Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The full identifier of a cadastral parcel consists of the municipality's TERYT code with a cadastral-unit type marker (“142513_2”), a four-digit cadastral district number (“0011”), sometimes a map sheet number (“AR_3”), and the parcel number itself (“245/7”). Thanks to this structure, each of the more than 38 million cadastral parcels in Poland has a unique “address” in the Land and Building Register (EGiB).

The same “bare” number (e.g. 245/7) can occur in many districts across Poland — there are around 54,000 cadastral districts — which is why offices ask for the full identifier, or for the number together with the district name.

Parcel searchWhat a cadastral district is

A cadastral district (obręb ewidencyjny) is a unit of territorial division used in the Land and Building Register (EGiB) — it usually corresponds to a village or a city district. Every parcel belongs to exactly one district. You will find its number and name on Geoportal2.pl: the page of each of Poland's 380 counties (powiaty) lists all its cadastral units and districts.

You need the district for applications such as an extract from the land register (wypis), a zoning decision (WZ, warunki zabudowy) or utility connections. If you only know where the parcel is, look it up on the map — the identifier in the result contains the district number (the second segment, e.g. “0011”).

Find your countyParcel search

Use the “Find the parcel at my location” feature on the Geoportal2.pl home page: once you allow location access, you will see the number, area and zoning designation of the parcel you are standing on. It works in your phone's browser — Geoportal2.pl can also be installed like an app (PWA).

Phone GPS is usually accurate to 3–10 metres, so right at a parcel boundary the result may point to the neighbouring parcel. Boundaries shown on maps are for information only — if you need certainty about where a boundary runs on the ground, see the question about hiring a surveyor. Most county geoportals can additionally display your GPS position on top of the cadastral map.

Find the parcel at my locationWhen do I need a surveyor

Open the parcel on a geoportal map — the bar at the bottom of the map shows the coordinates of the point under the cursor, and the map tools let you copy them. Mind the coordinate systems: official Polish maps use the PL-1992 or PL-2000 grids, while GPS navigation and phones work in WGS84 — most geoportals let you switch the displayed coordinate system.

First locate the parcel: search for it by number or address on Geoportal2.pl and open it on the map. The centre of the parcel is enough to navigate “to the area”; to pinpoint a spot in the field (e.g. a parcel corner) you need boundary-point coordinates from the county surveying archive, or a surveyor's measurement.

Parcel searchWhich parcel am I on

No geoportal will show you the owner — names in the Land and Building Register (EGiB) are protected and are not published online. There are two ways to establish ownership: free of charge through the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta), if you know its number, at ekw.ms.gov.pl; or through a paid extract from the land register issued by the county office (starostwo) — the latter requires you to be entitled to the data.

1. Land and mortgage register: with the register (KW) number you can view it free of charge at ekw.ms.gov.pl — section II lists the owner. Land and mortgage registers are public.
2. Extract from the land register (EGiB): issued by the county office; a full extract including owner data goes only to the owner, the holder of the property, or a person demonstrating a legal interest (Article 24(5) of the Geodetic and Cartographic Law).
3. The first step is always to establish the parcel number — you can do that in the Geoportal2.pl search.

Parcel searchHow to find the register numberWho can access owner data

You will not see the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) number on geoportal maps — although it is recorded in the Land and Building Register (EGiB), it is protected like personal data (it lets anyone identify the owner through the public register), so it may not be published online. Officially, you can obtain it from an extract from the land register at the county office (starostwo), or from the property's documents, such as the notarial deed.

Once you have the register (KW) number, you can view the register's contents free of charge at ekw.ms.gov.pl. There are also commercial online services that look up KW numbers by parcel number — they charge fees, and their legality is disputed by Poland's Personal Data Protection Office and the Ministry of Justice, because their databases were built by mass-harvesting data without a legal basis; use them at your own risk. For your own property, the most reliable route is your purchase documents or an application for an extract at the county office (increasingly available online — check your county's e-services).

