Becoming an accredited training centre for housing auditors

To obtain accreditation, a training centre must meet the following conditions:

1. organising training, examinations and continuing vocational training as referred to in Articles 22, 24 and 28 of the Order of the Walloon Government;
2. having the necessary technical and IT equipment and premises suitable for the relevant number of candidate auditors;
3. not having obtained a housing auditor accreditation as a legal entity in accordance with Article 16(3) of the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019.
4. having teaching staff who meet the following conditions:

• having held a valid housing auditor accreditation for at least two years, having obtained a score of at least 16 out of 20 in the examination referred to in Article 22, and not having been subject to any of the sanctions referred to in Chapter 5; OR being in the pool of PAE2 accredited trainers (prior to 1 June 2021);
• not having been subject to any of the sanctions referred to in Article 54 of the Decree on building energy performance;

What are the obligations of an accredited centre?

The obligations of such centres are described in Article 35 of the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019. The centres must provide candidates who have been notified that their application has been accepted with the training and examinations required to obtain accreditation as housing auditors. They must also provide auditors with the continuous training referred to in Article 28. To this end, they must use the training materials drawn up by the public authorities.

Accredited training centres may only enrol a candidate in training or continuing vocational training if that candidate is included on the list of validated candidates provided by the public authorities.

The Minister will specify the practical arrangements for organising the training courses in the form of an agreement covering harmonised organisation and coordination between centres.

The training centres agree to carry out the following tasks:

• organise training modules based of the content and training materials provided by the public authorities;
• provide training exclusively to auditor candidates included on the list, which is regularly shared by the public authorities;
• confirm registration details (dates, venues, logistical and administrative aspects) to auditor candidates;
• provide auditor candidates with the teaching materials (syllabus, presentations, etc.) and IT equipment necessary for properly following the training;
• use only trainers who meet the conditions laid down in the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019;
• organise examinations at the end of the training in accordance with the provisions of the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019, and communicate the results to the public authorities;
• issue a certificate of training completion to those auditor candidates who have completed the entire training programme;
• provide the public authorities with a report on the training and examination after the end of the training and examination.

The centre is responsible for reproducing all paper and electronic materials provided by the public authorities for participants.

The centre must inform the public authorities of the dates of the training so that they can be published on the WPS Energy website at least 15 days before the start of the courses and examinations.

Who carries out housing audits?

Housing audits are carried out by auditors accredited in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Order of the Walloon Government of 4 April 2019.

To be accredited, candidates must:

• 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;
• hold a 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;
• 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
• 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:

• they have been accredited for at least for years;
• they have issued at least 10 certificates;
• not have 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;
• 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.
• Accredited housing auditors are included on an official list.

NB: candidates wishing to become a housing auditor must send a duly completed and signed application form to the public authority, which will check it against the prerequisites listed above. A list of validated candidates is kept up to date and sent to accredited centres on a regular basis. Candidates must be on the list in order to be registered for a training and examination session.

Applications for accreditation must be submitted by the centre’s representative using the application form.

The accreditation application file must be submitted in a single copy, duly completed and signed, as follows:

• either by post, in a single copy:

A l’attention de Monsieur Jean VAN PAMEL
Inspecteur général
Service public de Wallonie
Département de l’Energie et du Bâtiment durable

• or by email:

to the following address: secretariatenergie.dgo4@spw.wallonie.be

The ‘subject’ line must read as follows: DEBD-DBD – Formulaire de candidature d’agrément en tant que centre de formation auditeur Logement

The handwritten or digitally signed form must be included as an attachment in PDF format.

If the application file is incomplete, the candidate will be notified as soon as possible. This notification will specify the missing documents and mention that the review period resumes on the date on which all the missing documents are received.

• or via Mon Espace

The ministerial order granting the accreditation will indicate the accreditation number.

The accreditation takes effect on the date on which the ministerial order is signed. The public authority will publish on this website the list of accredited training centres and the training dates.

Within 10 working days of receiving the accreditation application file, the public authority will send the candidate an acknowledgement of receipt indicating the date on which the application was received, the deadline for issuing a decision, and the available avenues of appeal.

Within 60 days of sending the acknowledgement of receipt, the ministers will notify the candidate training centre of their decision.

• Decree on the Energy Performance of Buildings, dated November 28, 2013
• Walloon Government Order implementing the Decree of November 28, 2013, on the energy performance of buildings, dated May 15, 2014
• Decree of the Walloon Government on the Housing Audit of April 4, 2019

Contact the relevant public authority to explain the reasons for your dissatisfaction.

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:

Freephone: 0800 19 199