Access to the profession in construction: three Regions, three regimes

The historical framework is set out in the programme act of 10 February 1998 for the promotion of independent enterprise. It laid down two distinct requirements, often confused: on the one hand basic management knowledge, asked of anyone setting up as self-employed; on the other professional competence, required only for a list of regulated trades.

For construction, that list comes from the Royal Decree of 29 January 2007 on professional capacity. It covers nine groups of activities: structural work; plastering, cementing and the laying of screeds; tiling, marble and natural stone; roofing and waterproofing; joinery and glazing; finishing; the installation of central heating, air conditioning, gas and sanitary equipment; electrotechnical activities; and general contracting.

Proof was given by a qualification, by sufficient professional practice, or by passing the examination of the central examining board (jury central). The basic text has remained federal, but its repeals and its adaptations are now regional: that is what explains how the same Royal Decree of 2007 can be dead in one Region and still alive in the other two.

A Flemish decree of 18 May 2018 abolished the legal provisions on basic management knowledge, with effect from 1 September 2018. From that date, a registration in the Flemish Region no longer called for a management certificate.

Professional competence in the construction trades followed a little later: the Royal Decree of 29 January 2007 was repealed for the Flemish Region by an order of the Flemish Government of 19 October 2018, with effect from 1 January 2019. Since that date, no qualification and no professional practice has to be produced in order to open a roofing, plastering or general contracting business in Flanders.

What has disappeared is a condition of access, not the contractor's liability towards the customer, which remains governed by the contract and by the other rules applicable to the job. A Flemish company registered after 2019 has therefore never had to show a diploma on the way in, and its public file contains none.

In the Brussels-Capital Region, the obligation to prove basic management knowledge was abolished on 15 January 2024. On 1 April 2024, the obligation to demonstrate professional skills was lifted for five activities only — meat wholesaler, dry cleaning, chiropody, massage, dental technician — none of which belongs to construction.

Professional skills therefore remain required in Brussels for four sets of trades: food, construction, vehicles and personal care. For construction, the Brussels list takes over the activities of the 2007 decree, from structural work to general contracting by way of roofing, heating and electrotechnical work.

Registration in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises through an approved business counter (guichet d'entreprises) remains compulsory in every case. For the activities that are still regulated, competence is proved by a diploma, by professional experience, or by going before a central examining board.

In the Walloon Region, the obligation to hold basic management skills in order to carry on a self-employed activity was abolished from 1 October 2025. The reason announced by the Walloon Government is that this was legislation that had become obsolete, restricting access to the profession without any real effect, in particular as regards the prevention of bankruptcies.

The professional skills specific to certain trades are, for their part, maintained: the Walloon Government expressly cites roofers and heating engineers, alongside restaurateurs and bakers-confectioners. The Royal Decree of 2007 continues to apply in the Walloon Region, where it was amended by an order of the Walloon Government of 4 December 2025, which came into force on 17 January 2026.

In other words, the Walloon reform removed the condition that concerned everybody and kept the one that concerns the trades. The nine groups of activities of 2007 remain the Walloon grid, and the central examining board remains the route for anyone with neither a qualification nor sufficient professional practice.

A registration in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises is an administrative fact. The business counter checks what the Region requires at the moment of registration, then registers the company and its activities; the enterprise number attests to a step completed, never to know-how observed on a site.

Which regime applied depends on two things: the Region and the year. A roofing company registered in Flanders in 2021 had nothing to prove; the same activity registered in Brussels or in Wallonia the same year did. Those conditions apply on the way in and cannot be read back out of the public data: the KBO/BCE does not publish the qualification, the experience or the examination that opened the file.

And where competence was proved, it was proved by a person, on a date. That person may have left the company, and the work may be carried out by others. That is why this site shows dated facts — existence, status, VAT registration, insolvency proceedings, declared activities — and draws no judgment of competence from them, as the guides on the KBO/BCE extract and on recognition point out.