E-service guidesFind your county office

No — personal data from the Land and Building Register (EGiB), such as the owner's name and address, is released by the county office (starostwo) only to owners and holders of the property, to public authorities and courts, and to people who can demonstrate a legal interest, i.e. a need arising from a specific legal provision (for example an adverse-possession claim, a right-of-way case, or inheritance proceedings). Curiosity alone, or an intention to make a purchase offer, is not enough.

A legal interest is more than a factual interest — you must point to the legal provision your need derives from (Article 24(5) of the Geodetic and Cartographic Law). The alternative: if you establish the property's land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) number, you can view its contents — including the owner — free of charge, as the registers are public.

Who owns a parcelHow to find the register number

Search for the parcel on Geoportal2.pl — alongside the result we show its designation in the local zoning plan (MPZP, miejscowy plan zagospodarowania przestrzennego): the symbol, a description of the designated use, and the name of the adopting resolution, provided the municipality's plan is available in the national MPZP aggregation service run by Poland's Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGiK). This is the first step in judging whether you can build on the parcel — and what exactly.

If the parcel is not covered by a local plan, buildability is decided by a zoning decision (WZ, warunki zabudowy). Map information is indicative only: what is binding is the plan resolution and the official plan extract issued by the municipal office (gmina). The full text of the resolution is published in the municipality's public information bulletin (BIP); from July 2026 the municipalities' digital planning data also feeds the national Urban Planning Register (Rejestr Urbanistyczny).

Parcel search with zoning infoWhat if there is no plan

Whether a parcel counts as “building land” is determined by its designation in the local zoning plan (MPZP) — or by a zoning decision (WZ, warunki zabudowy) — not by how the land looks. Check the parcel in the Geoportal2.pl search: a symbol starting with “M” (e.g. MN, MW) means residential land, while “R” means agricultural land. A second clue is the land-use type recorded in the Land and Building Register (EGiB).

The full picture comes from three elements: (1) the designation in the MPZP, or a zoning decision; (2) the land-use type in the register (e.g. R — arable land, B — residential land); (3) the soil quality class (klasa bonitacyjna) of agricultural land — taking class I–III land out of agricultural production requires a decision by the county head (starosta). Before buying, order an extract from the land register and an extract from the local plan.

Parcel searchSoil quality classPlan symbols

The symbols in a local zoning plan (MPZP) describe the designated use of land: MN is single-family housing, MW — multi-family housing, U — services, R — agricultural land, ZL — forests, P — industrial facilities, and KD with a letter — public roads of various classes. The exact meaning of a symbol is always defined by the legend and text of the specific municipal resolution.

Municipalities may use their own variants (e.g. 1MN, 2MN — successive areas of the same type), so always read a symbol together with the text of the resolution.

How to check what can be builtParcel search with zoning info

Where land is not covered by a local zoning plan (MPZP), construction is possible on the basis of a zoning decision (WZ, warunki zabudowy) issued by the head of the municipality (the mayor). The rules for issuing WZ decisions are changing under Poland's 2023 planning reform — the key document is the municipality's general plan (plan ogólny), which every municipality must adopt by 31 August 2026.

• In a municipality where the general plan is already in force, a new WZ decision can, as a rule, be obtained only for a parcel within an infill development area designated in that plan; until the general plan is adopted, WZ decisions are issued under the previous rules.
• Obtaining a WZ decision requires, among other things, that the parcel has access to a public road and that there is “good neighbourhood” — existing development nearby.
• New WZ decisions are valid for 5 years from becoming final; from 1 January 2027 only a party with the right to use the property for construction purposes will be able to apply for one.

Ask the municipal office about the situation of a specific parcel — you will find contact details on the municipality's page on Geoportal2.pl.

List of municipalitiesHow to check the plan

You can check this on the county geoportal map: turn on the utilities layer or the base map (mapa zasadnicza) to see the routes of the power, water, sewer, gas and telecom networks around the parcel. Find your county (powiat) on Geoportal2.pl and go to its geoportal; for counties running the Geoportal 2 system we also show ready-made map compositions with utility layers.

