Ten-year liability insurance (the Peeters Act), without the jargon
Page reviewed on 17 September 2026 Written by an FSMA-registered broker.
Do you build, renovate, roof or fit windows? Since 2018 the law has obliged you to cover the soundness of what you build for ten years. Here is who it applies to, what ten-year liability really protects, and how to comply without paying for nothing.
- Independent FSMA-registered broker
- Comparison across insurers
- Certificate in order before the works
Ten-year liability binds the contractor and the architect for ten years for serious defects that threaten the soundness, stability or weathertightness of a building's shell. Since 1 July 2018, the Peeters Act has made that insurance compulsory for housing in Belgium. The statutory minimum cover is 500 000 € (material damage), and failing to insure is punishable by a fine. It is a cover distinct from public liability and from professional indemnity.
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10 yearsDuration of the liability, and of the compulsory cover, from handover of the works
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500 k€Statutory minimum cover for material damage (€1.5m for bodily injury)
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2018Ten-year liability insurance compulsory since 1 July, on pain of a criminal fine
What is ten-year liability?
It is not the liability that is new. It is the duty to insure it.
Under Belgian law, the contractor and the architect answer for ten years style="color:#0E2A59;">serious defects that compromise a building's soundness or make it unfit for its purpose. It is a long-standing liability and a matter of public order: it cannot be contracted away. What has changed recently is not the liability itself, but the duty toinsure it.
Since 1 July 2018, the Peeters Act (the Act of 31 May 2017) requires every player in construction, contractors, architects and other providers, to cover that ten-year liability by insurance as soon as they work on the closed shell of a dwelling. The legislator's aim: to ensure the client is compensated even if the firm at fault has disappeared or gone bankrupt ten years later.
Not to be confused: ten-year liability does not cover minor defects or finishes, but rather thestructure that keeps the building standing and dry. For damage caused to third parties during the works, it is Public liability that responds; for errors of design or advice, Professional indemnity.
Who must take out ten-year liability insurance?
The duty applies to anyone whose work affects the soundness, stability or weathertightness of the closed shell of a dwelling in Belgium, for projects requiring an architect (with a permit obtained after 1 July 2018):
- ✓ Shell contractors, bricklayers, foundation and structural firms
- ✓ Roofers, waterproofing specialists, carpenters
- ✓ Window and external joinery fitters (the closed envelope)
- ✓ Architects, in respect of their supervisory duty
- ✓ Subcontractors working on the shell are covered by the duty too
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1 July 2018
The Peeters Act
Deals with insuring ten-year liability: the soundness, stability and weathertightness of the works. It applies to every player in construction working on the closed shell of a dwelling.
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1 July 2019
The Peeters-Ducarme Act
Makes professional indemnity insurance compulsory for the intellectual professions of construction, architects, design offices and consulting engineers, across all of their services.
An architect therefore carries both: ten-year liability on the soundness of the works, and professional indemnity on all of their professional services.
What ten-year liability covers, and what it does not
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Soundness & stability
The defects that threaten the load-bearing structure: foundations, load-bearing walls, roof structure, slab.
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Weathertightness of the closed shell
The envelope that keeps the building watertight and airtight: roof, façades, waterproofing.
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For 10 years
The cover runs for ten years from handover of the works, even if the firm has ceased trading in the meantime.
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A guaranteed minimum
€500,000 of material damage, €1.5m of bodily injury, €10,000 for property entrusted by the client.
What it does not cover
The exact scope (the “closed” shell, the works concerned, the deductibles) is worth checking policy by policy. Two ten-year liability policies are not necessarily equal, even where both meet the statutory minimum.
- × Finishes and appearance (paint, tiling, coverings), minor defects and fitting out.
- × Non-residential buildings: the statutory duty targets housing; industrial and commercial property fall under another framework.
- × The damage caused to third parties during the works: that belongs to public liability.
- × Design or advisory errors with no impact on soundness: they belong to professional indemnity.
- × Intentional wrongdoing and normal wear and tear.
Minimum amounts and the compulsory certificate
The law sets floor limits that the insurer cannot go below:
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Bodily injury€1,500,000
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Material & immaterial damage€500,000 (or the rebuilding value if lower)
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Property entrusted by the client€10,000
On the paperwork side, the provider must hand over an insurance certificate before the works start, to the client and to the architect, who must ask for it if it has not arrived. On a sale, the notary checks that the cover exists through the Datassur register and records it in the deed. With no certificate, a site can be held up and the professional exposed to a criminal fine.
Ten-year liability, public liability, professional indemnity: three covers, three moments
This is the point that confuses construction professionals most. These three policies do not replace one another: they cover different risks, at different moments in the life of a project.
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During the works
Public liability
The damage to third parties caused during the activity: a passer-by injured, damage next door, a falling object.
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Up to 10 years after
Ten-year liability
The serious shell defects that compromise soundness or weathertightness, sometimes revealed years after handover.
