Permission checklist
Seven checks before your first sweep.
- 01Owner
Get clear landowner permission.
- 02User
Ask the tenant or manager too.
- 03Monument
Check national, provincial, and local protection.
- 04Excavation
Confirm no certified dig is active.
- 05APV
Read the current municipal rule.
- 06Depth
Land only; maximum 30 cm.
- 07Report
Record and report archaeological finds.
Permission from a farmer does not cancel national, provincial, or municipal restrictions.
The 30 cm rule
Measure the legal limit from the surface.
The special detector route covers only the disturbed topsoil on land. It does not make a protected place, active excavation, underwater site, or locally banned area legal.
Outside the exemption
Five reasons to keep the detector off.
Archaeological monument
National, provincial, and municipal protected archaeological monuments are excluded.
Active excavation
Do not detect where a certified archaeological organisation or university is excavating.
Under water
The exemption applies on land only. It does not allow detector or magnet recovery under water.
Municipal restriction
An APV or heritage regulation can ban detecting in all or part of a municipality.
Managed nature
Nature managers often set their own access and ground-disturbance rules. Ask the named manager.
Report the find
Save the object—and the information around it.
- 1Stop at the limit.
Never chase a signal into a deeper layer. If several related objects appear, stop sooner and leave the rest in place.
- 2Record privately.
Save coordinates, date, permission details, depth, and photographs with a scale.
- 3Report to RCE or PAN.
Archaeological detector finds fall under the reporting duty.
- 4Keep it available.
The Heritage Act route can require the entitled holder to make a reported find available for scientific study for six months.
- 5Add the municipality when needed.
Report a qualifying treasure or modern lost property there too, and inform the landowner.
Beach, dunes, and water
Dry sand can be land. The water rule still has a hard edge.
- Get permission from the owner or beach manager.
- Check the municipal APV and local heritage regulation.
- Stay out of protected dunes and managed nature areas unless specifically allowed.
- Keep any land disturbance within 30 cm.
- Do not excavate or remove objects from underwater sites under the detector exemption.
30-second decision route
Permission + place + APV + depth.
Netherlands FAQ
Five traps in one-minute answers.
Does the 30 cm rule let me search anywhere?
No. It is an exemption from the excavation ban, not permission to enter land or ignore monument, excavation, water, and municipal rules.
Can a landowner let me detect on an archaeological monument?
No. Owner permission does not make the detector exemption apply on a protected archaeological monument.
What if the owner asks me not to report finds?
Do not detect there. The reporting duty remains your responsibility.
Will PAN publish my exact detecting spot?
Official guidance says the public view shows the municipality, not the precise coordinates. Detailed access is controlled.
Can I magnet-fish instead?
Not as a way around the water rule. The detector exemption applies only on land and does not allow objects to be taken from underwater sites.