Increasing prices after a signed quotation?

Lauren PolsAntwerp, Belgium

Costs are skyrocketing nowadays. As a result, the question increasingly arises: what if a quotation was drawn up taking into account costs that are no longer current? It is not inconceivable that quotations are drawn up long before the work actually starts. Given the pace at which costs are currently rising, it is often no longer feasible to carry out this work at the originally agreed price.

If you wish to adjust the price in an ongoing agreement to current rates, it is not possible to simply increase the price without further ado. You must indeed take into account a number of very important conditions. This is due to the essential and decisive significance that price has when concluding an agreement.

The limits within which price revision clauses are possible are set out in the Act of 30 March 1976 on economic recovery measures. Article 57 of this Act stipulates that price revision clauses are possible if:

  1. The price revision only applies to up to 80% of the price;
  2. The parameters used for the revision represent the actual costs;
  3. The price revision clause must be explicitly included in the agreement, so that the client is already aware of the price revision clause before concluding the agreement.

If a price revision clause does not meet the above conditions, it is prohibited and will consequently be declared null and void.

Would you also like to include a price revision clause in your quotation? Feel free to contact us at contact@alisadvocaten.be. We would be happy to draft a tailor-made price revision clause for your company.

Related practice areas

Commercial law

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