What contract should I have with a professional to build my house?

Verified 27 October 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You want to build your house and you are about to sign a construction contract.

There are 4 different ones. Each of them defines the rights and obligations of the developer and the construction professional.

You will choose the contract according to the mission you wish to entrust to the professional.

We are taking stock of the regulations.

You can sign one of these 4 contracts:

  • Contract for the construction of detached houses (CCMI) with a builder who doesn't provide you with the land
  • Contract for the sale of building to be built (sale in the future state of completion - Vefa) with a developer who provides you with the land and commits to building a house
  • Contracts for the supervision of works with a prime contractor who coordinates the work without performing it
  • Company contract with each trade

CCMI

The CCMI is mandatory if you have a builder do the waterproofing and airproofing of your home (made waterproof and airtight by the installation of the roof, doors and windows).

This one must be a residential building or for professional and residential use.

It must not no more than 2 lodgings intended for your use.

The CCMI is regulated. It provides you with a protective legal framework. It must be drafted by written and signed before the work begins.

It contains mandatory information and lists the suspensive conditions.

The contract may be concluded with or without a plan. Their content is then a little different.

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CCMI with plan delivery

The construction plans are provided to you by or through the manufacturer. Plans can be offered on catalog. The builder may also refer you to an architect or design office.

The contract shall include in particular the following information:

  • Title or real right building
  • Land designation (address, area and cadastral references)
  • Consistency and technical characteristics of the building to be built (ground adaptation work with geotechnical study if necessary, connections to networks, work on interior or exterior equipment for the establishment and use of the house)
  • Ensuring Project Compliance with Construction Rules
  • Price TTC: titleContent fixed and final cost of the manufacturer (it includes the cost of the delivery guarantee, the cost of the plan and the taxes due by the manufacturer)
  • Price revision conditions, if provided, based on the variation of the national all-state building index, BT 01 which assesses the evolution of costs in the building sector
  • Cost of work you reserve for yourself
  • Financing (nature and amount of loans obtained)
  • Staggering of payments according to the progress of the work and the balance of 5% of the price payable at the end of the delivery guarantee
  • Date of opening of construction site
  • Time limit for completion of the work
  • Penalties due in case of late delivery (at least 1/3 000 of the price per day late)
  • Optional late payment penalty. It can't go beyond 1% per month calculated on unpaid amounts if the penalty for late delivery is limited to 1/3,000 of the price per day late.
  • Suspensive conditions
  • Reminder to get building permit and other city planning permissions
  • Reminder that developer may be assisted by a professional for the receipt of work
  • Reference of insurance against damage to works of the contracting authority
  • Manufacturer's justification for refund and delivery guarantees

The following documents shall be attached to the contract:

  • Copy of building permit, if you got it
  • Construction plans (ground adaptation work, useful dimensions and indication of the surfaces of the rooms, clearances and dependencies, connections to various networks, elements of interior or exterior equipment essential for the installation)
  • Information notice setting out your rights and obligations
  • Description of the technical characteristics of the construction, fitting-out and connections. It distinguishes the elements included or not in the price. It shall indicate the cost of the works, not included in the price, to be borne by the contracting authority.
  • Certification of the manufacturer's money-back guarantee (mandatory if you pay a security deposit before the construction site opens)
  • Certification of the manufacturer's delivery guarantee made in the name of the developer (to ensure the delivery of the completed house)
  • Certificate of professional liability insurance and ten-year insurance of the manufacturer
  • Attestation of non-life insurance

Please note

If you have plans to carry out work yourself, you have 4 months to change your mind, as from the signature of the contract. During this period, you can ask the manufacturer to make them at the price stipulated in the CCMI.

CCMI without providing a plan

The constructor does not provide you with a plan. Depending on the contract, he takes care of the heavy work, putting out of water (covering and sealing of the building) and out of air (installation of doors and windows) or to deliver you a finished house.