Network data comes from the register of utility networks (GESUT) maintained by county offices (starostwo). Remember: the presence of a network in the road next to a parcel does not guarantee you can connect to it — always ask the network operators (the power utility, waterworks, gas company) for connection terms.

Find your countyWMS layers

Flood hazard and flood risk maps for the whole of Poland are published by the national water authority (Wody Polskie) in its Hydroportal service (wody.isok.gov.pl). They show areas flooded with a probability of 10%, 1% and 0.2% — the so-called 10-, 100- and 500-year floods. Checking a parcel before buying or building takes a few minutes and is free.

A location within a special flood hazard area restricts development and drives up insurance costs. Flood hazard layers are sometimes also available on county geoportals. First locate the parcel with the Geoportal2.pl search, then compare its position against the hazard maps in Hydroportal.

Parcel searchFind your county

You can view parcel boundaries free of charge on a geoportal: search for the parcel on Geoportal2.pl and open it on the map with the Land and Building Register (EGiB) layer over the orthophoto. This is an informational preview — the accuracy of boundaries in the register varies, from a few centimetres for recent surveys to as much as several metres where the register was compiled decades ago.

If you are planning a fence or building close to the boundary, hire a licensed surveyor (geodeta uprawniony) to restore the boundary markers or set out the boundary points — the surveyor will authoritatively re-establish previously determined boundaries on the ground. In a dispute with a neighbour over where the boundary itself runs, the proper route is boundary demarcation proceedings (rozgraniczenie): a procedure before the head of the municipality and, if no settlement is reached, before a court.

Parcel searchWhen do I need a surveyor

Usually because both the orthophoto and the register data have limited accuracy: the aerial image can be offset by several dozen centimetres, and boundaries in the register sometimes come from old surveys. A mismatch on the map therefore does not prove the fence is in the wrong place — though the opposite also happens: fences really do stand beyond the boundary.

If the difference matters (a sale, construction, a conflict with a neighbour), commission a licensed surveyor (geodeta uprawniony) to locate or restore the boundary markers based on documents from the county surveying archive. When neighbours dispute where the boundary itself runs, the matter is settled by boundary demarcation proceedings (rozgraniczenie) or by a court (Article 39 of the Geodetic and Cartographic Law). Contact details for the county surveying department are on the county's page on Geoportal2.pl.

Surveying authority contactsWhen do I need a surveyor

The parcel's registered area is shown in the Geoportal2.pl search result and in the parcel details on the county geoportal. You can measure side lengths with the distance-measurement tool on the county geoportal map (you will find one in the vast majority of map services). Remember: in documents, what counts is the area recorded in the Land and Building Register (EGiB) — an on-screen measurement is approximate.

The registered area may differ slightly from what you measure on the map — an on-screen measurement inherits the inaccuracies of the map layers. In notarial deeds and the land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta), the area from the land register is binding; where the two diverge, the register data is the basis for correcting the land and mortgage register.

Parcel search

The soil quality class (klasa bonitacyjna) rates the agricultural quality of land on a scale from I (best) to VI (poorest). Arable land additionally has subclasses (IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb), while meadows and pastures are classified I–VI without subclasses. The map symbol combines the land-use type with the class: “RIIIa” is class IIIa arable land, “ŁIV” — a class IV meadow. You can check the class on the cadastral map of your county geoportal or in an extract from the land register (wypis).

The class has practical consequences: it affects agricultural tax, and taking class I–III land (and, in the case of organic soils, classes IV–VI as well) out of agricultural production requires a decision by the county head (starosta) and may involve fees (under the Act on the Protection of Agricultural and Forest Land). If you are buying agricultural land with construction in mind, check the class before you sign anything.

Your county's geoportalBuilding or agricultural land

A geoportal is enough for informational purposes: finding a parcel, viewing boundaries, checking the area, the zoning designation or utility routes. A licensed surveyor (geodeta uprawniony) is essential whenever you need legal effect or on-the-ground accuracy: restoring boundary markers, a survey map for design purposes, setting out a building, subdividing a parcel, or an as-built survey after construction.

