€52,000 bill for Charleroi after wrong bridge is renovated

The Walloon region has accidentally completed renovation works estimated at €52,000 on the wrong bridge in Charleroi.

The Brussels-Charleroi canal has two nearly identical-looking bridges spanning it, and Argea, the construction company tasked with renovating just one of them, got them mixed up during a renovation that took place months ago.

The region had asked for the railing on the regional bridge to be replaced, but by mistake, the workmen replaced the railing on the bridge belonging to the municipality.

“The company appointed by the Walloon region under a public contract actually carried out the work, but on the other bridge, which is under municipal management,” said Charleroi alderman Éric Goffart (Les Engagés).

“The company and the region came back to us, saying that it was for the benefit of the municipality, and asking if we could intervene.”

Both bridges look exactly alike but are spaced a kilometre apart. The cost of the works is €52,000, to be paid by the municipality.

“This is a case where a person or company provides an unjustified benefit without having been asked to do so, while suffering damage in return,” said lawyer Philippe Rousseau.

"The City of Charleroi has received an advantage, and the contractor has suffered damage. The City of Charleroi must therefore compensate for this loss.”

The municipality said that while there was indeed a mistake, the railings of the incorrect bridge were also in a state of disrepair and should have been replaced anyway.

“We had planned to replace the railings – the Walloon region beat us to it, so there's no problem there, especially as the Walloon region, as the contracting authority, complied fully with its obligations in terms of public procurement,” Goffart said.

The matter was examined by the local council for clarification and Charleroi town councillors approved a settlement agreement between the City of Charleroi and Argea to compensate the company.

Goffart said the city must do this in order to comply with an article of the Civil Code, which states that "if a third party in good faith carries out works on someone else's land, the owner of the land owes compensation based on unjust enrichment to the person who carried out these works on his own behalf".