Professional access to the BIOP

Registration is done on the Desk. The operator supplies its identity, its approval or registration number, the name of a compliance officer and accepts a charter of use. The Department checks the file within five days.

OIMAP-approved operators are registered automatically. Others may apply for access, which is granted after review. Access is personal: each user has their own login and two-factor authentication.

Beyond public search, professional access displays the detailed information of each record, high-resolution photographs, the history of alerts and the BIOP unit's contacts. It also makes it possible to create personalised alerts: by artist, by period, by country.

Each search is timestamped and kept in a log that the operator can export. This log is evidence of diligence: it attests that a check was made on a given date, with its results.

In return, the operator undertakes to use the database only for its checks, not to disclose detailed information to unauthorised third parties and to report any suspicious match to the BIOP unit. Misuse leads to suspension of the account.

The operator must also inform the unit when it discovers a work listed in the database: it does not sell it, keeps it and awaits instructions. This obligation is specified by Directive 2019-03.

The first users of the automated interface are platforms: each work put online triggers a check in the database, and the listing is suspended in the event of a match. This mechanism blocked more than a hundred listings in 2024.

Auction houses build it into their cataloguing chain: the BIOP check is among the mandatory steps before a lot is put up for sale. Insurers, for their part, check the works they cover.