History

In the 1920s, the country’s road builders faced a major challenge: equipping Belgium with a road network worthy of the name.
As early as 1921, these pioneers founded the Belgian Association of Road Construction Contractors (B.V.A.W.), an association that would ultimately become Algemene Borgstellingen seventy years later.

The cooperative company established at the time aimed, among other things, to support the activities of new contractors. In 1926, the system of joint and several guarantees was adopted by the State on the initiative of the B.V.A.W. The recognition requirements for guarantee companies were laid down by law. The B.V.A.W. was the first to receive this recognition from the Ministry of Finance, more specifically from the Deposit and Consignment Office.

Over the years, the joint guarantee system became increasingly successful. With the support of the B.V.A.W., road builders had the necessary resources to provide Belgium with new infrastructure. This enabled them to meet the demands of increasingly heavy traffic and the safety requirements of road users. Both new motorways were constructed and existing roads modernised.

In 1964, the B.V.A.W. changed its name for the first time, becoming the Association of Road Builders (VDW).

In 1985, the VDW decided to respond to the steadily growing demand from general building contractors. From then on, a large proportion of the company’s commitments were entered into for the benefit of the private market, mainly for administrative and industrial buildings and office complexes.

To profile this change more clearly, the name was changed again in 1991 : the Association of Road Builders became ‘Algemene Borgstellingen’.

In 1921 the company was primarily intended to support new road builders and provide them with credit but today, the ambitions of Algemene Borgstellingen are much broader. The company operates fully independently on the market, actively participates in major projects and offers a wide range of guarantee solutions.