Acceptance report for works: how to hand over an installation to the customer, with an example

What is an acceptance report?

An acceptance report (proces-verbaal van oplevering / procès-verbal de réception) is the document in which the installer and the customer record together that the work is handed over. It states what was installed and tested, which remarks there are and by when they will be resolved, which documents the customer received, and whether the customer accepts the work. Both parties sign.

In Dutch you will also hear opleveringsverslag, or simply pv van oplevering; in French, PV de réception. For an installer, it is the last step of a project: a heat pump, a new boiler room, a water treatment installation or a ventilation system.

Where the handover goes wrong

• Remarks nobody writes down. “That drain still needs finishing” is said out loud, without a name and without a date.
• No measured values. The work order says “tested, OK”. When there is a complaint, nobody knows any more what was measured.
• Missing documents. The manual is still in the van, the warranty certificate never arrives.
• Finished does not mean the same to everyone. For the technician the work is done, for the customer not yet, and the invoice waits.

How to track the steps before acceptance, with an owner and a deadline for each task, is explained in installation project tracking.

Provisional and final acceptance in Belgium

The Act of 9 July 1971 regulating the construction of dwellings and the sale of dwellings to be built or under construction, known as the Breyne Act (wet Breyne / loi Breyne), works with two acceptances. Article 9 states that final acceptance may only take place one year after provisional acceptance. Article 7 requires the contract to state how acceptance takes place. You can read the text on Justel, the database of the Belgian Official Gazette (in Dutch, consulted on 31 October 2026). Have your legal adviser check whether a job falls under that act.

For other jobs, your quote, your general terms and conditions and the agreements with the customer determine how acceptance works. In practice, installers often choose one of these two methods:

• One acceptance, with the remarks and a deadline to resolve them.
• A provisional and a final acceptance. At the first walk-through, the customer and the installer note what is not finished yet. After an agreed period comes a second walk-through, at which the remarks are ticked off.

What an acceptance means legally, for example for visible defects, depends on your contract and on the law. Set out your method in your quote or your general terms and conditions, and have them checked by your legal adviser. Also be careful with examples you find online: many come from the Netherlands or France and follow Dutch or French rules, not Belgian law.

An acceptance report: an example to copy

Copy this example of an acceptance report into a Word document, a form or your software. It is not an official template.

If you work with two acceptances, use the same template twice. On the second report, you tick off the remarks of the first, with the date on which they were resolved.

What do you check at acceptance?

Agree for each type of installation which tests are always done, following the manufacturer’s manual and commissioning procedure. Write down the measured value, not just “OK”. A few examples:

• Heat pump: circuit pressure, flow and return temperature, controls and thermostat, condensate drainage, noise of the outdoor unit.
• Boiler room or boiler: tightness of the connections, system pressure, the measurements the manufacturer prescribes, operation of the safety devices.
• Water treatment: water hardness before and after the softener, setting of the unit, a regeneration, no leaks.
• Ventilation: flow rates per room, setting of the speed positions, clean filters.

Photograph what will no longer be visible after acceptance, and the rating plate. Keep the acceptance date and the end of the warranty in the installation’s file; why is explained in service history per installation. During the explanation, let the customer try the controls themselves, and say when the first maintenance is due.

Remarks and reservations: how to deal with them

1. One remark, one line. “Finishing around the opening in the outside wall” says more than “finishing”.
2. A name and a date. Who resolves it, and by when? A remark without a date gets left lying.
3. First what affects operation or safety. A leak or a safety device that does not work, you fix before you leave. Finishing work can wait until a next visit, which you schedule straight away.
4. Tick it off together. After the repair, note the date, and the customer signs or confirms by email.

Agree in the quote what you invoice at acceptance and what after the remarks, so that a small remark does not hold up the whole invoice. If the customer refuses to sign, note why and propose a new walk-through. A discussion about money or liability is passed on by the technician to the business owner.

An example: a heat pump in a terraced house

A heating company installs a heat pump in a terraced house. The project has tasks for the installation, the test, the explanation to the customer and the final report. On the last day, the lead technician does the test, notes the measured values in their report, shows the owner how to operate the unit and hands over the manual and the warranty certificate.

The insulation of the outdoor pipe is not finished, because the material only arrives the following week. The technician puts it in the remarks for the customer, with a deadline of two weeks. The owner signs on the technician’s screen and receives the report by email. At the office, the planner schedules a follow-up. After that visit, the project moves to completed.

How it works in Digitalnatie Service Suite

You track an installation as a project in the projects and tasks module. The acceptance itself takes place on an intervention, with the report and the customer’s signature.

• Tasks: a project gets tasks with a type, including test, customer training and final report, each with a technician and a deadline. You can link the acceptance visit to a task. The technician finds their tasks in the app, starts them and then marks them as done. When everything has been handed over, you set the project to completed.
• The report on site: the technician fills in the work done, the problem found and the solution. The remarks for the customer are printed on their report: that is where the remarks with their deadline go. Internal notes never appear on the customer’s report.
• Photos and signature: photos before and after, then the customer and the technician sign. If the customer does not want to sign, the technician records that the customer cannot or will not sign, with the reason, refusal to sign, and a mandatory explanation.
• Closing: when ending the work, the technician chooses the result. A fully completed result requires both signatures, or a reason, and the mandatory photos. The follow-up needed result sends the intervention back for rescheduling.
• Resolving a remark: at the office, you create a follow-up from the intervention form, that is, a new intervention linked to the first.
• The report to the customer: the technician sends it from the app, or the office from the intervention form. A report given on paper is marked as handed over in person.
• The documents: in the installation’s file, you store manuals, certificates and photos. A switch makes a document visible to the customer in their customer portal. When you register the installation, you enter its installation date and the end of its warranty.

Good to know:

• There is no separate template for an acceptance report, and no separate field for measured values or reservations. You note them in the report and in the remarks for the customer, under your own headings.
• Once the intervention is fully completed, the report, photos and signatures are locked. The office corrects them with a mandatory reason; a new version is created, which you send again.
• The report goes out by email if your organisation’s email account is connected. Otherwise, you download it and deliver it yourself.
• Linking an intervention to a task does not create an intervention and does not schedule one. Tasks only appear in the app if your organisation uses them.

What else belongs in the report is explained in the intervention report to the customer. Acceptance is often followed by maintenance: see drawing up a maintenance contract.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between provisional and final acceptance?

At provisional acceptance, the customer and the installer establish together what is finished and note the remarks. At final acceptance, after an agreed period, the remarks are ticked off. For contracts under the Breyne Act, there is at least one year in between. Have your legal adviser check what each acceptance means legally.

Is an acceptance report mandatory?

For contracts under the Breyne Act, the contract must state how acceptance takes place. For other work, it depends on your quote, your general terms and conditions and the agreements with the customer; check with your legal adviser. Even without an obligation, a signed report is the clearest proof of what you handed over.

What do you do if the customer will not sign the acceptance report?

Note why they will not sign and what, in their view, is not in order, with the date, and propose a new walk-through as soon as those points are resolved. In Service Suite, the technician records that the customer cannot or will not sign, with the reason and a mandatory explanation.

Does Service Suite have a template for an acceptance report?

No. You track the acceptance with project tasks such as test, customer training and final report, and you record it in the intervention report, with the remarks for the customer, the photos and the signature. You decide the headings of your report yourself.