Poland plans app-based permits for metal detectorists and rewards up to 25 times average wage

What changes for detectorists

Under the planned amendment to Poland's heritage protection act, amateur searches with metal detectors would no longer need written consent from the voivodeship monument conservator. Instead, a hobbyist would file a notice through a mobile application being built by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The form asks for personal data, the date and area of the search, and confirmation that the landowner agrees. Once the system returns a confirmation, the searcher may enter the field. The new rules are due to apply from 1 January 2027, a date that has already been moved twice since the law passed in July 2023.

Reporting finds and rewards

The same app would also serve to report discoveries. If three objects with possible archaeological value turn up within 100 square metres, the conservator would have six days to inspect the site and 30 days to prepare conclusions. Awards for archaeological objects of particular historical, artistic or scientific value could reach 25 times the average wage, about 222,000 zloty, and in exceptional cases 30 times, which is over 267,000 zloty. Lesser finds would earn only a commemorative diploma. Until now, rewards have been paid only to chance finders, and the amendment would extend them to notified searches.

Costs and the app

The ministry's preliminary estimate from 2024 puts the cost of building the app at 2.5 million zloty, with 80,000 zloty a year to run it. The ministry expects awards alone to cost 3.25 billion zloty in the first year. Reporting adds a further 3 billion zloty for expert analysis, conservation and storage of finds, a sum close to the 8.61 billion zloty the culture ministry has for next year. If diplomas went to every amateur searcher, which the reporting puts at 100,000 to 200,000 people, postage alone could reach 5 million zloty, against an 8.4 million zloty budget for promoting reading. Only about 1% of detectorists currently search legally, while the rest work in a grey zone deterred by the long permit process.

Doubts from officials and experts

Preparation of the app is at an early stage. On 7 September the Ministry of Digital Affairs assigned the task to the Institute of Communications, outside its plan, and lawyers have questioned whether a state research institute can receive such work without a public tender. The culture ministry has commissioned legal opinions on whether that route is allowed. Piotr Jędrzejowski, the ministry's spokesman, said:

In the near future, the final shape of the application and the rules of cooperation on its development are planned to be set.

Prof. Maciej Trzciński of the University of Wrocław warns that it may be impossible to tell whether an item submitted for a reward was found earlier, and that the system could be hard to control. Maps on the e-zabytek portal also lack coordinates for archaeological sites. Paweł Kozłowski of the Polish Association of Explorers stresses that finders of valuable treasures have so far received no rewards at all, and argues the cost estimates may be inflated. Prof. Jacek Górski, director of the Archaeological Museum in Kraków, has also voiced concern about the awards.

What comes next

The ministry has commissioned legal opinions to settle whether the Institute of Communications route is permissible. The app must still be built and tested before the amendment takes effect on 1 January 2027, and its final form has not yet been fixed. The ministry expects the final shape of the app and the cooperation rules to be set soon. Up to 20,000 people already make a steady income from searching, the reporting says.