The course of action

Usually, the builder has one notary handle the legal part of the entire project. That notary has the builder's building plan, specifications and conditions.

The buyer of a house from a building complex can use his own notary for advice; this does incur costs. Don't put your signature on the purchase agreement too quickly. You must be sure in advance that you can get the mortgage. Because if you have signed without including financing as a resolutive condition and then discover that you cannot afford the purchase price, you will have to pay a high penalty (usually 10% of the purchase price) to get out of the sale.

Model purchase/contracting agreement

In cooperation with, among others, the Royal Notarial Association, a model purchase/contracting agreement with accompanying General Conditions and explanatory notes has been drawn up. In this model the rights and obligations of the buyer of a house to be (finished) built and the contractor are aligned as closely as possible. The model purchase/contracting agreement includes rules, which cover:

• time of transfer of ownership of land and house;
• settlement of differences between actual and quoted sizes;
• size of the security deposit;
• method of payment;
• moment of completion.

General terms and conditions also accompany the purchase/construction agreement. These regulate topics for the purchase and construction of homes that apply to every new construction. Examples include:

• consequences of change in construction;
• construction of pipelines;
• monitoring implementation;
• maintenance period;
• liability of the contractor;
• guarantee scheme.

The notary can inform buyer and seller about the details of the model agreement and the (financial) security when applying the general terms and conditions. He also explains the less advantageous and complicated aspects. The notary is objective and stands between the parties; he is impartial.

As in the case of an ordinary purchase contract, in the purchase-construction contract, the private purchaser has a three-day cooling-off period during which he can dissolve the contract. The buyer cannot be required to deposit more than 10% of the contract price with the notary as a deposit to ensure the fulfillment of his obligations. Furthermore, the buyer has the right to withhold 5% of the contract price from the final installment and deposit it with the notary in connection with any defects.