Cracks in plasterwork after completion: how long are you liable and how do you include repairs in your accounts?

A client can hold you liable for a crack in the plasterwork up to two years after the client complained about it. The outer limit is twenty years after completion for a building and ten years for other work. For agreements from 1 January 2024 you are, for buildings, also liable for defects the client could have seen at completion, unless the defect is not your fault. If the crack is caused by the client's wall or ceiling, the risk lies with the client, but only if you warned them in good time.

About the amounts: the worked example for the warranty provision assumes a self-employed plasterer with a sole proprietorship. The repair costs are assumptions, not market figures. This article is general information, not legal advice for a specific dispute.

In this article

1. How long can a client hold you liable for cracks in the plasterwork?
2. What changed for agreements from 1 January 2024?
3. Are you liable for a crack caused by a poor substrate?
4. What do you record at the handover of plasterwork?
5. May you create a warranty provision for repairing plasterwork?
6. How do you keep track of repair costs per job?
7. Does your liability insurance pay for repairing your plasterwork?

How long can a client hold you liable for cracks in the plasterwork?

Up to two years after the client complained about the crack. If the client gave you a period to repair it, those two years only start at the end of that period. In addition there is an outer limit: twenty years after completion for a building and ten years for other work (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:761).

If you promise to investigate or repair the crack, the period can become longer. If the claim would expire in the time between your promise and the moment you clearly consider the repair finished, the period is extended (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:761). So record when you finish a repair.

Whether plasterwork falls under the rules for buildings is not stated literally in the law. The Dutch Civil Code gives no definition of a building. The government assumes the same meaning as in the Environment and Planning Act, and gives the construction or renovation of a home or commercial building as an example (IPLO, brochure on the Wkb and the Civil Code). Plasterwork as part of a renovation therefore probably falls under it. For a separate job of a few square metres that is less certain. To be safe, count on twenty years.

What changed for agreements from 1 January 2024?

In the past you were free of defects the client should reasonably have discovered at completion. That rule is still in the law. But for buildings a stricter rule has applied since 2024: you are liable for defects that were not discovered at completion, unless they are not attributable to you (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:758 paragraphs 3 and 4). So a hairline crack the client overlooked remains your concern.

With a private client you cannot deviate from this to the client's disadvantage. With a business client, such as a contractor or a homeowners' association that hires a company, that is only possible if it is stated expressly in the agreement. A rule in general terms and conditions is not enough (IPLO, liability). The new rule does not apply to agreements from before 1 January 2024 (IPLO, liability).

Are you liable for a crack caused by a poor substrate?

Not if you warned the client properly and in good time. In law, a client's wall or ceiling counts as an item that comes from the client. If the work fails because of defects in that item, the consequences are at the client's expense, unless you breached your duty to warn (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:760).

You must warn about defects you knew of or should reasonably have known of. For a building you do this in writing and unambiguously, and you point out the possible consequences to the client in good time. With a private client you cannot deviate from this rule (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:754). In writing can also be by email or WhatsApp (IPLO, brochure on the Wkb and the Civil Code).

For a plasterer this is often a damp wall, a ceiling that moves, old layers that are loose or a substrate that is too fresh. A good warning states what you see, what may happen and what the client can choose. For example: first remove the old layer, wait until the wall is dry, or carry on at the client's own risk.

If you are liable, the client must first give you the chance to repair the defect within a reasonable period. The client may also demand repair, unless the cost of it is out of proportion to the client's interest in repair instead of compensation (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:759). Repairing it yourself is usually cheaper than paying another company's bill.

What do you record at the handover of plasterwork?

Record which defects were seen at the handover, and when the work was completed. After completion the work is at the client's risk. If you report that the work is ready and the client does not inspect it within a reasonable period, or does not refuse it stating the defects, it counts as tacitly accepted. After that acceptance the work is completed (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:758 paragraphs 1 and 2).

Inspecting the work is called the opneming. The government recommends drawing up a handover report, a document listing the defects the parties discovered at completion. That does not tell the whole story: other information, such as video footage of the handover, can also show what was discovered (IPLO, liability).

• The date of completion and who was present, with a signature or agreement by message.
• The condition of the substrate before the work, with photos and your written warnings.
• The defects you saw together, and what you agree to do about them.
• Your advice on drying, ventilating and waiting before painting or wallpapering.

That last point helps with a later disagreement. If a crack appears because the client paints too early or does not ventilate the room, your written advice lets you show that the defect is not your fault. There is no official source with fixed drying times for plasterwork. So state the period the manufacturer of your material gives.