The contract shall set out the commitments of each of the parties and shall contain the following information:

  • Land designation (address, area and cadastral references)
  • Title or rights in rem building
  • Consistency and technical characteristics of the building to be built (ground adaptation work with geotechnical study if necessary, connections to networks, work on interior or exterior equipment for the establishment and use of the house)
  • Price TTC: titleContent fixed and final cost of the manufacturer (it includes the cost of the delivery guarantee, the cost of the plan and the taxes due by the manufacturer)
  • Price revision conditions, if provided, based on the variation of the national all-state building index, BT 01 which assesses the evolution of costs in the building sector
  • Payment of works
  • Penalties due in case of late delivery (at least 1/3 000 of the price per day late)
  • Optional late payment penalty. It can't go beyond 1% per month calculated on unpaid amounts if the penalty for late delivery is limited to 1/3,000 of the price per day late.
  • Time limit for completion of the work
  • Reference of non-life insurance subscribed by the contracting authority
  • Suspensive conditions (purchase of land, obtaining building permit,...)

The following documents shall be attached to the contract:

  • Copy of building permit, if you got it
  • Construction plan and address of its author
  • Information notice setting out your rights and obligations
  • Description of the consistency, technical characteristics of the construction, of the works of equipment and of the connections. It distinguishes the elements included or not in the price. It shall indicate the cost of the works, not included in the price, to be borne by the contracting authority.
  • Attestation of the money-back guarantee of the manufacturer
  • Certification of the manufacturer's delivery guarantee (to ensure the delivery of the completed house)
  • Certificate of professional liability insurance and ten-year insurance of the manufacturer
  • Certificate of the work damage insurance you have taken out

Please note

If you have plans to carry out work yourself, you have 4 months to change your mind, as from the signature of the contract. During this period, you can ask the manufacturer to make them at the price stipulated in the CCMI.

You are developer. You must meet the following conditions:

The manufacturer must have the delivery guarantee and give you a personal certificate corresponding to your site.

The contract may be signed before these conditions are fulfilled. If they are not fulfilled within a period fixed by the CCMI and at the latest on the date of the opening of the construction site, the contract shall be canceled. The money you have paid back is returned to you.

Yes, you have 10 calendar days to give up to the letter construction contract RAR: titleContent addressed to the manufacturer.

This period shall begin on the day following the firstreintroducing the RAR letter to you notifier the contract.

If the last day of the withdrawal period is a Saturday, a Sunday, a public holiday or unemployed person, the time limit shall be extended to 1er working day next.

Before the construction site opens

The builder may ask you to pay a security deposit limited to 3% the price of construction. It is blocked on a special account opened in your name. It shall be deducted from the first payments provided for in the contract.

When the manufacturer is the holder of a money-back guarantee, he can ask you 2 limited payments to 5% from the construction price to the signature of the contract and to 5% the issue of the building permit.

The certificate of the refund guarantee must be annexed to the contract.

During the works

The CCMI sets a timetable for payments as and when progress of work .

Payments may not exceed the following percentages:

  • 15% at the opening of the construction site
  • 25% the completion of the foundations
  • 40% completion of walls
  • 60%to the removal of water
  • 75% completion of bulkheads and venting
  • 95% the completion of the work on the equipment, plumbing, carpentry, heating and exterior cladding

FYI  

It is recommended to visit the site before each payment deadline to check the progress of the work.

After the works

You do the work approval with the builder. A report is written in which you note all your reservations (apparent defects or defects in conformity with the construction contract).

You have the opportunity to be assisted by a construction professional. This may be an architect, a technical controller or any other construction professional with an insurance contract covering responsibilities for this type of assignment.

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You receive work with the builder on your own

After receiving the work and handing over the keys, you have a delay of 8 calendar days to notify the manufacturer of apparent disturbances by letter RAR: titleContent or otherwise pay the balance. This represents at most 5%the overall price of construction.

If you have reservations (apparent defects or defects in conformity with the construction contract), you must record the amount with an organization you have chosen with the manufacturer.

You are accompanied by a professional

If you have no reservations (apparent defects or defects in conformity with the construction contract), you pay the balance of 5%maximum price to the manufacturer at the end of the work approval.

If you make reservations in the acceptance report, you record the balance of 5% maximum price from an organization chosen by the 2 parties. You pay the balance when the reserves are lifted (when the disturbances have been repaired).

Vefa

In a contract for the sale of a building to be built, the seller (the developer) provides you with the land and he undertakes to build a building within a specified period.

You sign a sales contract in the future state of completion (Vefa). You become the owner of the land upon signing the bill of sale and the house as it is built.

