Table of Contents
What Are the Conditions for Entering the Profession?
You must:
- be a holder of a title that gives access to the profession of certified surveyor;
- haven taken the oath.
Are you a citizen of another European Union Member State, the European Economic Area or Switzerland? You can also provide a certificate of skills or a qualification that you have obtained in that country.
What Are the Conditions for Practising the Profession?
As a self-employed, civil servant or employed certified surveyor you must:
- be registered with the Order of Certified Surveyors;
- comply with a specific code of ethics aimed at ensuring the competence, dignity and probity of the professional;
- be insured for professional liability;
- pay an annual subscription fee to the Order of Certified Surveyors;
- communicate to the Order of Certified Surveyors proof of (yearly) training and insurance coverage every year.
Ongoing Training
In order to ensure their professional competence, the certified surveyor must keep abreast of the evolution of legislation, as well as the techniques and rules which are used in the pursuit of their profession. You must therefore participate in continuing education courses of at least twenty hours per year, recognised by the Order of Certified Surveyors.
Insurance Requirement
As a certified surveyor, you must be insured for civil liability (with the exception of the ten-year civil liability referred to in articles 1792 and 2270 of the Civil Code). In effect, your clients can rely on the intellectual services that a certified surveyor or their employees have accomplished in a professional capacity.
Annual Subscription Fee
If you are on the register of the Order of Expert Surveyors, you must pay an annual subscription fee. The Order sets the amount of the subscription fee each year.
Sanctions
As an expert surveyor registered with the Order of Expert Surveyors, you must adhere to the code of ethics.
If it is proven that you have failed in your ethical duties, you are liable to one of the following disciplinary sanctions:
- warning;
- reprimand;
- suspension for a maximum period of two years;
- expulsion.
The illegal practise of the profession is a criminal offence and is punishable by a fine.
What Are the Conditions for Practising the Profession as a Legal Entity?
To practice the profession as a legal entity, the articles of association of the legal entity must meet the following conditions:
- over 50 % of the managers, administrators, management board members and, more generally, independent agents working on behalf of the legal entity must be:
- natural persons authorised to practise the profession of certified surveyor; or
- legal entities whose permanent representative under the meaning of Article 2:55 of the Companies and Associations Code is a partner, manager or administrator of this legal entity and is themselves authorised to practise the profession of certified surveyor;
- over 50 % of the voting rights are held, directly or indirectly, by people authorised to practise the profession of certified surveyor;
- the legal entity may only hold shares in other companies or legal entities whose purpose and activities are not incompatible with the practice of the profession of certified surveyor;
- in accordance with the Companies and Associations Code, its purpose states the professional activities that belong to the practice of the profession of certified surveyor, and where applicable, the other activities carried out, which cannot be incompatible with the practice of the profession of certified surveyor.
Any legal entity that meets those conditions is listed in the table of certified surveyors.
Inclusion of the legal entity in the Order of Expert Surveyors' table is not mandatory. The articles of association must be submitted to the Order in advance for approval.
Registration Costs
The application to the Order of Expert Surveyors is free of charge.
Recourse if Your Registration is Refused
If the executive chamber of the Order of Expert Surveyors refuses to register you, you can lodge an appeal by registered letter with the registrar of the appeal chamber of the Order of Expert Surveyors.
The appeal has a suspensory effect. You must submit your appeal within thirty days of notification of the executive chamber’s decision (date as per postmark).
