Attach a document to a zaak

ZGW models attachments through zaakinformatieobjecten — a typed link between a document (the file plus metadata) and a zaak. Both the document and the link have their own audit trail.

Deprecated

ZAA is no longer actively developed. See the deprecation notice.

Goal

By the end you have uploaded a file, registered it as a document with a informatieobjecttype, and linked it to a zaak via a zaakinformatieobject so it shows up on the zaak's Documenten tab.

Prerequisites

• A zaak in In behandeling status.
• The file you want to attach. PDFs and Office documents are the most common; the underlying register accepts any MIME type.

Steps

1. Open Documenten from the navigation. The list shows every document registered in ZAA — uploaded by anyone, attached to any case.

   

2. Click Add Item. The dialog asks for Titel, Beschrijving, Informatieobjecttype (the document classification — Brief, Besluitstuk, Bewijsstuk, …), Vertrouwelijkheid, Auteur, Taal, and the file itself.

   

3. Pick a file, fill the metadata, save. The document appears at the top of the Documenten list. It is not yet attached to a zaak — that is the next step.

   

4. Open Zaakinformatieobjecten and create a new link. Pick the document you just registered, pick the target zaak, set aardRelatieWeergave (e.g. Onderwerp or Bijlage). Save — the document is now linked.

   

5. Open the zaak's detail page from Zaken. The Documenten tab now lists the file with its title, informatieobjecttype, upload date and uploader. Clicking it opens the file viewer or downloads, depending on MIME type.

   

Verification

The file shows up on the zaak's Documenten tab with the correct informatieobjecttype, the zaakinformatieobject row is visible in the cross-cutting list, and downloading from the tab returns the uploaded bytes.

Common issues

Symptom	Fix
Upload fails with a 413 error	Server is rejecting the file size — admin raises Nextcloud's PHP upload_max_filesize and post_max_size, plus the OpenRegister object limit if configured.
Informatieobjecttype dropdown is empty	The schema is mapped but no types are seeded. Admin imports the ZGW informatieobjecttypen via the admin settings page.
Document uploads but does not show on the zaak	The zaakinformatieobject link is missing — step 4. Make a quick habit of creating both objects in one go.

Reference

• Log a besluit — a besluit usually has its own besluitstuk document.
• Features → Documents — feature overview.