The Law Breyne

Part 3

PAYMENT

The contractor, seller or promoter may not demand (or accept) any payment before the contract is concluded. For the rest, the following provisions must be taken into account:

• When concluding the agreement, an advance or hand money of a maximum of 5% of the total price may be requested;

• In the event of the sale of a building plot or a share in it, the price may only be requested when the authentic deed is executed before the notary, taking into account the (possibly) paid advance;

• This price may be increased by that of the work already carried out,subject to approval by an architect. Where appropriate, a copy of this approval must be attached to the deedattached.

Note: If the sale of an existing home is accompanied by the conclusion of a building contract for the execution of renovation or extension works, the sum that the contractor or promoter may request upon execution of the authentic deed will be equal to the sales price of the existing property,possibly increased by the price of the work already carried out.

•The balance of the price of the work is only payable in installments that may never exceed the price of the work already performed.

• If a promise of agreement is not followed by its conclusion, the contractual fee payable by the buyer or client cannot exceed 5% of the total price. Despite its flat-rate nature, the contractual compensation may nevertheless be increased or decreased if it is established that its amount is lower or higher than the actual damage suffered.

Sanctions: any clause that conflicts with these principles is considered unwritten. Who directly or indirectly violates the provisions of the lawby demanding or accepting payments prematurely, moreover risks being punished with imprisonment and/or a fine.


Law of 9 JULY 1971.

Art. 14. Anyone who directly or indirectly violates the provisions of Article 10 by demanding or accepting payments shall be punished with imprisonment from eight days to one month and a fine of 26 francs to 200 francs or one of these penalties alone.

The provisions of Book I of the Penal Code, Chapter VII and Article 85 without exception, are applicable to the crimes referred to in this Article.

(NOTE: read euro instead of franc : W 26-06-2000, art. 2, En vigueur : 01-01-2002)

As I clearly understand above then...

"So also means that if the contractor or building promoter requests a provisional acceptance, and theydemand full payment, while er materials/devices etc... still need to be delivered and the works still need to be done, and thisafter a requested provisional delivery...should this be noted under the heading of deferred works on aProvisional acceptance report en not under comments...and no payments are due for this either!

Some examples

e.g. garden fencing in wire or other... tiling outside terrace... facade cladding ... kitchen appliances... shower screen... shower faucets... electricity connection...etc...I'm just giving a few examples of many ...

any violation of this is therefore clearly punishable as stated in Art.10law of July 9, 1971 and Art.14 in the Civil Code.