National Key Registry of the Subsurface (BRO)

National Key Registry of the Subsurface (BRO)

Spatial development in the Netherlands – both above and below ground – is an ever-increasing challenge. This is why the Dutch central government legally defined the use and supply of subsurface data in the National Key Registry of the Subsurface Act (‘BRO Act’) in 2018. This is unique in the world and provides many opportunities for companies and local governments.

Central, nationwide registration of public subsurface data

Major challenges, such as the energy transition,  climate change, the housing challenge, and ensuring economic growth, strongly impact our immediate living environment. The National Key Registry of the Subsurface (BRO) has been set up to promote the efficient use of available subsurface information by administrative bodies. The act demands the storage of all public subsurface data that administrative bodies collect or have collected in the Netherlands and the Dutch part of the continental shelf in a central, nationwide register. Legal standards outline what data stakeholders are required to provide. A special feature of this registration is that it also includes interpretations of factual information: country-wide subsurface models describing the structure and composition of the subsurface from a geological, geohydrological, and pedologic perspective.

Its use is also required by law

Administrative bodies not only have the obligation of supplying subsurface data; they are also obliged to use the register’s available data and models when performing their administrative duties. The authenticity of the data in BRO means administrative bodies can rely on its accuracy. However, when reasonable doubts about the accuracy of data exist, the administrative body that supplied the data is obliged to investigate – and, if necessary, correct – the data.

Unique in Europe and the world

BRO is unique in Europe and the rest of the world. In 2017, the process began of drafting the (exchange) standards in coordination with practitioners in the field and setting up the information chain that supports the exchange of data between systems (‘machine to machine’) and the use of data by people (‘people to machine’). Meanwhile, the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (GDN) has implemented the BRO system and, as of 2022, is responsible for its management and continued development. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) has been designated as BRO’s registrar in the BRO Act (as of 2024 ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning). The BRO Phase 2 started in 2022. Over the coming years, BRO will be enhanced by incorporating information on the environmental quality of the soil and subsurface.

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