The six families of excluded items
| Family | Content |
|---|---|
| Land | plot, registration duties, deed costs |
| Studies and control | architect, engineer, energy officer, safety coordination |
| Consents | municipal taxes, application fees, required studies |
| Connections | water, electricity, gas, drainage, telecoms |
| External works | external earthworks, driveways, fencing, garden, terrace |
| Project charges | finance, insurance, price revision, contingency |
None of these families sits within a construction benchmark, whatever stage is chosen. They are added to it.
Connections are the most underestimated item
This is the item that surprises most, because it is invisible at offer stage and does not depend on the contractor. Connections are requested from the network operators themselves.
Each utility applies its own tariffs and its own lead times. Cost depends on distance to the network, ground conditions, any road crossings and the capacity requested.
An unserviced plot can push this item to a level that changes the balance of the scheme. On an isolated parcel the gap with a plot served at the boundary is considerable.
A programme constraint follows: utility lead times do not align with the construction programme and must be anticipated well in advance. Applications are therefore filed as soon as consent is obtained.
The architect is a mandatory charge
A Belgian feature that practitioners from elsewhere sometimes discover late. It concerns the mandatory appointment of an architect.
In Belgium the appointment of an architect is mandatory for works requiring consent, and the appointment covers both design and supervision of execution. Those fees sit in no contractor's price per m².
That obligation persists even under a turnkey arrangement. The architect must retain independence from the contractor, which precludes simply being employed by the builder.
Depending on the project there follow the structural engineer, the energy performance officer, the safety and health coordinator and, where applicable, technical control. Each of them invoices separately and on its own scale.
The detail sits in the article on fees and ancillary costs. Their payment timetable is also specified there.
External works are systematically deferred
External works are the item clients most readily postpone, and this distorts comparisons. Deferring an expense does not remove it from the overall budget.
Finishing earthworks, driveway, terrace, fencing, planting and any outbuilding represent a real sum, often deferred without being cancelled. That sum is costed separately and added to the construction benchmark.
A budget omitting them is not an optimised budget but an incomplete one. Including them, even in a later phase, avoids discovering the charge after moving in.
Project charges
Four financial items fall to the client and appear in no contractor's offer. They are therefore provided for in the initial funding plan.
Finance. Interest during construction, arrangement fees, any guarantee.
Insurance. Mandatory and optional cover, the Belgian regime imposing certain components on the parties involved.
Price revision. Between offer and execution prices move under a contractual formula. That mechanism is covered in the article on price revision.
Contingency. A provision is necessary, and the more the project touches existing fabric the higher it must be.
VAT is not a detail
The applicable rate depends on the nature of the operation and on conditions that must be met and declared. A single unmet condition forfeits the reduced rate.
A benchmark quoted excluding tax and one quoted including tax do not compare, and the gap between applicable rates is large enough to reverse a comparison.
Conditions and rates are covered in the article on VAT on construction. The five costliest pitfalls are set out there.
Building a budget that holds
Four principles.
Start from the total budget available, not from the benchmark. The benchmark tests whether the brief fits the envelope; it does not create the envelope.
Reserve a share for non-construction items before settling the brief. Discovering them afterwards forces decisions rather than allowing them.
Provide for connections on actual quotations, not on a lump estimate, as soon as the plot is identified.
Distinguish deferred from cancelled. A postponed item remains a commitment.
This article reflects practice and regulation at the date of checking and serves professional orientation. It does not constitute legal advice and does not replace assessment of the individual case.