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Quality Assurance Act (Wkb): what does it mean for the structural engineer and the building consultant?

The Quality Assurance for Building Act has applied since 1 January 2024 to buildings in consequence class 1, such as single-family homes and smaller commercial buildings. An independent quality assurer checks during design and on site. The contractor is liable for defects not discovered at handover. For the structural engineer this means calculations on time and complete, a file that matches what was built, and clear agreements on who oversees the structure.

31 October 20268 min read

Business advice engineering firms

DNR2025 replaces DNR 2011: what changes in your liability and your insurance?

DNR2025 is the successor to DNR 2011, the standard terms of BNA and NLingenieurs for architects and engineers. Your liability stays limited to the fee up to a maximum of € 1,000,000, or to three times the fee up to a maximum of € 2,500,000 if you agree that in writing. New items include the exclusion of damage from a cyber incident, a rule on AI and a broader insurance obligation.

31 October 202610 min read

HR and payroll engineering firms

Hiring engineers as freelancers or working as one: what changes from 31 December 2026?

From 31 December 2026, someone who works for a business at a low hourly rate is presumed to be an employee. The law says at most € 36, the government says € 38, and the amount as at 31 December 2026 is still to follow. For most engineers the rate is higher. But the tax authority separately tests for bogus self-employment, and from 1 January 2027 again with its normal powers, including along the chain through an intermediary.

31 October 20268 min read

HR and payroll engineering firms

Architecture Firms cao and pension fund: does your building design firm fall under them?

Engineering and consultancy firms have no generally binding cao and no mandatory pension fund. A building design firm that mainly designs buildings, renovations or extensions can, however, fall under the Architecture Firms cao, and under the compulsory membership of the Architecture Firms Pension Fund. That obligation applies separately from the cao, to every employer that exclusively or mainly carries out architectural work. The contribution for 2027 is 22.8%, of which the employer pays 55%.

31 October 20267 min read

Financial insight engineering firms

Long projects and slow payers: how does an engineering firm keep enough money in the bank?

An engineering firm often works on a project for months before the client pays. In the worked example, a firm that only invoices after a phase and has to wait 60 days pre-finances up to € 50,000 of work, against € 10,000 when invoicing monthly with 30 days. A large company may not make an SME firm wait more than 30 days, and in principle neither may the government. Paying late costs the client 10.4% commercial interest a year.

31 October 20268 min read

Financial insight engineering firms

Hourly rate and utilisation: what should an engineering firm charge per hour?

An engineering firm earns its money from billable hours. The lower the share of hours you can charge to clients, the higher your hourly rate has to be. CBS figures show that staff cost engineering firms 37.8% of sales. In a worked example the cost of a billable hour falls from € 116 to € 87 when utilisation rises from 60% to 80%.

31 October 20268 min read

Financial administration engineering firms

Project records for an engineering firm: how do you keep track of hours, extra work and post-calculation per project?

An engineering or consultancy firm earns its money with hours. Record them per project and per phase, also with a fixed price. Put every change to the assignment in writing in advance, with the effects on planning and fees, as DNR2025 requires. After each phase, compare the actual hours with the budget. Then you know what you can invoice, where you can adjust and how to make the next quotation.

31 October 20269 min read

Financial administration engineering firms

Work in progress and instalment invoices: how does an ongoing assignment of your engineering firm appear in the annual accounts?

A structural engineer, building consultant or building services consultant almost always has assignments still running on 31 December. For tax purposes you value them at the part of the agreed fee that belongs to the work done, also with a fixed fee per phase. You deduct invoiced instalments from that. If you invoiced more than the work is worth, the difference appears on the balance sheet as a debt.

31 October 202612 min read

Tax engineering firms

WBSO for an engineering firm: do your own calculation tool, a model or a prototype count?

The WBSO reduces the payroll tax on hours your staff spend on research and development. In 2026 that is 36% of the first € 391,020 of the base, 50% for starters. An engineering firm developing its own calculation tool, a new measuring method or a prototype may qualify. Designing a structure or installation with proven techniques does not, according to RVO.

31 October 202610 min read

Tax engineering firms

VAT on design or advice for a building across the border: where do you pay the VAT?

A structural engineer, building services consultant or energy adviser working on a building abroad supplies a service that is taxed there. That is in article 6b of the Dutch VAT Act. The usual rule for business clients in the EU, invoicing with reverse-charged VAT, then does not fit. The other way round, you charge Dutch VAT when a foreign client hires you for a building in the Netherlands.

31 October 20269 min read

Business advice marketing and communications

Influencer marketing for a client: which advertising rules apply, and is your agency liable?

If an influencer receives money, products, a discount code or an invitation for a post, that post is advertising. It must be recognisable, with a label such as #ad or paid partnership at the start of the text and in the video itself. Under the Advertising Code the advertiser and the influencer are both responsible, and the advertiser must make an active effort. An agency does well to include that duty in every contract and every briefing.

31 October 202610 min read

Business advice marketing and communications

Who owns the work? Copyright from freelancer to agency to client, and AI images

A logo, text or photo that a freelancer makes for your agency stays with the freelancer. Copyright only passes with a written deed, and only for what is expressly stated in it. So the agency cannot transfer more to the client than it has received itself. For images made almost entirely by AI, it is uncertain whether there is any copyright at all. And since 2 August 2026 a deepfake must be recognisable as AI.

31 October 20268 min read

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