Asbestos certificate in Halle-Vilvoorde
The district of Halle-Vilvoorde forms the belt around Brussels, and that belt is literally on our doorstep. From Vilvoorde and Zaventem to Halle and the Pajottenland we are on site quickly.
The Brussels periphery mixes busy municipalities such as Vilvoorde, Zaventem and Dilbeek with the rural Pajottenland. Many homes date from before 2001, which makes an asbestos certificate compulsory on sale. Because we sit just across the regional border in Brussels, the journey to Halle-Vilvoorde is short and an appointment is usually arranged quickly. The inventory is non-destructive, with an accredited laboratory for any samples.
When is an asbestos certificate compulsory for a home in Halle-Vilvoorde?
On the sale, gift or any other transfer between living persons of a building from before 2001, from 20 m² of accessible structure.
Two facts decide whether you need a certificate: the year of construction and the surface area. If the building dates from before 2001 and covers at least 20 m² of accessible structure, an asbestos certificate belongs with the transfer. That applies to a terraced house in Vilvoorde just as much as to a country cottage in the Pajottenland. Asbestos has been banned in Belgium since 1998; anything built after 2001 falls outside the obligation.
The certificate is valid for ten years. Where it lists high-risk materials, that is five years. Where no asbestos is found, it remains valid indefinitely. Sale or no sale, every owner of a building from before 2001 has to hold a certificate by 2032.
The certificate itself comes from OVAM. We carry out the inventory on site and submit it; you receive the certificate with a unique number attached to the building.
I live in Brussels and am selling a home in Halle-Vilvoorde. Does the asbestos certificate apply?
The address of the building decides the rules, so a property in Halle-Vilvoorde falls under the Flemish certificate obligation, even when you live in Brussels yourself.
The regional border cuts straight through what everyone calls the periphery. A home in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw follows the Flemish rules; a home a few streets on, in Anderlecht, follows the Brussels ones. For the certificate only the address of the building counts, not that of the owner or of the buyer.
In Brussels the asbestos certificate does not exist. The inventory obligation there hangs on works and on the permit date of the building, not on the sale. If you are selling on both sides of the border, the Flemish property needs an OVAM certificate and the Brussels one needs nothing, as long as nothing is demolished or renovated.
The content of the certificate has to have been communicated to the buyer when you sign the private sale agreement. Where that happens makes no difference: the certificate belongs to the building, so a notary in Brussels handles a Flemish sale just as well. Do make sure the certificate exists before the date of that agreement is fixed.
My 1970s home was renovated later. Do I still need an asbestos certificate?
Yes: the year the structure was built is what counts, so a thoroughly renovated home from before 2001 needs a certificate on sale as well.
Estate houses and country cottages from the sixties, seventies and eighties are common in the periphery. Some of them were renovated later. What you see then is a ten- or fifteen-year-old finish, while the structure underneath dates from the original building period.
In such a renovation the old material does not always disappear. A new roof is sometimes laid over the old one and a floor covering stays put under a new layer. That is why during the visit we ask what was replaced and when, and look at the places where old and new finishes meet. Invoices or photos of the work make that clearer faster.
Behind a closed finish we cannot look. Such a spot goes into the certificate as a presumption, with the reason given. The buyer then knows what to watch for during later work, and you avoid a dispute afterwards about what was investigated.
The regional border runs through your file.
Where the property stands decides the rules, not where you live or where your notary has an office.
- Built before 2001 and 20 m² of accessible structure: certificate compulsory on sale
- Property in Halle-Vilvoorde: Flemish rules, even if you live in Brussels
- Valid for ten years, five years where high-risk materials are listed
- A renovation after 2001 does not change the year the structure was built
Across the whole periphery
A selection of the municipalities in the district we cover, from the northern rim to the Pajottenland.
How the certificate comes about
From the site visit through the laboratory to issue by OVAM.
Asbestos certificateThe whole province
Is your property elsewhere in Flemish Brabant? The same framework applies there.
Flemish BrabantBriefly answered.
Yes, across the whole district of Halle-Vilvoorde, from Vilvoorde and Zaventem to Halle and the Pajottenland.
For a building from before 2001 you do, on sale or transfer.
The periphery is close to our office, so usually within the week.
The Flemish ones. The six facility municipalities in the periphery lie in the Flemish Region, so the certificate obligation for buildings from before 2001 applies there. Facilities concern the language used with the authorities and have nothing to do with asbestos legislation.
Yes. A buy-out or a division of joint ownership is a transfer between living persons, and the certificate obligation then applies to a building from before 2001. The same goes when you sell to a third party together.
The year of construction in the cadastral records is the starting point. If you cannot find it, send us the address; we check it before we fix the price.
Know the price within 24 hours.
The form takes two minutes. You get one fixed price, with no obligation.