Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis
This view shows Belgium · 711 · Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis. Sector figures are national, so the place does not apply here.
Activities
NACE 711 · 6 activities| Activity | Registrations | Starters, 12 months | Bankruptcies, 12 months | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activities of building architects71111 | 18,227 | 1,013 | 24 | 2,069 |
| Engineering and related technical consultancy, excluding land surveyors71121 | 11,525 | 1,080 | 34 | 24,115 |
| Activities of interior architects71112 | 3,881 | 279 | 19 | 427 |
| Urban planning and landscape architecture71113 | 2,242 | 197 | 6 | 292 |
| Land surveying71122 | 1,740 | 59 | 3 | 713 |
| Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis71119 | 38 | 20 | 0 | - |
Filed accounts
NACE 711 · financial year 2025 · 15,473 filed annual accounts| Per financial year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median solvency | 46.6% | 48.6% | 49.1% | 50.2% | 51.3% | 51.0% |
| Median net result | €14,416 | €17,368 | €17,089 | €17,708 | €17,893 | €18,756 |
Hold your customer's or competitor's figures against them in the Sector benchmark
Bankruptcies
Recent bankruptcies
| Date | Company |
|---|---|
| 12-11-2026 | DESIGN & CONCEPT
BE 0775.885.578 |
| 10-11-2026 | Bilcon
BE 0656.956.749 |
| 05-11-2026 | Associated Landsurveyors Oost
BE 0830.133.027 |
| 05-11-2026 | AZ Solutions EU
BE 1007.473.474 |
| 28-10-2026 | SiMS Mobility
BE 0756.568.821 |
| 26-10-2026 | Architecten Emmanuel Lenders en Partners
BE 0447.103.385 |
| 26-10-2026 | INSIGHT-IN
BE 0543.354.705 |
| 23-10-2026 | ORBIS ARCHITECTURE
BE 0763.333.778 |
Spread across the country
by region and province · 20,577 of 37,431 enterprises with a registered office on file · a sole trader has no published seat- Flanders
- Wallonia
- Brussels
- Abroad
The balance sheets of division 71 on the map, by municipality and down to the address
Largest employers
NACE 711 as first main activity · staff from the latest accounts- 1 TRACTEBEL ENGINEERINGBrussels 1,326 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 2 ARCADIS BELGIUMBrussels 775 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 3 TUC RAILSint-Gillis (bij-Brussel) 731 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 4 ALTEN BelgiumSint-Gillis (bij-Brussel) 718 FTEfinancial year 2025
- 5 Akkodis BelgiumDilbeek 677 FTEfinancial year 2025
Joint committees
from the latest accounts of 2,798 companies- 200 Auxiliary committee for white-collar workers 1,562
- 336 Liberal professions 745
- 100 Auxiliary committee for blue-collar workers 257
- 209 White-collar workers in metal manufacturing 185
- 124 Construction 103
- 111 Metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 96
- 145 Horticulture 63
- 149.01 Electricians: installation and distribution 55
Show the 12 others
- 201 Independent retail 33
- 207 White-collar workers in the chemical industry 28
- 126 Furnishing and woodworking 26
- 149.04 Metal trade 19
- 337 Auxiliary committee for the non-profit sector 15
- 302 Hotels and catering 12
- 116 Chemical industry 11
- 323 Building management, estate agents and domestic staff 11
- 226 White-collar workers in international trade, transport and logistics 10
- 335 Services and support for business and the self-employed 9
- 149 Sectors related to metal, mechanical and electrical engineering 7
- 144 Agriculture 6
Source: the annual accounts at the National Bank. One filing can name more than one committee.
Division 71: Architecture and engineering
Bankruptcies per year in division 71
| Per year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bankruptcies | 124 | 87 | 72 | 94 | 112 | 76 | 79 | 97 | 108 | 114 | 99 | 102 |
| Jobs lost | 219 | 137 | 116 | 183 | 170 | 149 | 128 | 211 | 180 | 181 | 209 | 184 |
2026 through September. Every bankruptcy, also of companies that have since left the register. Source: Statbel (Directorate-General Statistics), NACE classification of 2008.
