Quality assurance for new building projects

Do you plan to start a new construction project, for example for a house or a simple commercial building? If you need a building permit, the Building Quality Assurance Act (Wet kwaliteitsborging voor het bouwen, Wkb) requires you to have your building plan checked for quality by a quality assurance officer. The Wkb aims to improve building quality and increase builders' liability for construction defects.

When is a quality assurer mandatory?

You must use a quality assurance officer if your building plan falls into consequence class 1 (gevolgklasse 1, in Dutch). This is the lowest risk class, for example building projects for houses and simple business premises.

What does a quality assurance officer do?

Before the start of the construction work an independent quality assurance officer assesses the risks associated with the building plan. The quality assurer then determines which measures are necessary to prevent or mitigate those risks.

A quality assurer (in Dutch) must, among others:

• be independent
• be included in the Building Quality Assurance Register (Register Toelatingsorganisatie Kwaliteitsborging Bouw, in Dutch)
• draw up an assurance plan (in Dutch)
• check if the new construction project complies with the rules when it is finished
• issue a statement that the new building project has been built according to the rules (in Dutch)

Have your building plan assessed

To find out if you have to use a quality assurer, first check if you need an environmental permit. You can do this online in the online service counter Omgevingsloket (in Dutch). If you need an environmental permit, the municipality must check your building plan against the environment plan. The municipality then checks whether your building plan fits within the environment. To find out what you need to do to meet the regulations on building quality, you can watch the video with a step-by-step plan (in Dutch).

Wkb comes into effect in stages

The Wkb will take effect for new construction in stages from 1 January 2024, at the same time as the Environment and Planning Act. At a later date, the obligation to hire a quality assurance officer will most likely also apply to projects with a higher risk class. For renovations, the Wkb is expected to take effect on 1 January 2025.