Government Resolution No 388 of 8 August 2016 on cadastral survey work, and its FAOLEX summary (accessed 28 October 2026)
7. History and head of agency, National Agency of Public Registry (accessed 28 October 2026)
8. NSDI.GOV.GE geoportal, NAPR

Change log

• 28 October 2026 - Glossary entry published from the Legislative Herald of Georgia, the Ministry of Justice, the Spatial and Urban Development Agency, NAPR and FAOLEX.