Staff cost per FTE in NACE division 71
1,480 employers| Size | Median | Middle half | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| fewer than 10 FTE | €64,600 | €50,700 to €79,300 | 948 |
| 10 to 49 FTE | €77,700 | €65,400 to €90,300 | 384 |
| 50 to 249 FTE | €80,300 | €72,600 to €102,800 | 124 |
| 250 FTE or more | €90,000 | €84,100 to €107,600 | 24 |
Employers with the highest staff cost per FTE in this division All sectors by staff cost In the Analysis workbench
Running bankruptcies in the sector
NACE division 71Measured nationally: Of 108,768 bankruptcies of legal entities across Belgium, 49% were closed within five years for insufficient assets and 29% after liquidation, 3% were withdrawn. After five years, 20% were still open. Half had ended after 26 months (a quarter after 15, three quarters after 51 months).
This counts companies with this main activity in the register on 13 November 2026. The outcome itself is not measured by sector. The activity of a company that leaves the register after its bankruptcy is too often not kept to compare closed cases fairly.
95 of the 20,644 companies in NACE division 71 have a parent company abroad. Main parent countries: France (18), Netherlands (17) and Luxembourg (13). Together they employ 8,572 of the division's 39,247 FTE: 22%, against 14% for Belgium as a whole.
Subsidies in this sector
per register · legal entities with an enterprise number- Flemish subsidies €153.6m awarded
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation €263,742 paid
- Federal transfers 175.0m amount as published
- EU budget €305.8m attributed share
- EU research €325.1m EU contribution
Insights on Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis
Balance sheet and result. 8.3% of the annual accounts show negative equity, against 12.4% in Belgium. Return on equity of 20.7% is above Belgium's 15.9%. 21.1% of the annual accounts close with a loss, against 26.7% in Belgium.
Bankruptcies. In 12 months, 2.3 of 1,000 companies went bankrupt, against 6.2 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 73% of the 88 NACE divisions. The median bankruptcy probability of 0.1% is below Belgium's 0.2%.
Inflow and structure. In 12 months, 7.1 of 100 companies started, against 8.9 in Belgium. That is fewer than in 54% of the 87 NACE divisions. Half of the companies are younger than 9.1 years, against 8.1 years in Belgium. This activity holds 94.7% of the registrations of Architecture and engineering.
Staff and filing. 33.5% of the financial year 2024 accounts were filed late, against 38.5% in Belgium. The 5 largest employers hold 4,226 of the 27,616 FTE: 15.3%.
Direction. Median solvency rose from 46.6% in financial year 2020 to 51.0% in financial year 2025. The median net result rose from €14,416 in financial year 2020 to €18,756 in financial year 2025.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other divisions is as of 13-11-2026 05:30.
Method and sources
Every company registered today counts under its main activities in the KBO. Establishment units do not count. Staff counts once, under the employer's first main activity, from its latest accounts and only where it fits the staff costs. The count follows the NACE 2025 classification, the version in which code 711 exists.
The bankruptcies over five years count only companies still registered today, because the activity of a company that left the register is not kept. So they are fewer than the bankruptcies of those years, and the figure is not a probability for the future. Over twelve months the count is nearly complete, because a bankrupt company stays registered while its bankruptcy runs. A company with more than one main activity counts in each of those sectors.
The comparison with Belgium as a whole and with the other NACE divisions rests on an overview of every division, counted again each night. Each division is counted in the version of the NACE classification in which it exists. A standing such as "more than in 80%" compares with the other divisions that have the figure. A division's bankruptcy probability is the median over its companies with a score. Belgium here counts the 1,276,396 companies with a main activity, because only those belong to a division. The other 700,156 registrations publish no activity.
Each median is the value of the middle company, computed over the annual accounts of financial year 2025, and is shown only from 30 accounts. A share (loss-making, negative equity) counts that year's accounts with that trait. Accounts are late when they are filed after the statutory deadline. The direction per financial year follows the companies still registered today. Missing or 90 days late counts the companies with accounts missing today, or whose latest were filed more than 90 days after the deadline. The dossier follows the same rule.