Terms and conditions of sale

These terms and conditions of sale (hereinafter the "T&Cs") govern all contractual relations between Mon Etat Des Lieux SRL, whose registered office is located at Avenue Louise 367, 1050 Bruxelles (Ixelles), registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number BE 1024.840.830, operating the brand expertise-immobiliere-bruxelles.brussels (hereinafter the "Firm"), and any natural or legal person who requests its real-estate expertise or valuation services (hereinafter the "Client"). Any order implies full and unreserved acceptance of these T&Cs. The applicable law is Belgian law, including the Code of Economic Law, the Civil Code and Belgian VAT legislation.

1. Purpose

The Firm's activity is independent real-estate expertise and valuation: determining the market or rental value of a property, and missions relating to an estate, a gift, a divorce, a mortgage, a purchase or sale project, insurance or any other patrimonial purpose. The Firm operates in the Brussels-Capital Region, for residential properties (houses, flats), investment buildings, land and mixed-use premises.

Services include the inspection and analysis of the property, the drafting of a reasoned expertise or valuation report (value adopted, methodology, comparable transactions) and, on request, additional support. The Firm acts as an independent expert. It is neither an estate agent, broker, insurer nor lawyer, and cannot replace formal legal advice.

2. Quotes and acceptance

Any quote is drawn up at the Client's request, free of charge and without obligation. It is valid for thirty (30) calendar days from its date of issue. After this period, the Firm reserves the right to reassess the pricing conditions in line with changes in its costs or schedule.

Acceptance of the quote is made by the Client's handwritten or electronic signature, or by any unequivocal written confirmation (in particular an e-mail reply expressly agreeing to the content of the quote). This acceptance forms the contract between the parties and triggers the application of these T&Cs. In the absence of express acceptance, simply requesting that a mission be scheduled after receipt of the quote constitutes tacit acceptance thereof, in accordance with Article 5.2 of the Code of Economic Law.

3. Turnaround time

The Firm undertakes to carry out the visit within a standard period of five (5) working days from confirmation of the appointment date. During busy periods (in particular June to September), this period may be extended to ten (10) working days.

Turnaround times are given for information only and do not constitute an obligation of result. Any delay attributable to force majeure (see §11) or to an act of the Client (unilateral postponement, absence on the agreed day, impossible access to the property) shall not engage the Firm's liability or give rise to any compensation. The written report is delivered to the Client within a maximum of seven (7) working days from full receipt of the fees.

4. Prices and invoicing

Prices are expressed in euros, all taxes included (VAT incl.), based on the applicable Belgian VAT rate (21% for intellectual services). The fees displayed on expertise-immobiliere-bruxelles.brussels are indicative and may be adjusted according to the surface area, the complexity and the type of property to be assessed.

Travel is included in the package for any assignment located in the Brussels-Capital Region; no mileage surcharge is invoiced. For missions located outside this area, a tailored quote is drawn up beforehand.

The invoice is issued after completion of the mission, within seven (7) calendar days of delivery of the report. The mandatory legal particulars (enterprise number, VAT, IBAN, payment terms) are reproduced in accordance with Article 5 of Royal Decree No. 1 relating to VAT.

5. Payment terms

Invoices are payable within thirty (30) days end of month from their date of issue, by bank transfer to the account indicated on the invoice. No cash payment is accepted above €3,000 (Article 67 of the Act of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering).

In the event of late payment, and automatically without prior notice, the Client owes:

• late-payment interest of 8% per annum on the unpaid amount, in accordance with the Act of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment in commercial transactions;
• a fixed recovery indemnity of €40 (Article XV.16 of the Code of Economic Law);
• a penalty clause of 10% on the amount still due, with a minimum of €100, as fixed compensation.

The Firm reserves the right to suspend any current or future service in the event of an established non-payment.

6. Client's obligations

The Client undertakes to:

• provide access to the property on the agreed date and time;
• provide the Firm, at least 48 hours before the visit, with a copy of the documents useful to the mission (title deed, latest EPC certificate, available plans, current leases, co-ownership charges and minutes, etc.);
• be present or represented by a duly authorised adult during the expertise visit;
• settle the invoice within the agreed deadlines.

Failure to provide the documents or the impossibility of accessing the property on the agreed day triggers the cancellation rules (see §10) and may justify the invoicing of a fixed wasted-visit fee of €150 incl. VAT.

7. Firm's obligations

The Firm undertakes to:

• comply with the agreed schedule and notify the Client of any foreseeable delay as soon as it becomes aware of it;
• deliver a written report within seven (7) working days of full receipt of the fees, including the findings, the reasoned value, the methodology used, comparable transactions, dated photos and, where applicable, recommendations;
• act in complete independence, without any commercial, capital or contractual link with an estate agent, developer, bank or notary involved in the file;
• respect professional secrecy on all information provided in connection with the mission;
• take out and maintain professional civil liability insurance appropriate to its activity (see §9).

