Building Quality Assurance Act

Since Jan. 1, 2024, in addition to the Omgevingswet, the new Building Quality Assurance Act (Wkb) has taken effect. The purpose of the Wkb is more control during construction and thus an improvement in construction quality.

In the Omgevingsloket you can check in advance whether your structure falls under the Wkb. If your structure falls under the Wkb, you must engage a quality assurance agency. A quality assurance agency is an independent inspector. Your contractor or architect can help you with this.

What does the quality assurance officer do?

Quality assurance officers watch over a building plan from start to finish and check all technical rules and quality requirements during the construction process. They do this at the design stage and at the construction site. This gives more protection against structures that do not meet construction requirements or errors that would otherwise be noticed too late. And that saves time and possibly additional costs.

What will change?

The Omgevingswet cuts the building permit into two parts, one:

  1. Spatial building permit:
    This building permit deals with whether you can build in a certain place. This is laid down in the Environment Plan. You can look this up in the Environment Desk.
  2. Technical building permit:
    This deals with whether your structure meets technical building regulations and quality requirements. Previously, this check was performed by the municipality. Under the new Wkb, this is a task of the independent inspector (quality assurance agency). You must now organize this inspection yourself as a planner.

Consequence class 1

The new law initially applies only to new construction that falls under "consequence class 1. These are construction activities whose consequences in the event of mistakes are not so great. From Jan. 1, 2024, you no longer need to apply for an engineering building permit for all new construction. For example, for a residential house, bicycle bridge or simple business premises, a notification to the municipality will suffice. However, you must engage a quality assurance contractor for these construction activities.

When to hire a quality assurance contractor?

  • You must use a quality assurance contractor for new construction that falls under consequence class 1. 
  • From Jan. 1, 2025, you must also use a quality assurance contractor for renovations of existing buildings that fall under consequence class 1.

You can find more information and explanations about the consequence classes and the Wkb for building and renovating on the page of Rijksoverheid. In addition to a general explanation of the law, you can read what a quality assurance contractor does, how to apply for the technical permit, and what to do when your structure is finished.

Apply for permit or report?

You can use the Omgevingsloket to see if you need a permit or a notification. Is that the case? Then you can also apply for the permit or report via the Environment Counter.

There are the following types of construction activities:

  • Licensed
  • Duty to report (Wkb, consequence class 1)
  • Permit-free

Through the Omgevingsloket you can see which construction activity applies to you. Does your plan fall under the Wkb? Then notify the municipality at least 4 weeks before the start of construction. 

Testing for special local conditions and risks

Your quality assurance contractor will prepare an assurance plan for the report. This sets out how risks, such as failure to comply with building codes, can be prevented or reduced. The quality assurance contractor must consider specific local conditions in this plan. You (or your quality assurance contractor) can request the Maps and Rules from the municipality using the contact form. Using these Maps and rules, you or your quality assurance contractor can examine the previously known local conditions and risks. 

What will change later?

The Wkb will be introduced in steps. First, the law will apply to construction activities whose consequences in case of errors are not so great: 'consequence class 1'. After five years, the government will determine whether the Wkb can also apply to the rest of the construction activities. This would involve an expansion to consequence class 2 and 3.

What falls under consequence class 1?

The Built Environment Decree describes in which cases new construction (from Jan. 1, 24) or remodeling (from Jan. 1, 2025) of structures falls under consequence class 1:

  1. Detached single-family houses, semi-detached houses and row houses, including any garages and other types of attachments. The condition is that these dwellings are on the ground and not built on top of another structure or on top of another dwelling. Apartments are thus excluded from consequence class 1. Houses intended for rooming, such as student housing, and healthcare housing are also excluded from consequence class 1.
  2. Houseboats and other floating homes.
  3. Vacation cottages and other vacation rentals that are themselves on land. Vacation apartments and hotels are excluded.
  4. Industrial halls and factory buildings of up to two floors. These include halls intended for storage or production, including an office or canteen, warehouses, greenhouses and the like. Office buildings and retail premises do not fall under consequence class 1.
  5. Storage rooms, warehouses and other structures falling under Item 4 of up to two stories built near offices and stores.
  6. Bridges for slow traffic such as cyclists and pedestrians, with a span of up to 20 meters over roads and railroads and waterways. If the bridges are built over provincial or state roads, they do not fall under consequence class 1.
  7. Other above-ground structures that are not buildings, intended for roads (not viaducts and the like), waterways, power supply if they do not exceed 20 meters in height. Examples include small transmission masts, antennas, retaining walls, ramparts, quay walls, pumping stations or small windmills. Water retaining structures (such as dams and locks) are not included.

Exceptions

The aforementioned structures do not fall under consequence class 1 if:

  • They are monuments. This applies to national monuments as well as monuments designated by the municipality or province. Whether a particular structure is a monument can be found in the National Monument Register or you can check with the municipality.
  • A fire-safe use notification is required. For example, a notification fire-safe use is mandatory for business premises intended for more than 150 persons.
  • There are environmentally harmful activities taking place in the structure that require a permit. The Living Environment Activities Decree states whether a permit is required.
  • An equivalent solution has been applied for structural safety or fire safety. That is, a solution has been chosen that is not standard in building regulations.
  • There is NEN 6060 or NEN 6079 in determining the usable area of a fire compartment.