GACS has been binding above 290 kW since 1 January 2026. Class C for existing buildings, class B for new ones, 70 kW from 2030.
Since 1 January 2026, non-residential buildings in the Netherlands with heating or air-conditioning systems above 290 kW must have a systeem voor gebouwautomatisering en -controle (GACS) under the Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving. Since 29 May 2026 the first EPBD 2024 tranche is in force as well: indoor air quality monitoring is part of the duty, and the periodic heating and air-conditioning inspection has given way to GACS monitoring data. Bisly delivers that system configured on site, on a budget a mid-sized building can approve.
GACS deadline for systems above 290 kW
housing corporations managing around 2.7 million dwellings
spent by those corporations on maintenance and sustainability in 2024
What the GACS rule asks a building to do
The system must continuously monitor, log, analyse and allow adjustment of energy use, benchmark the building against reference values, detect losses in efficiency and alert the responsible person, and communicate with connected technical systems from different manufacturers. Since 29 May 2026 it must also monitor indoor air quality.
The Bbl sets the level: existing buildings need at least class C of EN ISO 52120-1 with energy reporting class B; new build and major renovation need class B with reporting class A. New and majorly renovated dwellings need a monitoring and control system with an energy meter, P1-port connectivity and demand-response capability (art. 4.160f and g).
Owners of Dutch offices already know this pattern from the energy label C obligation for offices of 100 m² or more, in force since 2023. GACS follows the same logic: a dated requirement, an owner who is responsible for it, and a municipal enforcement route. The periodic inspection is gone; compliance now runs through the monitoring data the system itself produces.
Who is in scope
- Owners of non-residential buildings with heating, or combined heating and ventilation, above 290 kW effective rated output
- Owners of buildings with air-conditioning, or combined air-conditioning and ventilation, above 290 kW
- Offices, retail, schools, care buildings, logistics and mixed-use property, existing stock included
- Energy users above 50,000 kWh or 25,000 m³ of gas a year, who must implement every measure with a payback of five years or less under the energiebesparingsplicht (seven years from 1 July 2027), including an automatic energy monitoring system (EML measure GA1)
- From 1 January 2030, the same duty at 70 kW, which covers most buildings between roughly 1,000 and 15,000 m²
Consulted, not yet law
- Zero-emission standard for new public buildings from 2028 and for all new buildings from 2030 (second EPBD tranche, consulted)
- Minimum energy performance standards: the worst 16% of non-residential buildings by 2030 and 26% by 2033; rental dwellings with labels E, F and G to label D by 2029
Metering and billing duties in the same building
Heat suppliers, including owners' associations (VvE) and landlords with block heating, must provide individual remote-readable meters or allocators and monthly consumption overviews under the Warmtewet (art. 8). All heat meters must be remote-readable by 1 January 2027, the day the Wet collectieve warmte takes effect.
Smart electricity meters are at 94% of connections, and the P1 port gives the building local access to its own data. Bisly reads heat, water and electricity meters into the same system that runs the GACS functions, so one installation covers both the automation duty and the metering duty, with the monthly overviews generated from the same data.
Funding that applies to controls and monitoring
Programme status as at 4 September 2026. Amounts and eligibility change; confirm with RVO or the scheme before relying on them.
| Scheme | What is funded | Rate | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| EIA, Energielijst 2026 (RVO) | Businesses: room controllers with presence sensor (code 210906), automatic measurement and control equipment (310000), energy label jumps (210000) | 40% extra deduction from taxable profit | Open all year |
| DUMAVA | Public and social real estate (schools, care, culture, sport): single measures or integral renovation | 20% for single measures, 30 to 40% for integral renovation | Open to 16 October 2026, about EUR 275 million left |
| SVOH | Landlords: CO₂-controlled and balanced ventilation, insulation, heat pumps, advice | 30%, up to EUR 10,000 to 15,000 per dwelling | Open to 2029, around 70% of budget left |
| SVVE | Owners' associations: energy advice, insulation, ventilation, heat pumps | Per-measure grants, EUR 179 million ceiling | Open to 2030 |
| ISDE | Heat pumps, insulation, ventilation with insulation. BMS and thermostats are not eligible | Per-device amounts | EUR 500 million in 2026, runs to 2031 |
Configured, not programmed
Bisly removes the engineering step from building automation. The design goes into a configurator, the installer follows the app on site, and the building comes up configured and documented. Same functions, same standards, a fraction of the specialist hours.
What that means for your building
Speed and certainty
The engineering hours come out of the project, so the price and the schedule stop moving. Fewer specialist hours, shorter commissioning, fewer return visits.
One system for the whole building
HVAC, lighting, shading, access and metering in one system, with third-party equipment integrated at gateway level. The same configuration repeats on the next site.
Compliant and measured on handover day
An EN ISO 52120-1 BMS with the continuous monitoring, logging and reporting the regulation asks for. The building meets its obligation when it opens, not in a retrofit three years later.
Why the Dutch market is ready for this
The Netherlands has the most organised building owners in Europe. 256 woningcorporaties control around 2.7 million dwellings and spent EUR 12.1 billion in 2024 on maintenance, improvement and sustainability. Commercial owners have already been through the label C regime and buy compliance as a programme, not a project.
That is exactly the buyer a deployment toolchain serves best: one configuration, defined once, repeated across a portfolio, commissioned by local installers without waiting for a programmer.
A GACS-class system your installer can commission
Bisly delivers an EN ISO 52120-1 BMS at class B or C with a documented function mapping, indoor air quality monitoring, and the monitoring, logging, benchmarking and fault detection the GACS rule describes, in one system with HVAC, lighting, shading, access and metering. Third-party plant is integrated at gateway level, and we state exactly which integrations are covered before you sign.
The same installation is the energy registration and monitoring system that the energiebesparingsplicht and the informatieplicht ask for (EML measure GA1), and it is eligible for the 40% EIA deduction as automatic measurement and control equipment. Remote-readable heat metering with monthly overviews covers the Warmtewet duty for VvEs and landlords with block heating before 1 January 2027.
The difference is in the hours. The design goes into a configurator, a Dutch installer follows the app on site, and the building comes up configured and documented. That is why the delivered cost lands where a mid-sized building can approve it, and why the handover date holds.
sites deployed across the Baltics, Poland and DACH
BMS functions in the base build, not as a later project
for HVAC, lighting, shading, access and metering
A phased path, starting with one building
You do not have to decide on a portfolio programme to discharge the obligation. Start with the building the deadline applies to.
- 01
Readiness assessment
We check what applies to your building, by which date, and what the system must be able to do. You get a written answer, not a brochure.
- 02
Metering and monitoring first
Continuous monitoring, logging, benchmarking and loss detection are the core of the requirement. A small decision that creates the measured baseline for everything after it.
- 03
Control where the numbers say it pays
Heating, ventilation, lighting and shading control are added building by building, configured on site by your installer rather than programmed by a specialist.
Find out where your building stands under GACS
A readiness assessment of one building: what applies, by when, and what the system must do. Written, with no obligation.
Other markets with a dated obligation
This page summarises national legislation for commercial orientation and is not legal advice. Thresholds, dates and exemptions should be confirmed against the official text and the competent authority for your building.