Please note

There is another contract for the sale of buildings to be built that is rarely concluded: the forward sales contract. You become the owner when the work is completed and you pay for the building on its delivery date.

Before signing the bill of sale of a building to be built, you must sign a reservation contract called preliminary contract. It shall take the form of a privately signed document or a notarial document.

The content of the reservation contract is enclosed and certain information must be included.

As soon as all the conditions for the sale of the house to be built are met, the contract of sale is signed before a notary.

The content of the contract of sale is governed by the law and clauses must be included (description of the goods, price, installment of payments, delivery times...).

Payments are staggered as work progresses.

Payments may not exceed the following percentages:

  • 35% from the total price to the completion of the foundations
  • 70% from the price to the setting out of water
  • 95% from price to completion
  • 5%the balance paid on delivery, unless the purchaser has reservations concerning non-conformity

FYI  

If the contract contains suspensive conditions, no payment may be made before these conditions are fulfilled.

When the construction is complete, the developer calls you to perform the delivery from the house. You need to see the completion of the work and its compliance with what was foreseen in your sales contract.

Contracts for the supervision of works

You sign a prime contractor contract with a prime contractor who coordinates the work without performing it. You then have to sign a contract with each company.

The prime contractor design your project of construction.

It establishes plans and coordinates work.

He advises you for the choice of the companies of each trade (mason, roofer, plumber, electrician). It checks their qualification, the quotes offered, their assurances, their ability to meet the deadlines for carrying out the work.

You then have to sign a contract with each company.

The supervisor does not commit to the construction lead times that depend on the selected companies. However, he shall draw up a work schedule which is signed by each trade.

The contract for the prime contractor must be written.

It determines precisely the missions you entrust to the prime contractor. They may include the following:

  • Implementation of plan
  • Preparation of the application file for building permit
  • Competitive tendering of companies
  • Company selection assistance
  • Drafting of technical documents
  • Coordination of work
  • Assistance in receiving work

At the signature of the contract, the supervisor undertakes to respect a timetable to build the building permit file and consult the companies.

You specify the cadastral references and the address of your land.

You define a specific schedule to allow the supervisor to develop a project. Your program contains at least the following:

  • Site Constraints (easements and regulations)
  • Construction area, number and nature of parts
  • Home Equipment

You stare at the the maximum amount of the deal. The supervisor undertakes to introduce you a project that fits your budget.

You must add a clause providing for termination of employment at the expense of the supervisor if the final cost of construction exceeds the planned amount.

The contract must contain suspensive conditions which allow you to give up your project if they are not completed. These include suspensive conditions for building permits and bank loans.

The fees of the prime contractor are fixed freely. They may be either flat-rate or a percentage of the cost of the work.

The contract must provide for a staggering of fees and indicate the arrangements for payment.

Please note

The certificate of the supervisor's professional insurance shall be annexed to the contract.

You can withdraw within 14 days only if you signed the distance contract or following door-to-door sales.

The period shall begin the day following the signature of the contract. If it ends on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, or unemployed person, it shall be extended to the first working day next.

You must send your withdrawal by letter RAR: titleContent.

You have no no explanation. 

Company contract

You have your house built by different trades (mason, roofer, electrician...).

You sign a company contract with each of the craftsmen who works on the building site of your home.

None of them carry out all of the work of removing the water and the air. Putting the house out of the water and out of the air involves protecting the house from the elements by installing the roof, doors and windows.

The company contract is not specifically regulated. It is recommended that a written contract which shall include the following information:

  • Nature and scope of the mission entrusted
  • Descriptive specifications and detailed plans for carrying out the work
  • Cost of works, possible revision of price
  • Schedule of payments (it is recommended to provide a security deduction of 5% for carrying out work on any defects found during the acceptance of works)
  • Suspension clause to obtain your loans
  • Schedule of completion of the work with scheduled start date of the work and completion deadline
  • Automatic penalties for delay
  • Certification of the professional guarantee insurance and the ten-year guarantee of each company

You can withdraw within 14 days calendar days only if you signed the distance company contract or following door-to-door sales.

The period shall begin the day following the signature of the contract. If it ends on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, or unemployed person, it shall be extended to the first working day next.

You must send your withdrawal by letter RAR: titleContent to the contractor.

You have no no explanation. 

FAQ