Installing an alarm in your home in Belgium is unrestricted. Operating it is not quite. The Royal Decree of 25 April 2007 laying down the conditions for the installation, maintenance and use of alarm systems and the management of alarm centres — published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 4 July 2007 and in force since 4 October 2007 — imposes a series of simple, free and very widely ignored obligations.
1. The declaration: ten days, on police-on-web
Article 7 § 2 of the decree is explicit: the registration data must be submitted within ten days of the alarm system first being put into service. The same ten-day deadline applies if the data are changed and if the system is deactivated.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Where to declare | www.policeonweb.be |
| Deadline | 10 days after being put into service |
| Cost | Free |
| Confirmation | Annual — an automatic reminder is sent by email if you provided an address |
| Change / moving house | To be reported within 10 days |
| Without internet access | FPS Home Affairs, 02/577 34 82 |
The exception that concerns many people
If your installation is connected to a monitoring centre, you don't need to do anything: the alarm centre handles the registration. The personal declaration therefore only concerns systems that are not connected — in other words, the vast majority of home alarms controlled solely from an app.
This is exactly where the blind spot lies: people who installed a kit themselves often think they have nothing to do. It's the opposite.
2. The siren: three minutes, eight in case of tampering
Article 17 governs the audible signal: the device produces sound signals for a maximum of three minutes, and a maximum of eight minutes only if the system is tampered with.
This limit is no minor detail. A siren wailing for twenty minutes in an empty street exposes you to a noise nuisance complaint and turns the neighbourhood against your installation — when those same neighbours are your best allies in a real break-in. Branded sirens leave the factory with compliant settings, but check them after any reconfiguration.
Also check the municipal police regulations that apply at your address: they can be stricter than the Royal Decree, never more lenient.
3. Verification before alerting the police
Article 13 requires alarm centres and in-house security services to verify the alarm using at least one of the methods approved by the minister before passing it on to the emergency services.
In practice, an alarm no longer goes straight to the police on a simple trigger. An operator must first establish that it is probably a genuine intrusion. It is this procedure that distinguishes an alarm taken seriously from one left at the bottom of the pile.
For private individuals, the practical consequence is direct: photo verification is not a gimmick. A detector that sends images every time it is triggered lets you verify the alarm yourself within seconds, and lets a monitoring centre do it for you. Without an image, there's no way to verify.
If you want to delegate this verification, that's what our monitoring and response options are for.
4. Annual maintenance
Article 8 is short and often forgotten: the user is responsible for ensuring that their alarm system is maintained annually.
For a wireless installation, this means in practice: checking the condition of the batteries and backup batteries, testing each detector, checking the radio signal quality at each location, confirming that notifications arrive properly, and making sure the user list is up to date. One hour, once a year.
5. Who is allowed to install
There are only two options:
- yourself, for your own installation;
- a security company approved by the FPS Home Affairs, whose technicians hold an identification card issued by that same department.
There is no third way. An “installer” without FPS Home Affairs approval is working illegally, and you will find out at the worst possible moment — when you make a claim and the insurer asks for the paperwork. At SecuriShop, installation, repairs and maintenance are carried out by Belgium Security Brussels, approved under number 0666948937.
Summary
| Obligation | Who | When |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration on policeonweb.be | System not connected to an alarm centre | 10 days after being put into service |
| Confirmation of the declaration | Every declarant | Every year |
| Reporting a change or removal | Every declarant | 10 days |
| Siren ≤ 3 min (8 min if tampered with) | Everyone | At all times |
| Maintenance | User | Annual |
| Verification before alerting the police | Alarm centres | For every alarm |
Find out more
Alarm kits · Control panels and hubs · Detectors · Installation, monitoring and response · The camera law
This article summarises the Royal Decree of 25 April 2007 and does not constitute legal advice. If in doubt about your situation, contact your police zone or the FPS Home Affairs (securite.privee@ibz.fgov.be).