Become a housing auditor

To be accredited, candidates must:

1. hold a degree as an architect, civil engineer, industrial engineer or engineer for technical hygiene, or hold a master’s degree in environmental science and management;
2. hold valid accreditation as a building energy performance certifier (certificateur PEB) for residential units, as referred to in Articles 42 et seq. of the Decree on building energy performance and Articles 57 et seq. of the Order on building energy performance;
3. have completed all training and passed the tests described in Articles 22 and 24 of the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019; and
4. not have been subject, within the three years prior to submitting an application for accreditation, to a decision to withdraw accreditation, as referred to in Chapter 5 of the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019.

A legal entity may also be accredited as a housing auditor if it has, among its staff or collaborators, at least one auditor accredited in their personal capacity and bound to the entity by an agreement.

Accreditation may also be granted to building energy performance certifiers for residential units referred to in Articles 42 et seq. of the Decree on building energy performance and Articles 57 et seq. of the Order on building energy performance who meet all of the following conditions:

1. they have been accredited for at least two years;
2. they have issued at least 10 certificates;
3. they have not been subject, within the three years prior to submitting an application for accreditation, to a decision to suspend or withdraw accreditation, as referred to in Chapter 5 of the Order of the Walloon Government;
4. they have completed all training and passed the tests described in Articles 22 and 24 of the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019.
5. Accredited housing auditors are included on an official list.

Applications for approval must be submitted to the administration using the form (available below), duly completed and signed:

• by post to the address specified on the form (original version of the handwritten signed form); or
• by email to the address specified on the form (with an attachment in PDF format containing a copy of the signed handwritten form or the digitally signed form); or
• via Mon Espace.

What are the duties of an accredited auditor?

The duties of the accredited auditor essentially consist of:

• visiting the building and collecting, processing and recording data in the database;
• describing the existing situation of the dwelling or future dwelling, taking into account, where applicable, any plans for alterations to the protected volume or energy sectors envisaged by the applicant;
• verifying in the dwelling or future dwelling that the minimum safety, health and hygiene requirements laid down by the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019 on housing subsidies are complied with;
• analysing the energy performance of the dwelling or future dwelling, determining improvements and quantifying potential energy savings; and
• drawing up work packages and ranking them in order of priority according to potential improvements, in compliance with the rules on related works.

As part of their duties, accredited auditors must:

• carry out, personally or by partial delegation, all the tasks necessary to draw up the audit, in particular visiting the building, collecting and processing data, entering data in the database, and determining improvements in the event of energy-saving investments and renovation of the dwelling;
• in the context of these improvements, ascertain the applicant’s precise wishes regarding
• explain and comment personally (this part cannot be delegated)*, and in the presence of the applicant, on the content of the audit reports, using the official explanatory brochure;
• perform their duties completely independently, refraining from carrying out the audit of a dwelling (including one under development) in which they or any of their relatives up to the second degree hold a real right, and from making any commercial proposal concerning the building’s energy supply or the improvements identified by the audit;
• assume personal responsibility for every assignment, and sign reports personally when delegating part of their duties;
• use the database only in the context of conducting a housing audit; and
• unless the applicant has given prior consent, not disclose to third parties any information relating to the results of the housing audit.

* Where the auditor is a legal entity, this part of the assignment must be carried out by an accredited auditor who is a member of staff or collaborator of the legal entity.

In terms of training, accredited auditors must also:

• attend continuing training sessions organised by accredited centres, focusing in particular on changes to the procedure, the software and the explanatory brochure; and
• attend additional training sessions in the form of general information seminars on regulatory developments, on the use of the procedure and software, and on the links between the audit and the subsidy mechanisms organised by the Walloon Region.

What are the sanctions?

If an accredited auditor fails to fulfil their obligations, they may be sanctioned. Possible sanctions include a warning, temporary suspension of accreditation and withdrawal of accreditation. A warning or a temporary suspension entail an obligation for the auditor to comply with the applicable requirements, to correct or complete audits whose poor quality has been established, and to participate in training and pass the examinations organised in accordance with the legislation.

When and where will the training courses/examinations take place?

The dates and locations of training courses/examinations are specified and listed here.

Within 10 days of receiving the form, the administration will send the applicant an acknowledgement of receipt. If the file is incomplete, the acknowledgement of receipt will identify the missing documents and state that the procedure will resume from the date on which they are received.

Within 40 days of notifying the candidate that their application is complete and admissible, the administration will notify the candidate auditor of its decision whether to accept or reject the application.

The notification of acceptance of the application entitles the applicant to enrol in a training course organised by an approved training centre. It sets out the practical arrangements for organising this training, as well as the examination.

At the end of the training and after the administration has received the report on the training session from the approved training centre, the Ministers will accredit the candidates who have taken the training and passed the examination.

The candidate auditor will be notified of the accreditation within 60 days of receipt of the report on the training session. The notification of accreditation sets out the arrangements for accessing the tools to be used as part of the housing auditor’s tasks.

The accreditation takes effect from the date on which the decision is signed.

• November 28, 2013 - Decree on the Energy Performance of Buildings
• May 15, 2014 - Walloon Government Order implementing the Decree of November 28, 2013, on the energy performance of buildings

Send the Inspector General the reasons for your dissatisfaction, at the following address:

Service public de Wallonie
Département de l'Énergie et du Bâtiment durable
Monsieur l’Inspecteur général
Rue des Brigades d’Irlande, 1
5100 Jambes

If you are still dissatisfied after having taken these preliminary steps, you can lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman of Wallonia and the French Community.

Rue Lucien Namèche, 54 à 5000 Namur
Tél. gratuit : 0800 19 199
www.le-mediateur.be