May you create a warranty provision for repairing plasterwork?

Yes, if on the balance sheet date there is a real chance that you will be held liable under a guarantee you gave. The Belastingdienst writes that you usually determine the size based on the amounts for which your business was held liable in the past (Belastingdienst, tax information 2026). A provision is an amount on the balance sheet for costs that come later, but belong to the work done now.

The effect is that the cost of repairs falls in the year of the work. The amount you add to the provision lowers your profit in that year. When you later pay for the repair, you charge those costs against the provision and not again as costs. If the provision turns out too high, the difference is released and still counts as profit.

A worked example. A self-employed plasterer spent €900 on repairs after completion in 2023, €1,400 in 2024 and €1,300 in 2025. That is an average of €1,200 a year. If the business works in the same way in 2026 and for roughly the same turnover, a provision of €1,200 at the end of 2026 can be supported with those figures. Without your own figures a provision is hard to support.

How do you keep track of repair costs per job?

Give every repair its own line in your records, linked to the job it belongs to. Write down the date of the complaint, the address, the cause, the hours, the materials, the travel costs and what you paid to others. That way, after a year you can see which type of work or which substrate costs you the most repairs.

In a sole proprietorship your own time does not count as a cost in the books. So the provision mainly covers materials, hired help and what you reimburse to others, such as a painter who has to repaint. Your own hours do cost you productive time. So keep track of them separately, even though they do not appear in the profit and loss account.

Few construction companies measure what mistakes cost them. A study of two construction projects found that repairs and rework cost 3.15% and 2.40% of the contract value. The main causes were changes by the client and the end users, and errors and omissions in the contract documents. According to the researchers, very few construction companies and consultancies in Australia measure their costs of quality (Love & Li, 2000). These were two construction projects as a whole, not plasterwork alone. It does show that repairs are a recurring cost item, which you only see when you measure it.

Does your liability insurance pay for repairing your plasterwork?

Usually not. Business liability insurance is meant for damage your work causes to others or to their belongings. Redoing your own work is generally excluded. Read your own policy conditions for the exact rules.

Two examples from the market. The information document of a business liability policy for members of Techniek Nederland lists, under what is not insured, the damage and costs because your work has to be done again. Damage to property in your care, in short other people's belongings in your keeping, can only be insured there as additional cover at a higher premium (Techniek Nederland, liability insurance information document). An Avéro Achmea insurance card from 2019 also excludes damage to the delivered product and the costs of redoing work (Avéro Achmea, liability insurance card).

If you work as a self-employed plasterer for a finishing company, that company often asks for your policy. Since 1 September 2026, an employer under the finishing trades collective agreement that hires a self-employed worker must, among other things, make sure that the worker has business liability insurance with cover of at least €2,500,000 per event, unless the worker holds the Afbouwveiligheidsbewijs safety certificate (finishing trades agreement, article 6, Stcrt. 2026, 22163). High cover says nothing about repairing your own work. That remains a cost at your own expense, and so belongs in your provision and your price.

Sources

• Dutch Civil Code Book 7, articles 754, 758, 759, 760 and 761, in force from 8 October 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• IPLO, De Wet kwaliteitsborging voor het bouwen: veranderingen Burgerlijk Wetboek in de praktijk (changes to the Civil Code in practice), brochure, accessed 28 October 2026. iplo.nl
• IPLO, Aansprakelijkheid en Wet kwaliteitsborging voor het bouwen (liability and the Quality Assurance for Building Act), accessed 28 October 2026. iplo.nl
• Belastingdienst, Fiscale informatie 2026 (tax information), chapter on the profit and loss account and balance sheet, section 7.7.3.1 Warranty provision, accessed 28 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Love, P.E.D. & Li, H. (2000). Quantifying the causes and costs of rework in construction. Construction Management and Economics, 18(4), 479-490. doi.org
• Victor Insurance Europe, Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering (AVB) for members of Techniek Nederland, information document, policy conditions NBA2023 and clause sheet CL-AVBTN 2026-1, accessed 28 October 2026. technieknederland.nl
• Achmea, insurance card for business liability, Avéro Achmea BedrijfActiefPolis, version 28 February 2019. kuiperverzekeringen.nl
• Amendment to the extension of the finishing trades collective agreement 2026/2027, decision of 15 July 2026, Staatscourant 2026, 22163. officielebekendmakingen.nl