Free site visit
Surveyed on site, with the applicable regime identified.
Herzele, East Flanders · Structural work and agency
Five per cent.
Five per cent.
That is the limit.
Where the Breyne Act applies to building your home, the deposit is capped at five per cent, payments must follow real progress, and a completion guarantee is compulsory. These rules are mandatory — nobody can contract out of them.
- 2018trading since
- 5%deposit cap
- Breyneprotected
- 10 yrinsurance
What we do
Two activities, stated separately
Structural work on houses, and commercial agency where we act for a principal rather than as the seller.
Structural work on houses
The structural shell of individual houses, built to the architect's approved plans.
See the programGuarantees and acceptance
The completion guarantee, and acceptance handled in the two stages the Act requires.
See the programSubcontract structural work
Structural packages for developers and main contractors, where the Breyne Act does not apply.
See the programCommercial agency
Acting as an agent in non-specialised wholesale, in the name and for the account of a principal.
See the program
How it works
How we work
State at the outset whether the Breyne Act governs the contract, keep the deposit and payments inside what it allows, provide the completion guarantee, and explain both stages of acceptance instead of one signature.
Written contract
The Act's particulars where it applies, plans annexed.
Built and billed to progress
Never in advance of work executed.
Accepted in two stages
Provisional, then final at least a year later.
Working together
Ways to work with us
Quoted per project after a site visit. Architect's fees, permits and licensed trades are separate and are the client's.
A house, for you
Structural work where you are the client.
- Deposit limited to 5%
- Completion guarantee provided
- Billed against real progress
- Two-stage acceptance explained
- Ten-year liability insured
A subcontract package
Structural work for a developer or main contractor.
- Scope and interfaces written
- Programme and sequence agreed
- Ten-year liability insured
- Documented handover
- Breyne position stated
What we will not do
Said plainly, because the law is mandatory.
- No deposit above the legal cap
- No payment ahead of the work
- No contracting out of Breyne
- No acting as architect
- No asbestos removal
Every engagement is quoted after a free consultation. No subscription.
How we work
A builder that explains the payment rules first
ABZ is a company incorporated under Belgian law, registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under enterprise number 0698.891.532, based at Sleistraat in 9550 Herzele, East Flanders, and trading since June 2018 under the same direction. Its registered activities are those of an agent in non-specialised wholesale at the seat, and the structural work of individual houses at its establishment.
On the building side, one law determines how money moves. Where a contractor undertakes to build a dwelling and requires payment before completion, the Breyne Act of 9 July 1971 applies, and its provisions are mandatory: a written contract with prescribed content and the plans annexed, a deposit limited to five per cent, payments called only against work actually executed, a compulsory completion guarantee, and acceptance in two stages at least a year apart. A client cannot sign those protections away, and a contractor asking them to has a problem. Where we work as a subcontractor to a developer the Act governs that developer's relationship with the buyer rather than ours, and we say which situation applies. On the agency side, we act for a principal and do not become the seller, so we name the principal before anything proceeds.
Frequently asked
The questions we get most
A builder asked me for thirty per cent up front. Is that allowed?
Not where the Breyne Act applies. On a contract to build a dwelling with payments before completion, the deposit is capped at five per cent of the total price, and further payments may only be called in proportion to works actually executed. The Act's provisions are mandatory, so a clause saying otherwise does not help the contractor. A large up-front demand on a protected contract is a warning sign rather than a negotiating position.
What is a completion guarantee and do I get one?
It is security required by the Breyne Act so that, if the contractor fails, the works can still be completed or you are compensated. Where the Act applies it is compulsory and we provide it in the applicable form. Ask any contractor building your home to show you theirs before you pay anything, because its absence is precisely the risk the Act was written to address.
I signed provisional acceptance. Is the house finished?
No, and this is the most costly misunderstanding in Belgian house building. Provisional acceptance is not acceptance that the works are complete. Final acceptance comes at least a year later, deliberately, so that a full cycle of seasons passes and defects that only show with time appear while the matter is still open. Do not treat the first signature as the end.
Does the Breyne Act apply if you are working for my developer?
Not to our contract with them, no. Breyne protects the person who is having the dwelling built and paying before completion — so in that situation the protections are yours against the developer who sells to you, not against us. We will tell you which position you are in, because assuming the wrong one is how people end up without the protections they thought they had.
Can you handle the architect's side as well?
No. In Belgium the architect's mission is compulsory for works requiring one and is incompatible with the contractor's on the same works. That separation exists to protect you: your architect checks our work in your interest. A contractor offering to cover both is removing your only independent check.
I want to buy goods through you. Am I buying from you?
No, and it matters. Where we act as a commercial agent we work in the name and for the account of a principal and we do not take title to the goods. The sale contract is between you and that principal, who carries the seller's obligations on conformity and warranty. We name them before anything proceeds, so you know who to pursue if something is wrong.
Got a house to build or a package to price?
A free site visit and a written quotation, with the payment rules set out.