Parcel searchE-service guides

Type the name of a county (powiat), municipality (gmina) or town into the Geoportal2.pl search and pick the county from the list or the map — or use the location button and we will point you to the county you are currently in. We have pages for all 380 Polish counties and 2,479 municipalities, with links to their geoportals, a list of cadastral districts and contact details for the local surveying authority.

For counties running the Geoportal 2 system (over 150 counties as of July 2026) we additionally show a round-the-clock availability status (up / slow / down) and a list of available map layers and compositions. For the remaining counties we link to their own sites, and you can view their parcels on the national map straight from our search.

List of countiesMap of counties

The Land and Building Register (EGiB, ewidencja gruntów i budynków), also known as the real estate cadastre, is the official register of all parcels, buildings and premises in Poland, maintained by county heads (starosta) under the Geodetic and Cartographic Law. It records parcel numbers and boundaries, areas, land-use types, soil quality classes and owner data — the last of these is not published online.

The parcel boundaries and numbers you see on geoportals come precisely from the EGiB — a county geoportal shows them at the source, while national map views show them in aggregate. The register is also the source of official documents: the extract from the land register (wypis) and the cadastral map extract (wyrys). It is updated continuously as surveying and legal procedures are completed (subdivisions, new buildings, changes of ownership).

Wypis and wyrysWho owns a parcelCounty geoportal vs national map

The Land and Building Register (EGiB) is maintained by the county head (starosta) — so a county geoportal shows cadastral data at the source, usually the freshest and most complete, including the base map (mapa zasadnicza) and utilities. National map views, by contrast, show an aggregated picture of parcels from all over Poland, fed live by the counties' web services (among others via KIEG, the national integration of land registers).

Geoportal2.pl bridges the two: here you can find the right county geoportal, and you can open the national parcel map straight from our search.

Parcel searchList of counties

Maps on geoportals are for information only — they are a preview of official data, not a document. Legal force belongs to the extracts (wypis, wyrys) and maps issued by the county office (starostwo) from the county surveying archive. A discrepancy on the map (e.g. a missing new building, an outdated subdivision) does not mean the register itself is wrong — the preview can lag behind.

If you suspect an error in the register itself (e.g. a wrong boundary line or an outdated land-use type), report it to the surveying department of your county office — contact details are on the county's page on Geoportal2.pl. For a transaction, a mortgage or a building permit, always order up-to-date official documents, never map screenshots.

Surveying authority contactsWypis and wyrys

County geoportals are run independently by each county office (starostwo) — outages, overloads and maintenance breaks happen locally. Geoportal2.pl monitors the availability of county geoportals running the Geoportal 2 system around the clock (over 150 counties as of July 2026) — for monitored counties you see the current status before you click.

1. Check the status on our list — if it shows “down”, the problem is on the county's server and you will have to wait for a fix.
2. Use the national parcel map in our search — if only the county's website is down but its data service still works, you will still see parcel boundaries in the national view; if the county's entire data server is down, they may be temporarily unavailable there too.
3. For prolonged outages you can report the problem to the county office.

Live statusesParcel search

The Land and Building Register (EGiB) is updated by county offices on an ongoing basis — changes such as subdivisions and new buildings enter the register once the surveying and legal procedures are complete. The orthophoto — the aerial-imagery basemap — is refreshed cyclically: Poland's Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGiK) maintains a roughly two-year cycle for the whole country, with larger cities photographed more often and at higher resolution.

If you cannot see your new house on the map, it is usually down to when the aerial photos were taken, not an error. You can check when the photos were taken in the orthophoto index sheets published by GUGiK. The vector cadastral data (boundaries, buildings) on a county geoportal is as a rule fresher than the photographic basemap.

Is the data officialParcel search

Yes — browsing maps on Geoportal2.pl and on county geoportals is free and requires no account. Since the 2020 amendment of the Geodetic and Cartographic Law, part of Poland's spatial data — including the orthophoto, the digital terrain model and the topographic database (BDOT10k) — is open data that can be downloaded and reused free of charge.

