Why divide costs?

The division of costs makes it possible to avoid irresponsible behaviors in which people say, “what’s the point in using less, there’s not going to be a difference to my bill in any case…” by identifying how much each unit actually consumes.

Such a system makes it possible to avoid a lot of questions and/or conflicts between the co-owners, the property management company or the building manager as it makes it perfectly clear what the actual costs are and how they are objectively divided among the building’s units.

What costs can be divided?

> Cold water consumption
> The consumption of domestic hot water when units are not equipped with individual equipment for the production of domestic hot water
> Heating costs when units do not possess individual boilers

The advantages of a division of costs based on individual calculations

In an apartment building, the calculation of energy consumption thanks to systems that determine individual heating costs allows everyone to pay based on what they have consumed. A number of European countries have already largely adopted this system: 95% of apartments in Germany are equipped with them, 80% in Austria, 80% in Denmark, 70% in Sweden…

Different European studies have shown that this approach results in a significant reduction in energy consumption (20% on average).

Belgian legislation

As concerns the division of calculations for water use, European requirements in terms of water connections have been transferred by decree into Belgian law. In this framework, an individual meter must be installed when there are new connections, new buildings or during major renovation work. Distributing companies (such as CILE in the Liège region or SWDE in Wallonia) have integrated these new requirements and now deal with installing individual meters in apartments.

Concerning individual calculations in terms of heating, various regulatory projects are being considered where the goal will be to generalize individual calculations in new constructions and, when technology permits, in existing buildings. Nevertheless, and even though there is no current norm insisting on the generalization of individual heat meters, individual calculations are systematically implemented during the construction of apartment buildings or during major renovations.