VMSW: the Flemish social housing standard
By the ArchiMind teamUpdated on
The VMSW, Vlaamse Maatschappij voor Sociaal Wonen, is the Flemish social housing body. In 2023 its staff and part of its tasks moved to Wonen in Vlaanderen; it keeps its financial tasks. The standard specification born in that sector is today the model specification of Wonen in Vlaanderen and serves as the building reference across Flanders.
Definition
The VMSW, Vlaamse Maatschappij voor Sociaal Wonen, is the Flemish social housing body. In 2023 its staff and part of its tasks moved to Wonen in Vlaanderen, the Flemish housing agency; the VMSW remains in place and keeps its financial tasks among others. The standard specification born in that sector is today the model specification of Wonen in Vlaanderen. It still carries the VMSW name in contract documents and in the language of practices.
The document is called the Bouwtechnisch Bestek Woningbouw and is organised in ten parts numbered 0 to 9, as the CCTB is organised in tomes. It plays in Flanders the part the CCTB plays in Wallonia: one shared text, numbered articles, common measurement clauses.
What sets it apart from the CCTB
The two references describe the same trade, but they are neither translations of one another nor aligned. The numbering differs, the division into articles differs, and the measurement clauses do not always count the same way. An article of the CCTB therefore has no direct counterpart in the Flemish text.
The scope differs too. The VMSW text was written for social housing, but it has become the everyday building reference in Dutch-speaking Belgium: private practices and Flemish public clients use it well outside that sector. The CCTB covers building works executed by or for Wallonia and the bodies it funds.
When a practice meets both
A practice working on both sides of the language border keeps two template libraries and reads the client’s special specification before choosing. The rule is the same in both regions: the contract document states the reference and the edition it follows.
What does carry across is the method: the same way of choosing articles, the same discipline of hanging items on articles, the same checks before issue. Only the text they are applied to changes from region to region.
In ArchiMind
ArchiMind supports the VMSW specification for starting projects; creating your own template on that referential is not possible yet. Its levels — Deel, Hoofdstuk, Sectie, Artikel — are the ones the editor shows for a project that follows it, and the Flemish text keeps its drafting conventions. The project tree, the bill of quantities attached to the articles and the checks before issue share one workspace. Choose the version your contract names and check the project-specific clauses before publishing the document.
Related terms
- CCTB — the Walloon reference for building works
- Specification — the document and its two parts
- QUALIROUTES — the Walloon reference for roads
Sources and references
Frequently asked questions
Does the VMSW still exist under that name?
Yes. In 2023 its staff and part of its tasks moved to Wonen in Vlaanderen, the Flemish housing agency, while the VMSW kept its financial tasks among others. The standard specification is now the model specification of Wonen in Vlaanderen, and it still carries the VMSW name in contract documents and in the language of practices.
Does a Walloon practice need to know the VMSW reference?
Only when it builds in Flanders — the text serves well beyond social housing there. The two references cover the same trade but share neither the numbering nor the measurement clauses: a template built on the CCTB is not transposed row by row, it is rebuilt.