8. Organisation of missions and partner experts

The Firm may entrust the material execution of missions to independent partner experts, selected on the basis of competence, experience of the Brussels property market and insurance cover.

The Firm remains the Client's sole point of contact for the entire file: drawing up the quote, scheduling, invoicing, follow-up and archiving of the report.

Each mission benefits from double insurance cover: the Firm's professional civil liability policy (see §9) and that of the independent expert in charge of the assignment, each taken out with an approved Belgian insurance company.

Independent partner experts are contractually bound to the Firm by commitments equivalent to these T&Cs, in particular regarding independence from the parties to the file and confidentiality (see §12).

9. Liability

The Firm's liability is limited to direct, certain and foreseeable damage resulting from a proven fault in the performance of the mission. Except in cases of wilful misconduct or gross negligence, the cumulative amount of compensation owed by the Firm may not exceed the VAT-inclusive amount of the mission concerned.

The Firm has taken out a professional civil liability policy with an approved Belgian insurance company. A certificate may be provided on written request to [email protected].

The Firm cannot be held liable for:

• inaccurate, incomplete or concealed information provided by the Client, or documents not communicated;
• defects or elements not detectable by a non-destructive visual examination at the time of the visit;
• decisions taken by the Client after delivery of the report;
• indirect consequences (financial loss, difference with a transaction price, moral prejudice).

The expertise or valuation reflects a value at a given date, based on available data and the chosen methodology; it constitutes a reasoned expert opinion and does not guarantee the effective price of a future transaction.

10. Cancellation and withdrawal

The Client may cancel or postpone a scheduled mission as follows:

• Cancellation more than 48 working hours before the mission: free of charge;
• Cancellation between 24 and 48 working hours before the mission: 50% of the VAT-inclusive amount is due as compensation;
• Cancellation less than 24 working hours before, or the Client's absence on the agreed day: 100% of the VAT-inclusive amount is due.

In accordance with Article VI.53 of the Code of Economic Law, the 14-day right of withdrawal provided for distance contracts does not apply to services whose performance has begun with the Client's express agreement before expiry of the period, which is typically the case for expertise missions scheduled at short notice.

11. Force majeure

Neither party may be held liable for a failure to fulfil its contractual obligations resulting from force majeure within the meaning of Article 5.226 of the Civil Code. The following are notably regarded as such:

• extreme weather preventing access to the property (storm, snow, ice, flooding);
• nationwide social movements (general strike, blocking of the road network);
• pandemics and public-health measures restricting travel;
• infrastructure failures (prolonged power cut, telecommunications failure);
• any other unforeseeable, irresistible event beyond the parties' control.

In such a case, deadlines are automatically suspended and resume as soon as the event ends. The prevented party informs the other as soon as possible.

12. Confidentiality and GDPR

The Firm processes all information gathered during the mission with the strictest confidentiality. The personal data collected (name, property address, contact details) are processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the Belgian Act of 30 July 2018.

The details of the processing, purposes, retention periods and how to exercise your rights are set out in our privacy policy, which forms an integral part of these T&Cs.

The Firm's possible subcontractors (host, transactional e-mail service, external accountant, independent partner experts) are bound by equivalent confidentiality commitments and, for partner experts, by a processing agreement within the meaning of Article 28 of the GDPR. No personal data is transferred outside the European Union, except in the supervised cases described in the privacy policy.

13. Intellectual property

Reports, photos, tables and any document produced by the Firm during the mission become the exclusive property of the Client after full payment of the invoice. The Client may use them for any useful purpose: production in court, transmission to a bank, notary or insurer.

The Firm nevertheless retains a right of use for its internal needs (anonymised statistics, internal training, anonymised case studies for educational purposes). Any public use with identifiable mention of the Client is subject to the Client's prior written agreement.

The graphic elements, editorial texts, illustrations and source code of expertise-immobiliere-bruxelles.brussels remain the exclusive property of the Firm. Any reproduction, even partial, without prior written authorisation is prohibited and constitutes counterfeiting within the meaning of Book XI of the Code of Economic Law.

14. Disputes and jurisdiction

Failing an amicable agreement, any dispute relating to the formation, performance or termination of the contract shall, prior to any legal proceedings, be submitted to an attempt at mediation before a mediator accredited by the FPS Justice, whose details will be provided on request. The seat of the mediation is fixed in Brussels.

If mediation fails, the competent courts are those of the judicial district of Brussels, without prejudice to the Firm's right to act before the courts of the Client's domicile where the Client is a consumer.

This contract is governed exclusively by Belgian law. Any clause of these T&Cs that is found to be void or inapplicable shall be deemed unwritten, without affecting the validity of the other clauses, in accordance with Article 5.23 of the Civil Code.