Custom BWB integration development
Appfront builds integrations with the Basic Legal Database (Basiswettenbestand), the collection of the currently applicable national legislation that you also see on wetten.overheid.nl. Regulations and articles come into your own system as open data, in the version that applies on a given date. If an article you refer to is amended, you receive a signal, so your procedures, advice or products do not fall behind the law.
What is a BWB integration?
The Basiswettenbestand contains the currently applicable national laws and regulations of the Netherlands and can be consulted at wetten.overheid.nl. It is managed by KOOP, the knowledge centre for official government publications. All regulations are available as open data in XML, in a repository from which you can build your own copy, and there is a service that tells you what has changed.
Many organisations refer to statutory articles in their own work: in procedures, advice, contracts, policy rules or in the software they build. These references are maintained by hand. When an article is amended or renumbered, nobody notices until someone follows the reference. And anyone who wants to show legislation in their own knowledge base or product copies the text, which then becomes outdated.
We build custom development because organisations differ: which regulations are relevant to you, what you refer to, which system the legislation needs to land in, and what should happen when something changes. The data comes from KOOP; we make sure it works in your system. You and your lawyer decide what a change means in substance.
Legislation as data
Regulations and articles from the Basiswettenbestand in your own system, as structured data.
The current version
The version in force for each date, with the history of earlier versions.
Alert on change
A notification when an article you refer to is amended or repealed.
How we build your BWB integration
We start with how you use it: which regulations, what you refer to, which system it needs to land in, and what should happen when something changes. Often there is no need to retrieve the entire collection. We limit the integration to the regulations that matter to you, so it stays fast and clear.
Your regulations, references, systems and what should happen when changes occur.
Regulations from the repository, and changes via the KOOP service.
Your references linked, and signals when things change.
Go-live, monitoring, and management of changes at the source.
What a BWB integration concretely does
The components below feature in almost every BWB integration. Which ones you need depends on how you use it.
Retrieving
Regulations as XML from the repository.
Versions
The current version for each date, with history.
Items
Articles and paragraphs with stable references.
Referrals
Your documents and products linked.
Alerts
A notification when an article changes.
Search
Across the regulations relevant to you.
Who we build BWB integrations for
The integration is intended for those who refer to legislation in their own work.
Compliance teams
Procedures that rest on legislation. The signals are central.
Law firms
Advice and templates. The references matter most.
Publishers
Legislation in a knowledge base. The current text is what is needed.
Government bodies
Policy and implementation. The versions by date are central.
Technology and integrations
This page covers integrations with the Basiswettenbestand (the Dutch central legislation database). For legal documents, see our page on software for legal documents; for law firms, our page on law firm software; and for legal processes, our page on legal workflow automation. You can read about our way of working at custom software development.
For firms that use Kleos alongside a portal or intake system, see our page on a Kleos integration.
Why Appfront for your BWB integration?
A reference to an article that has been amended is an error nobody sees until it is too late. We build on that: legislation as data, the current version for each date, and a signal for every change that affects you.
Never outdated
The text comes from the source.
Flagged in time
Changes that affect you stand out.
Less manual work
No references maintained by hand.
Security and privacy for a BWB integration
Legislation is public, but your references, procedures and advice often are not. Access to your own data follows the rights in your own systems.
The integration runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage and daily backups.
Frequently asked questions about a BWB integration
Questions organisations ask before they get started.
The collection of all currently applicable national legislation and regulations in the Netherlands, maintained by KOOP and available at wetten.overheid.nl. All regulations are available as open data in XML.
From KOOP's repository, from which regulations can be downloaded as XML. Changes are requested through a service that shows which regulations have changed, so that everything does not have to be fetched again each time.
No. The full file is large, and most organisations only need part of it. We limit the integration to the regulations relevant to you, and expand it when necessary.
Your references to articles are recorded. When a regulation changes, the integration checks whether an article you refer to has been amended, renumbered or repealed, and sends a notification to whoever needs to review it.
Yes. The Basiswettenbestand contains versions with the date on which they entered into force. You can retrieve the version that applied on a given date, for example for a past case or piece of advice.
No. The Basiswettenbestand contains national legislation and regulations. Rules from municipalities, provinces and water boards are published separately; if you need those, we'll work out together which source fits and how it can be used alongside the Basiswettenbestand.
For organisations that frequently refer to legislation in procedures, advice or products, for creators of legal knowledge bases, and for software vendors who want to display or use legislation in their product.
Never refer to an outdated article again?
Tell us which regulations are relevant to you, what you refer to, and in which system the legislation should land. We will show you what the integration looks like.