The Peeters Act of 31/05/2017 obliges contractors, architects and other construction service providers to take out an insurance policy to cover their ten-year liability. This was already the case for architects, but has now been extended to other actors in the housing construction trade. To this end, you can conclude a comprehensive construction site policy together with all parties involved. It will protect you during 10 years against serious defects after the final acceptance of the project.

CONTACT

 

When do you have to take out this insurance?

The insurance is mandatory for:

• residential projects of which more than 50 % of the surface area is for habitation (hospitals, student housing, etc. are therefore exempt)
• which are located in Belgium
• for which a building permit has been issued after 1 July 2018
• which require the intervention of an architect.

The insurance must be taken out before the work commences.

Who is insured?

Compulsory insurance applies to all construction partners involved in the design and/or construction of the property, and who perform works with an impact on the stability, solidity and watertightness of the house (the latter only if the stability or solidity is compromised). This concerns:

• architects
• engineering firms
• contractors and subcontractors
• project developers and professional builders
• general construction companies
• turnkey companies
• stability engineers
• ...

The policyholder has the following options:

• one site policy per project
• a subscription formula covering all his sites. 

The beneficiary is the owner of the construction (the project owner). The cover is irrevocably acquired for a period of 10 years from the acceptance of the works.

What exactly should you insure and what not?

The aim of the Peeters Act is to compensate the beneficiaries as quickly as possible for major damage.

• In practice this will be defects and/or watertightness problems in the (closed) structure of the building which compromise the stability or solidity of the building.
• Aesthetic damage, purely immaterial damage and material damage below EUR 2,500 is excluded.
• A number of statutory exclusions are also possible, such as defects that were already known at the time of provisional acceptance.

What is the amount of the guarantee?

• The guarantee for material and immaterial consequential damage (including damage to third parties) must amount to at least EUR 500,000 per claim.
• The policyholder can also opt for a sum insured of his choice.

Which pricing system should you take into account?

The pricing system applied depends on the acceptance and value of the works.

CONTACT