What is a cadastral code?
A cadastral code is the identity number of a property in Georgia's Public Registry. Order No 487 of the Minister of Justice, the Instruction on the Public Registry, defines it as the unique identification code of an immovable thing, assigned to it when a right to it is registered (Article 9(1)). Every registered plot of land, and every separately owned flat or non-residential unit in a building, therefore has its own code. The rule for how codes are formed is set by an individual act of the chair of the National Agency of Public Registry, not by the instruction itself.
For a buyer, the code matters more than the address. An address describes where a property is; the code identifies exactly which registered object you are dealing with. Two flats on the same landing share an address up to the flat number but have different codes, and a plot divided into two becomes two registered objects. Every check in a purchase, from the registry extract to the valuation for a residence permit, starts from the code.
Why does the code matter so much?
Because every document in a purchase has to describe the same object, and the code is the only description that cannot be misread. A listing, a viewing, a contract, a power of attorney, a valuation report and a registration application can each describe the flat in slightly different words; the code makes them all point to one registered unit. When the code is the same on every document, a buyer knows that the extract they read, the flat they paid for and the property registered to them are one and the same.
| Document | Why the code belongs there |
|---|---|
| Registry extract | It is the key you order the extract with |
| Reservation agreement | It ties your payment to one registered unit |
| Preliminary agreement and sale contract | It identifies exactly what is sold |
| Power of attorney | It stops the authority being used for another property |
| Valuation report | It shows the assessor valued the property you own |
| Registration application | It tells the registry which object the right concerns |
Where do you find the code?
The simplest way is to ask the seller or the developer for it. A seller who owns a registered property has it on their own extract and loses nothing by sharing it. The code is also printed on any extract and on the cadastral plan, and your lawyer can confirm it from the registry. If you are viewing several flats, ask for each code at the viewing; it saves a second round of questions later and tells you at once whether the property is registered.
A flat in a building that is still under construction may not yet be registered as a separate unit with its own code. In that case the registered objects are the land and, where it has been registered, a preliminary ownership right; registering ownership of a building or unit under construction requires the construction documentation set by law, under Article 16(9) of the instruction. The code of your future flat arrives with its registration, usually after the building is commissioned.
How do you check a code, step by step?
Get the code in writing
From the seller, the developer or the listing, as text, not as a photo of a screen that may be out of date.
Order the extract with it
Any person can obtain an extract by the code. Read the owner, the area, the category and every burden.
Match the code to what you saw
The address, the floor and the area on the extract should describe the flat you viewed. A different floor or area is a reason to ask.
Look at the cadastral plan for land
For a house or a plot, the cadastral plan shows the code, the area and the shape of the parcel, which you can compare with the fences on the ground.
Copy the code into every document
Reservation, contract, power of attorney, valuation and application. A single wrong digit is enough to point a document at someone else's property.
What does the cadastral plan add?
The extract describes a property in words and numbers; the cadastral plan shows it on a map. Under Article 9(4) of the instruction, a land parcel's cadastral plan contains its cadastral code, its area and its configuration, and cadastral plans and maps are issued from the registry's database (Article 9(3)). The registry's fee table lists a cadastral plan at GEL 7 for one working day or GEL 26 for the same day. For a flat in a large building the plan adds little; for a house, a plot, a villa in a resort or anything with land, it is the document that shows whether the garden, the driveway or the outbuilding you were shown is inside the registered boundary.
What does it mean when the details do not match?
- The code leads to a different address. The code given to you may belong to another property, or the listing may be wrong. Do not continue until it is explained.
- The area differs from the listing. A listing may quote an area measured differently from the registered one. Agree in the contract which area the price relies on.
- The plot on the plan is smaller than the land you were shown. Part of what you saw may belong to a neighbour or to the municipality.
- There is no code at all. The property, or the unit, is not registered as a separate object. It may be under construction, or there may be a problem with its registration.
- Several codes for what is sold as one property. A house and a plot, or a flat and a parking space, may be registered separately. Each needs to be in the contract.
Land, building and flat: how do the codes relate?
In an apartment building, the objects you meet in the registry are not all the same thing. Under Article 208 of the Civil Code, a flat or a non-residential space can be owned individually, and it passes to a buyer through a written contract followed by registration in the Public Register. Each such flat, once registered, has its own cadastral code. The land on which the building stands, and anything else registered separately in or around it, such as a parking space or a storage room, carry codes of their own.
The practical rule follows directly: when you buy a flat, you buy the object registered under its code, as the extract for that code describes it. A balcony, a basement room or a parking place that the seller "includes" is part of your purchase only if it is part of that registered object or is registered separately and named in the contract with its own code.
Codes in a valuation and a residence permit file
Where the flat is bought with a residence permit in mind, the code links three documents that the agency reads together: the extract showing your ownership and the land category, the accredited assessor's report on the market value, and your application. The assessor's report should name the same code as the extract; if you ever present more than one property, each has its own code, its own extract and its own report, and whether their values can be added together is still a question for the lawyer. A report that names the wrong code, or values a property you do not yet own, cannot do its job.
| Document | Code shown | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Registry extract | [code A] | The reference point |
| Sale contract | [code A] | Matches: the contract sells the registered flat |
| Valuation report | [code B] | Does not match: the report describes another object and must be corrected before it is used |
Risks and exceptions
- A typo in a document. A single wrong digit can make a contract or a power of attorney describe another property.
- A code given only verbally. Get it in writing and check it against the extract.
- Separate codes left out of the contract. A parking space or storage room with its own code is not sold unless the contract includes it.
- Land without a plan check. For houses and plots, the boundary is in the plan, not in the seller's description.
Frequently asked questions
Is the cadastral code secret?
No. Registry data are public, and anyone can obtain an extract. Sharing the code exposes nothing the registry would not give anyone who asks.
Does a flat have the same code as its building?
A separately owned flat is registered as its own object and has its own code, distinct from the land and from other flats.
Can a code change?
A new registered object, for example after a plot is divided, is registered with its own code. Always work from a current extract rather than an old code.
Who decides how codes are built?
The instruction on the Public Registry leaves the rule for forming codes to an act of the chair of the National Agency of Public Registry.
Does a parking space have its own code?
If it is registered as a separate object, yes. Ask, and include every code you are buying in the contract.
What if the seller will not give the code?
Then nothing can be checked. Do not pay anything until you have it.
What the code opens is explained in how to read a registry extract line by line.
Sources
- Instruction on the Public Registry, Minister of Justice Order No 487 (Articles 6, 9 and 16), consolidated 31 May 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Law of Georgia on the Public Registry (Articles 6 and 10), consolidated 1 April 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Immovable property registration: fees and terms, National Agency of Public Registry (accessed 11 October 2026)
- Civil Code of Georgia (Article 208), consolidated 25 June 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
Change log
- - Explainer published from the Instruction on the Public Registry and the registry's fee table; being reviewed by the partner lawyer.