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On the service
Professional indemnity
The design or advisory error of the intellectual construction professions, with no impact on the soundness of the works.
A general contractor usually needs all three. That is exactly the kind of cover architecture a broker assembles with no gap and no duplication.
What does ten-year liability insurance cost?
There is no single price: ten-year liability carries a dedicated premium, separate from public liability. Two approaches coexist on the Belgian market:
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Option 01
The per-project policy
You insure one specific building, with a premium calculated on the cost of construction. The policy follows the project, not the firm.
For a firm that builds occasionally.
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Option 02
The annual subscription policy
It covers all of the year's projects, with a premium based on “construction” turnover.
For regular construction activity.
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Type of works & tradeFactor number one: a roofer, a bricklayer and a foundation firm do not carry the same structural risk.
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Turnover or cost of the worksThe basis of calculation, depending on whether the policy is annual or per project.
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Claims historyA heavy record weighs strongly on the premium, and sometimes on whether the risk is accepted at all.
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Use of subcontractingThe insurer looks at who actually carries out the works, and whether those people are insured themselves.
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Additional coversInherent defects and contract works all-risks: every extension adds to the price, but sometimes avoids a decisive gap.
On this kind of technical risk, the gap between two quotes turns as much on the exclusions and deductibles as on the premium itself. The terms and amounts depend on the insurer and on your profile: figures to be confirmed against market conditions.
“A certificate in order is not paperwork: it is what gets the site moving.”
What I see most often is professionals discovering the obligation at the wrong moment : at the signing with the notary, or when the client asks for the certificate before letting work begin. Two habits avoid a great deal of trouble: arranging cover before the first spade goes in, and checking that the definition of the insured works genuinely matches what you do on the shell. That is precisely what we settle when the policy is written, so that on the day of the claim, or of the sale, everything is square.
Offices in Ciney, Dinant, Eghezée and Brussels. FSMA-registered broker no. 111917.
Ask a question →The crack that appears six years later.
A couple buy a new house. Six years after handover, structural cracks appear: a foundation defect compromises the stability of a load-bearing wall. The shell contractor that carried out the works has since ceased trading. Without the Peeters Act, the owners would have been left alone with a five-figure bill for underpinning.
Because the contractor had taken out ten-year liability insurance, as the law requires, the cover responded despite the firm's disappearance. For the professional, being insured is not only about avoiding the fine: it protects their signature long after the site has closed.
What people ask us about ten-year liability
Your case is not here? Ask us, and we answer within 48 hours.
Ask my question →-
Is ten-year liability insurance compulsory in Belgium?
−Yes. Since 1 July 2018 the Peeters Act (the Act of 31 May 2017) has required ten-year civil liability insurance from every player in construction, contractors, architects and other providers, whose work affects the closed shell of a dwelling located in Belgium, for projects requiring an architect. Failing to insure is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine.
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Who must take out ten-year liability insurance?
−Everyone whose work affects the soundness, stability or weathertightness of a dwelling's closed shell: contractors, architects, but also roofers, window fitters, bricklayers and foundation firms. The Peeters-Ducarme Act (2019) also made professional indemnity insurance compulsory for the intellectual professions of construction (architects, design offices, consulting engineers). A subcontractor working on the shell is covered by the duty too.
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What exactly does ten-year liability cover?
−For ten years from handover of the works, it covers damage that compromises the soundness, stability or weathertightness of the closed shell of a residential building. The statutory cover cannot be less than €500,000 for material and immaterial damage, €1,500,000 for bodily injury, and €10,000 for property entrusted by the client. It covers neither cosmetic finishes, nor minor defects, nor non-residential buildings.
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Are ten-year liability and public liability the same thing?
−No, they are two distinct and complementary covers. Public liability covers the damage caused to third parties during and just after the works. Ten-year liability takes over for serious defects in the shell which sometimes only appear years later, up to ten years after handover. A building contractor needs both, and often professional indemnity on top.
Compliant before the first spade goes in
Tell us your trade and your projects. We compare the ten-year liability policies on the market, check the exclusions and the deductibles, and put you in order: certificate ready, cover right, nothing held up.
Pascale Gridelet
Since 2017 Pascale has been building and framing the policies of the self-employed and SMEs at Cinassur, including the technical covers of the construction trade. She knows the traps of ten-year liability underwriting: the scope of the works, the certificates, the deductibles. At Cinassur we do not sell a product: we audit your real risk and negotiate the protection that matches it. How we work →
Further reading
- Self-employed & SMEs Public liability The “physical” cover of your activity. →
- Self-employed & SMEs Professional indemnity The cover for your professional work. →
- Self-employed & SMEs Legal expenses Enforcing your rights without ruining yourself. →
This page is for information only and does not constitute personal advice within the meaning of the Belgian Act of 4 April 2014. The amounts, covers and obligations mentioned are indicative and may vary according to the insurer and to changes in regulation. For an analysis tailored to your situation, contact Cinassur.