Charter - 2024｜BWA - Belgian Workspace Association

Charter – version July 2021

Article 1

The purpose of this charter is to put in place the rules to be applied by all members to ensure safety both for the customers and the fix or co-working member centres. Some of these rules govern the relationship between customers and members of BWA while others regulate relations between members and third parties. These rules together comprise the charter.

Article 2

The members of BWA guarantee their customers the following minimum services:

A multilingual contact person with a direct telephone line, every business days of the year from 09:00 to 17:00,
Welcoming visitors during this period,
A minimum number of eight fully equipped offices and/or 15 flex desks for co-workers
A meeting room,
A shared multifunction printer
A common lounge and equipped kitchen (fridge, coffee machine) room
A Wi-Fi access in the common areas of the building and reliable internet access available for members included

Article 3

The office package must, at a minimum, include the following items:

Provision of a workspace,
Provision of furniture,
All common charges and taxes according to the contract,
Electricity, water, heating,
Regular cleaning of the offices,
Possibility to have one or more telephones with one or more custom numbers in the name of the customer,
The option to have access to the shared services listed in article 2 hereof,
No hidden charges should be applied

Article 4

Members undertake to make a list available to the customers specifying the consumables that can be supplied and their prices

Article 5

Members have to be registered at SPF / FOD to be member of the association : (https://economie.fgov.be/) unless they are not commercializing registered addresses.

Members undertake to notify the VAT administration of the departures of customers and of their new address, where known. Members shall also notify the VAT administration of the reasons for customer departures. A subscription invoice more than two months overdue shall result in cancellation of the contract and the VAT administration shall be notified.

Article 6

Members undertake, during the signing of any contract, to obtain the documents listed below from the new customer:

A copy of the identity card or passport of the person signing the contract,
Enterprise or VAT number and VIES VAT number validation
A copy of the statutes of the company,
Full bank details
Accountant name and address.
Names and addresses of known director of the company.
The e-mail address of the director
The GSM number of the director
The Ultimate Beneficiary Owner(s) of the company

Furthermore, a full screening of the risk while dealing with the customer has to be calculated with the ORIS tool available for members or Excel sheets available on Dropbox for members.

Article 7

All contracts will be accompanied by the prior payment of a security deposit equivalent to minimum two months usage fees. An exception can be made, however, for coworking or contracts for three months or less. The member shall have the option of billing the whole subscription immediately, payable in advance.

Article 8

Members are not allowed to poach staff working for other members. Poaching is taken to mean open or insidious voluntary action for the purpose of obtaining the services of a person working for another member.

Article 9

Members are also prohibited from poaching the customers of other members both by making direct contact and by indirect actions such as mailshots sent to the addresses of the customers of another member. Personal action taken by the customer to receive offers from another member shall not be considered poaching.

Article 10

Members may be monitored by an internal or external Oversight Committee, consisting of three individuals, appointed annually by the General Assembly with minimum representation of 1/2 of the BWA members.

Article 11

Failure to comply with this charter shall be subject to penalty, ranging from simple reprimand to definitive exclusion of the member. An infringement considered sufficiently serious by the committee may give rise to an Extraordinary General Assembly to endorse or reject the decision of the Oversight Committee.

Article 12

This charter may be amended at each General Assembly, with the agreement of at least 50% of the members present or represented at the General Assembly.