Official documents and archive materials remain paid: extracts from the register (wypis, wyrys), maps for legal purposes and certified copies — their prices are set in an annex to the Geodetic and Cartographic Law (current rates on your county office's website). Geoportal2.pl charges nothing; the service is funded by clearly labelled affiliate partnerships.

E-service guidesAbout us

Every county publishes a WMS (Web Map Service) with cadastral data — all 380 county services feed the national aggregation service KIEG — and many counties also publish utility and orthophoto layers. In QGIS, add them via “Layer → Add Layer → Add WMS/WMTS Layer” and paste in the service URL.

On the county pages of Geoportal2.pl you will find layer composition lists for geoportals running the Geoportal 2 system. For nationwide data, the aggregation services of Poland's Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGiK) are useful: KIEG (parcels and buildings for the whole country) and the orthophoto. Official Polish data is most often published in the PL-1992 (EPSG:2180) or PL-2000 grids — QGIS will reproject them automatically, provided your project's coordinate reference system is set correctly.

County WMS layersE-service guides

Geoportal2.pl is a free guide to Polish geoportals: it covers all 380 counties (powiaty) and 2,479 municipalities (gminy), aggregates links to their geoportals, monitors the availability of services running the Geoportal 2 system, and offers a parcel search plus guides to surveying e-services. We are not a government office and we do not maintain the cadastre — we help you get to the right data source quickly.

The service is available in five languages (Polish, English, German, Ukrainian and Czech) and can be installed on your phone as a PWA. We explain the differences between county geoportals and national map views in a separate question.

About usCounty vs nationalList of counties

An extract from the land register (wypis) is a text document describing a parcel (number, area, land-use types, owner), while a cadastral map extract (wyrys) is an official map fragment showing the parcel's boundaries. Both are issued by the county office (starostwo) from the Land and Building Register (EGiB); you will need them at the notary, at the bank and in some official procedures — for example when opening a land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta).

Applications go to the county surveying department — a growing number of counties accept them online through their own e-services. Fees are set in an annex to the Geodetic and Cartographic Law (current rates on the county office's website). A full wypis including owner data goes only to the owner, the holder of the property or a person demonstrating a legal interest; anyone can obtain a version without personal data.

E-service guidesYour county's e-servicesWho can access owner data

A survey map for design purposes (mapa do celów projektowych) is not something an office hands out over the counter — it is produced by a licensed surveyor (geodeta uprawniony), who updates the base map with a field survey and registers the work with the county surveying documentation centre. The map is required for the site development plan — the part of the building design needed for a building permit.

1. You commission the map from a surveyor.
2. The surveyor registers the survey work with the county office (starostwo) and carries out the field measurements.
3. After verification, you receive the map on paper or electronically.

Lead times depend on the county and the scope — typically 2 to 6 weeks. An ordinary map printout from a geoportal is no substitute for a survey map for design purposes.

When do I need a surveyorE-service guides

The cadastral map (mapa ewidencyjna) shows the contents of the Land and Building Register (EGiB): parcel boundaries, numbers, building outlines and land-use types. The base map (mapa zasadnicza) is richer — on top of the cadastral content it includes utility networks, terrain and land development, which is why survey maps for design purposes are based on it.

In practice: to check boundaries and numbers, the cadastral map (visible on geoportals) is enough; to design buildings and utility connections, you need the base map. Both are maintained by the county office (starostwo); their official copies are issued by the county surveying documentation centre.

Wypis and wyrysParcel utilities

Most county geoportals can print the visible map view to a PDF file — just centre the view on the parcel and use the print tool. Such a printout is fine for informal purposes: talking to a contractor, planning a garden or a working attachment — but it is not an official document.

For talks with utility operators about connections an informal printout is often enough; an application for a zoning decision (WZ, warunki zabudowy), however, requires a copy of the base map (or cadastral map) sourced from the national surveying archive — order it from the county documentation centre, increasingly online. For legal acts (notary, bank, public offices) the only valid documents are the official register extract and map extract (wypis i wyrys) from the Land and Building Register — never a screenshot or a printout from a website. On Geoportal2.pl you can find your county's geoportal and see which map compositions it offers.

Your county's geoportalWypis and wyrys