Registered office in Belgium: the rules, how to look it up and what domiciliation means for sellers
Tips
The short answer
The registered office (maatschappelijke zetel in Dutch, siège in French) is a Belgian company's legal address. It decides which enterprise court the company falls under, it must appear on invoices, letters and the website, and it is what KBO Public Search shows as the "registered seat's address". Under the Code of Companies and Associations, the statutes only have to name the Region (Flanders, Wallonia or Brussels-Capital), not the address. The board can then move the seat anywhere in Belgium without amending the statutes, unless the address is written in them, the seat changes Region, or the language of the statutes has to change. A move is filed with the enterprise court and published in the Annexes to the Official Gazette. The registered office is often an accountant's or domiciliation address, so deliveries and visits belong at an establishment unit.
The rules below come from the Code of Companies and Associations on Justel, KBO Public Search, the FPS Economy and the ITAA, read on 1 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.
Registered office, establishment unit and operating address
Three addresses get mixed up in most CRMs. Only two exist in the register.
Registered office | Establishment unit | Operating address | |
|---|---|---|---|
What it is | The legal seat of the legal entity | A place with a Belgian address where an activity is carried out, or from which it is carried out | Where people work, receive goods and meet customers; not a legal term |
How many | Exactly one | One or more, each with its own number | Should match one of the establishment units |
Identifier | The enterprise number, starting with 0 or 1 | Ten digits starting with 2 to 8 | - |
Where you find it | KBO, Official Gazette, invoices, website | KBO, list of establishment units | The company's website, your own visits |
Use it for | Contracts, invoices, legal notices | Deliveries, visits, site-level territories | Same as the establishment unit it matches |
For a one-person company working from home, all three are one address; for a retailer they can be dozens apart. Establishment units in the Belgian register explains the unit numbers and why activity codes differ between the two levels.
What the Code of Companies and Associations requires
The Region, not the address, in the statutes. Article 2:4 says the statutes must state the Region in which the seat is located and may also state the address. The Code just says zetel; "maatschappelijke zetel" is the older term the Gazette search form still uses.
The exact address in the published extract. Under article 2:8, the extract of the deed of incorporation filed at the enterprise court must give the Region and the precise address of the seat. So the address is always public, even when the statutes leave it out.
The seat on every document. Article 2:20 requires deeds, invoices, letters, orders and websites of a legal person to state its name, legal form, the precise location of its seat, its enterprise number and "RPR" followed by the court of the seat. A person who signs for the company on a document that lacks these details can be held liable, according to article 2:22.
Belgian law follows the statutory seat. Article 2:146 applies the Code to legal persons whose statutory seat is in Belgium, whatever they do and wherever they operate.
Moving the registered office
Article 2:4 gives the board the power to move the seat within Belgium, as long as the language laws do not force the statutes into another language. Who decides depends on what the move touches.
Situation | Who decides | Statutes amended? |
|---|---|---|
New address in the same Region, address not in the statutes | The board | No |
The address is written in the statutes | The board | Yes, by the board |
Move to another Region, same language of the statutes | The board | Yes, by the board |
Move that requires the statutes to change language | The general meeting only | Yes, under the rules for amending statutes |
For a BV, NV or CV, any amendment to the statutes takes a notarial deed (article 2:5). The statutes can also exclude or limit the board's power. How to find a Belgian company's statutes shows where to read them for free.
The decision is filed with the registry of the enterprise court, within thirty days under article 2:8, and published in the Annexes to the Official Gazette. Under article 2:18, the company can in principle rely on the new seat against third parties only once it is published. One exception: when the authorities change an address themselves, for example by renaming a street, the company does not have to amend its statutes or publish anything.
How to look up a company's registered office
KBO Public Search. Search by name or enterprise number at kbopub.economie.fgov.be. The record shows "Registered seat's address" with a "since" date, and just below it "Number of establishment units", with a link to the list. Proximus, for example, has its seat in Schaerbeek and 186 establishment units. The Belgian company register guide walks through the rest of the record.
Official Gazette. In the legal-persons search, filter the subject on "maatschappelijke zetel" to see every move with its publication date. How to search the Official Gazette covers the form.
The company's own documents. Invoices, letterhead and the website footer must carry the seat. If they differ from the KBO, ask which one is current.
Domiciliation and virtual offices
Nothing in the Code requires a company to work at its registered office, and many small companies put their seat at their accountant, a business centre or a domiciliation provider.
Providers must register. Since 1 September 2018, anyone who provides a registered office or a business, administrative or correspondence address to a company must register with the FPS Economy, under the anti-money-laundering law of 18 September 2017. They must offer furnished offices and a reception area. The list of registered providers is public on the FPS Economy's site.
Accountants follow their own norm. Certified accountants and tax advisers are exempt from that registration because their institute, the ITAA, supervises them. The ITAA publishes a separate domiciliation norm that sets the conditions under which its members may host a client's registered office.
For a seller that means one thing: the registered office is where the company receives legal mail, not necessarily where anyone works. Ship goods and plan visits to an establishment unit, and confirm it with the customer. A quick test is to search the seat address in KBO Public Search: a long list of unrelated companies at one address points to a domiciliation address. And a sudden move of the seat to an accountant's address is worth a second look; how to spot a customer in financial trouble explains why.
Why it matters for CRM data and territory planning
Territories by seat can be wrong. A company with a Brussels seat and all its staff in Ghent lands in the wrong rep's patch if you assign by registered office. For site-level sales, such as equipment, cleaning or signage, assign by establishment unit.
Keep two address types. Store the registered office on the account for contracts and invoices, and establishment units as separate delivery or site addresses. Deduplicate on the enterprise number, not on address.
Seats move quietly. A move is published but nobody tells your CRM. How Belgian company data decays suggests a quarterly check, and tracking changes at Belgian companies covers alerts on Gazette publications.
In Bizzy, every Belgian legal entity carries its number of establishments from the KBO and an Establishments tab listing each registered location with its own address and activity codes, next to the registered office and the Official Gazette publications. You can see at a glance whether the seat is the only site, and push the company and its contacts to the CRM you use.
Frequently asked questions
What is a maatschappelijke zetel? The registered office of a Belgian legal entity: its legal address, shown in the KBO and on its invoices and website. The Code of Companies and Associations calls it simply the zetel.
Can the registered office be at the accountant's address? Yes. Accountants and registered domiciliation providers may host a company's registered office. The company still operates somewhere else, so look up its establishment units for the address where the work happens.
Does moving the registered office require a notary? Not for a move within the same Region when the address is not in the statutes: a board decision, filed and published, is enough. If the statutes have to be amended, a BV, NV or CV needs a notarial deed, because article 2:5 requires amendments in the same form as the deed of incorporation.
What is the difference between the registered office and an establishment unit? The registered office is the single legal seat, identified by the enterprise number. An establishment unit is a place of activity with its own number starting with 2 to 8. A company has one seat and can have many units.
Photo: a square in Arlon, Roehrensee, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons