How to write complaints committee advice: a template for each section
Good complaints committee advice puts the outcome first, sets out the facts and both parties' positions, and gives reasoning that a reader who was not at the hearing can follow. This guide gives a template for each section, explains why it is needed and ends with a checklist for anonymising the advice.
It also covers whether the ruling is binding and what the board must do next. The template adapts to the rules that apply to your committee: housing associations, government, healthcare, schools or your own regulations.
Is a complaints committee's ruling binding?
A complaints committee's ruling is usually advice. The board of the housing association, the public body or the school then decides on the complaint itself. A decision by a healthcare complaints committee under the Dutch Care and Compulsion Act (Wzd) or the Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act (Wvggz) is binding, however. A disputes committee is something else: its ruling usually takes the form of binding advice.
The details depend on the law or regulations under which the committee works. This is how it looks for each set of rules. The examples are Dutch, because that is where Adminio's committees work.
Housing association
Housing Act, article 55b(3), and the complaints regulations the minister has designated for all housing associations
- What the committee does
- Gives written advice to the board of the housing association, with reasons.
- Binding?
- No. The board may depart from it only in writing and with reasons.
Government
General Administrative Law Act (Awb), articles 9:14 to 9:16
- What the committee does
- Sends a report of findings, with the advice and any recommendations, to the administrative authority.
- Binding?
- No. An authority that departs from it gives the reason and encloses the advice.
Healthcare, Wzd and Wvggz
Wzd, articles 53 to 56c, and Wvggz, articles 10:1 to 10:7
- What the committee does
- Decides itself, within 14 days. If a complaint about a decision is upheld, the committee annuls that decision.
- Binding?
- Yes. Within six weeks, the court can be asked to decide on the complaint.
Schools, primary and secondary
Primary Education Act (WPO), article 14, and Secondary Education Act 2020 (WVO 2020), articles 3.35 and 3.36
- What the committee does
- Gives an opinion on whether the complaint should be upheld, with recommendations if appropriate.
- Binding?
- No. Within four weeks, the school board says whether it shares the opinion.
Is a disputes committee's ruling binding?
Usually, yes, but it depends on the committee. In Dutch healthcare, every care provider must be affiliated with a recognised disputes body (Healthcare Quality, Complaints and Disputes Act (Wkkgz), article 18). That body rules in the form of binding advice and can award compensation; the maximum it can award must be at least EUR 25,000 (article 20). The committees of De Geschillencommissie, the Dutch consumer disputes foundation, also rule in the form of binding advice. Both parties must then have agreed to be bound by it, and the consumer confirms this on the complaint form (General Rules of De Geschillencommissie, articles 4 and 7(2)). At Kifid, the Dutch financial services complaints institute, the ruling is binding only if both the consumer and the financial services provider choose this. Without that choice, it is non-binding (Kifid Disputes Committee Rules, questions 16 and 17). A court will set aside binding advice only if being bound by it would be unacceptable by the standards of reasonableness and fairness (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:904(1)). At De Geschillencommissie, a party who wants the court to review the ruling must apply within two months of the date it was sent (General Rules of De Geschillencommissie, article 26(1)).
Which committee an organisation must have, and under which law, is set out for each sector in The complaints committee: is it mandatory, and which rules apply?
What the board must do next
What must happen after the advice differs for each set of rules. Include that step in the advice itself, so the parties know which time limit is running. The template below does this in the section "What happens next".
At a housing association
Housing associations are bound by the complaints regulations that the minister has designated for all housing associations (Housing Act, article 55b(3)). Within one month of receiving the advice, the board informs the complainant and the committee in writing of its decision. The advice is not binding, but the board may depart from it only in writing and with reasons. The advice is always enclosed with the announcement (complaints regulations, article 9(6), (7) and (9)). For an urgent complaint, the board decides within one week (article 10(3)). In its own annual report, the housing association states the percentage of cases in which it did not follow the advice (article 13(3)). With a conclusion on each part of the complaint, it is clear what has and has not been adopted.
In government
The committee sends a report of findings, with the record of the hearing, the advice and any recommendations, to the administrative authority (General Administrative Law Act (Awb), article 9:15(4)). The authority then informs the complainant in writing, with reasons, of its opinion (article 9:12). If the authority departs from the advice, it gives the reason and encloses the advice (article 9:16). The same letter states which ombudsman the complainant can then turn to. The authority may give the committee only general instructions, not instructions on a particular case (article 9:14(2)).
At a school
Within four weeks of receiving the opinion, the school board informs the complainant and the committee in writing whether it shares that opinion, and whether it will take any measures and if so which (Primary Education Act (WPO), article 14(7)). In secondary education, that notice must also give reasons (Secondary Education Act 2020 (WVO 2020), article 3.36(3)).
In healthcare, under the Wzd and the Wvggz
Here the committee decides itself (Wzd, article 53(2), and Wvggz, article 10:1(2)). If it upholds a complaint about a decision, it annuls that decision in whole or in part. It can order the care provider to take a new decision or another action, with a time limit (Wzd, article 56b(3) to (5), and Wvggz, article 10:6(3) to (5)). Anyone who disagrees can ask the court to decide on the complaint within six weeks (Wzd, article 56c, and Wvggz, article 10:7).
What the Future-Proof Rent Tribunal Act changes for housing associations
A tenant who has complained in writing to the housing association about something it did or failed to do can, for now, still ask the Rent Tribunal (Huurcommissie) for a ruling. This is possible if the housing association has not dealt with the substance of the complaint within a reasonable time, or if the tenant disagrees with its assessment of the complaint. The tenant must do so within one year of the conduct concerned (Rental Prices (Housing) Implementation Act, article 4(5)). The complaints regulations for housing associations require the board to point the complainant to this option when announcing the decision on the advice (article 9(8)).
The Future-Proof Rent Tribunal Act (Wet toekomstbestendige huurcommissie) will abolish that procedure. The House of Representatives passed the bill on 21 April 2026 and the Senate on 29 September 2026. According to the Dutch government, the Act will enter into force on 1 January 2027. Until then, the current rules apply. According to the explanatory notes, an average of 74 per cent of requests under this procedure were declared inadmissible.
What this means for the committee. From 1 January 2027, a housing association tenant with a complaint about the association's conduct will no longer be able to go to the Rent Tribunal. The complaints committee's advice will then usually be the last step before the tenant goes to the subdistrict court. The Rent Tribunal's procedures on rent levels, service charges and defects will remain in place.
The advice then becomes the first document a court reads. Write it so that the facts, the standard and the reasoning can be followed without having attended the hearing.
Our reading of the regulations. For that procedure, article 9(8) of the complaints regulations refers to article 4(5) of the Rental Prices (Housing) Implementation Act. The new Act repeals that provision (Parliamentary Papers 36791, A, article I, part F). From 1 January 2027, article 9(8) will therefore refer to a procedure that no longer exists. Whether and when the regulations will be amended is not yet known. In June 2026, the minister wrote to the Senate that the ministry would look, together with Aedes, the umbrella body of Dutch housing associations, at whether the complaints procedure of housing association committees could be improved.
Template: the advice in six steps
The template follows the structure of published advice and rulings: the outcome at the top, then the procedure, the facts, the positions, the assessment of each part of the complaint, the opinion, what happens next and the signature. First choose which rules apply to your committee. The template writes the standard sentences itself, such as those on admissibility, next steps and publication. You fill in the rest in six steps. Alongside, the advice takes shape as it will appear on paper.
Nothing you enter is stored anywhere, not even in your browser. So print or copy the advice before you close the page. Who drafts the advice and keeps track of the time limits is covered in The complaints committee secretary: role, tasks, time limits and an annual plan.
Your advice
Housing association, version for the parties
Why this is included
Heading and parties. A case number and a date make the advice easy to find. The regulations require a register that includes the advice issued and the gist of each, and an archive of all records and documents for five years after the ruling.Housing association complaints regulations, articles 11(3) and 13(1)
The template writes the sentence on admissibility for you. If part of the complaint falls outside its scope, you select that in step 4.
Why this is included
Procedure. The procedure section shows that both parties were heard and had seen each other's documents. That is the first thing a later reader looks at.Housing association complaints regulations, articles 7(6) and 8(1) How to prepare the hearing and write up the record is covered in Preparing and chairing a hearing.
Admissibility. The template writes this sentence for you. If part of the complaint falls outside its scope, choose "Not considered" for that part, and say in the assessment where the complainant can go instead. Complaints about the rent or the service charge statement belong with the Rent Tribunal or the courts.Housing association complaints regulations, article 5
Why this is included
Facts. Start with what is established, in chronological order and with dates. An account that both parties recognise gives the whole advice authority. Anything the parties dispute belongs in the assessment.
Positions. Summarise each position so that the party would say: yes, that is what I said. Hearing both sides must also be visible on paper. A party who reads their own argument back also reads the answer to it.Housing association complaints regulations, article 8(1)
Standard applied. An opinion without a yardstick reads as a personal view. Name the rule, the agreement or the commitment before you give your opinion. Readers can then see what the committee is measuring against.
The complaint
Why this is included
Assessment. Split the complaint into parts and, for each part, set out the facts, the arguments on both sides and the test against the standard. End each part with an opinion. The board can then see which parts of the complaint stand. What that looks like is shown in the reasoning a court will read later.
The template writes what happens after the advice and the sentence on publication itself, in line with the rules you chose in step 1.
Why this is included
Summary. Readers want to know the outcome first. So put it at the top, in one or two sentences. The reasoning follows.
Advice. Write the final sentence so that the board can say yes or no to it. The split between upheld, partly upheld and not upheld also appears in the committee's annual report.Housing association complaints regulations, article 13(2)
Recommendations. A recommendation only helps if someone can act on it. So write who does what, and by when. A recommendation may also concern policy, separate from this particular complaint.Housing association complaints regulations, article 2(3)
What happens next. The template puts what happens after the advice into the document itself. The complainant then knows where they stand, and the organisation knows which time limit is running.Housing association complaints regulations, article 9(6), (7) and (9) More on this in What the board must do next.
Publication. This sentence is fixed, because the rules require it. It also stops anyone thinking that the document will go online with everyone's names in it.Housing association complaints regulations, article 11(5) What to check before publication is set out in the anonymisation checklist.
Why this is included
Signature. At least three members attend the hearing, including the chair and a member nominated by a tenants' organisation. The names under the advice make this verifiable.Housing association complaints regulations, article 8(2)
Below is the blank template for a housing association's complaints committee. With JavaScript switched on, you can choose other rules, fill in the fields and print or copy the result.
Advice of the complaints committee
- Case number
- ................
- Hearing
- ................
- Date
- ................
In the complaint by ................ (the complainant) against ................ (the housing association).
Summary of the advice
In the committee's opinion, the complaint should be upheld.
[Say why in one or two sentences. The reasoning follows below.]
1The procedure
The committee received the complaint on ................ and the written response from the housing association on .................
The hearing took place on ................. The complainant and the housing association explained their positions orally.
[List who attended the hearing: the complainant and anyone assisting them, who attended on behalf of the organisation, and the members of the committee.]
What was put forward in the documents and at the hearing is set out in this advice insofar as it is relevant to the outcome.
2Admissibility
The complaint concerns an act or omission of the housing association. It was submitted within one year of the conduct concerned, the housing association has had the opportunity to resolve the complaint itself, and none of the grounds in article 5 of the regulations applies.
3The facts
[Describe what is established in chronological order, with dates. Include only what neither party disputes, or what the documents show.]
4The parties' positions
The complainant's position
[Summarise what the complainant alleges and asks for, in two to five sentences.]
The position of the housing association
[Summarise the response of the housing association, in two to five sentences.]
5The standard applied
The committee assesses whether the housing association acted with due care. In doing so, it considers the tenancy agreement, the law, the housing association's own rules and commitments, and what the parties agreed with each other.
[Name the rules, agreements or commitments against which the committee assesses this case.]
6Assessment
The complaint
[Set out the facts that matter for this part, the arguments on both sides, and the test against the standard.]
The complaint is upheld.
7Advice
The committee advises the board of the housing association to uphold the complaint.
8Recommendations
[For each recommendation, write who does what, and by when.]
9What happens next
The board of the housing association decides on this advice and informs the complainant and the committee of its decision in writing within one month of receipt.
The board may depart from this advice only in writing and with reasons. This advice is always enclosed when the decision is announced.
10Publication
This advice is made public only in anonymised form, to protect the personal data of the complainant, staff and others.
Adopted in ................ on ................ by ................, chair, and ................, members, in the presence of ................, secretary.
The reasoning a court will read later
Anyone who reads the advice later was not at the hearing and only has the paper to go on.
- The court in healthcare cases. Under the Wzd and the Wvggz, the court decides on the complaint afresh on request, with your decision in front of it.
- The court reviewing binding advice. It considers whether being bound is unacceptable because of the content or the way in which the advice came about (Dutch Civil Code, article 7:904). A careful procedure and reasoning that can be followed will then stand up.
- The subdistrict court in housing cases. It is not bound by the advice, but the advice is always enclosed with the board's decision and can end up in the court file that way.
- The ombudsman in government cases. The ombudsman assesses whether the administrative authority behaved properly (Awb, article 9:27), and may read your report in doing so.
Seven rules for reasoning that stands up
- Split the complaint into parts. A complaint with three allegations deserves three answers. The board can then see exactly what stands.
- Name the standard before you give your opinion. Say which rule, agreement or commitment you are applying. An opinion without a yardstick reads as a personal view.
- Separate established facts from disputed ones. For a disputed fact, write which version the committee accepts, and why: an email, a log, a statement at the hearing.
- Use only what both parties could see. At housing associations, the committee bases its advice on the documents and on what was said at the hearing, and both parties have the same case file (complaints regulations for housing associations, articles 7(6) and 9(2)). Anything a member knows personally or looked up belongs in the advice only if the parties were able to respond to it.
- Address the strongest argument of the losing party. A party who sees their own argument, with the answer to it, can follow the opinion, even without agreeing with it.
- Make each recommendation verifiable. Who does what, and by when. Nobody can act on "Improve communication". They can act on "Respond within the time limit stated on your own website, and schedule a new appointment within two weeks".
- Write for the complainant. They read it first. Use plain language, explain any technical term you need, and write "the complainant" rather than a name. Then only the heading needs to change for publication.
A weak and a strong assessment
A tenant of Elmwood Housing Association complains that for weeks she received no reply to her request for a new appointment for a repair. This is how the committee might assess that part:
Weak. The committee considers that Elmwood Housing Association did not communicate adequately with the complainant. This part of the complaint is upheld.
Strong. It is established that the complainant asked by email on 3, 17 and 24 February for a new appointment for the repair, and that Elmwood Housing Association first responded on 28 March. At the hearing, Elmwood stated that the emails had been left in a general mailbox because of workload. The committee understands this, but how incoming email is distributed within the organisation is Elmwood's responsibility, not the tenant's. On its own website, Elmwood promises to respond within five working days. That time limit has been exceeded by a wide margin. This part of the complaint is upheld.
The second version gives the facts with dates, answers Elmwood's argument and applies a standard that Elmwood set itself. Anyone who reads it knows why the complaint is upheld. For a shorter overview of these points, see Writing complaints committee advice: seven building blocks.
Anonymising before publication: the checklist
Advice that is made public must not be traceable to an individual. For housing associations, this is set out in article 11(5) of the complaints regulations; for healthcare, in article 56b(7) of the Wzd and article 10:6(7) of the Wvggz. In healthcare, the name of the care provider may remain. Traceability goes beyond a name: details that together say something about a person are also personal data, as the Dutch Data Protection Authority points out. So go through this list before you publish.
The advice in Adminio: from case file to sending
Adminio is software for complaints committees. The whole case file, from the complaint to the advice sent out, sits in one environment. Everyone involved works in it from their own screen and sees only what is intended for their role. Nobody needs to email documents around, and everyone works from the same up-to-date information. The advice remains the committee's own.
One case file, a separate screen for everyone involved
Who does what, at each stage of the complaint
| Who | Standing task | At this stage |
|---|---|---|
| Complainantwith or without an account | Submits the complaint online and follows the case in My complaints. If the committee works without accounts for complainants, everything runs by email, including the advice. | Submits the complaint, with attachments |
| Housing associationown portal or secure link | Answers the questions about the internal complaints procedure and submits documents in its own portal. If the committee prefers, this works without an account via a secure link. | Is notified of the complaint |
| Secretariatcaseload and scheduling | Keeps track of the caseload, asks follow-up questions, schedules the hearing using the rota and handles correspondence from the case file. | Sees the complaint in the caseload |
| Chairdirection and quality | Assesses admissibility, confirms the hearing and approves the advice. | Assesses admissibility |
| Committee membersown case files | See the cases assigned to them, prepare for the hearing and write the advice together. Their internal deliberations sit in a separate section that the parties cannot see. | Are assigned the case |
The complainant and the housing association see only their own case and what is intended for them. They cannot see the committee's internal discussions.
From case file to draft advice
This is how the advice comes together in Adminio, in five steps. Click a step to view it.
What Adminio does
- Brings the case file together, with the transcript and the summary of the hearing.
- Writes a first version on request, based on the case file and the hearing.
- Saves a version before and after generating, so earlier work is never lost.
- Creates the PDF for the parties and the PDF for publication.
What the committee does
- Reads the draft alongside the case file and the hearing.
- Weighs the arguments and edits the text.
- Adopts the advice. The draft makes a proposal; the committee decides the content.
- Checks the public version before it goes online.
Questions for the Adminio assistant
Every case file includes the Adminio assistant. The chair, the members and the secretariat can ask it questions about the case file. It answers with a reference to the source: the document and page, or the point in the recording. If something is not in the case file, it says so. It does not give an opinion: on any decision, it says that the committee weighs that itself. The complainant and the housing association cannot use the assistant.
These are questions it can answer. Click a question to see the answer in a fictional example case.
The tenant complains that the housing association did not respond to three emails about a leak in the bathroom and that an appointment with the repair technician was cancelled. After the internal complaints procedure, the association offered a new appointment. The tenant asks for the repair to be carried out and for compensation for the damage to the floor.
Which committees is it for? Adminio is set up around the committee's own regulations and way of working: its terminology, the steps in its procedure and its template for the advice. In an introductory call, we look at your regulations together.
Frequently asked questions
At a housing association, the committee issues its advice to the board and to the complainant within three weeks of the hearing (complaints regulations for housing associations, article 9(5)). Under the Wzd and the Wvggz, the committee decides within 14 days of receiving the complaint, or within four weeks if the decision or obligation no longer has any effect (Wzd, article 56a, and Wvggz, article 10:5). In government, the report goes to the administrative authority, and the whole complaint must be dealt with within ten weeks of receipt, with an extension of no more than four weeks (Awb, article 9:11). At a school, the time limit is set in the complaints regulations, and the opinion goes to the complainant, the person complained about and the school board (WPO, article 14(2) and (6)).
The complaints regulations for housing associations do not cover this. They do state that the committee decides by majority vote, that each member votes without instruction or prior consultation, and that its deliberations are not public (article 9(1), (3) and (4)). Advice that shows how the votes were divided would make part of those deliberations public after all. If your own regulations say nothing on the point, the advice gives the opinion of the committee as a whole.
Under the Wzd and the Wvggz, yes: the committee may, on request or of its own motion, award compensation to be paid by the care provider, on the basis of fairness and after hearing the care provider (Wzd, article 56g, and Wvggz, article 10:11). A disputes body in healthcare can also award compensation; the maximum it can award must be at least EUR 25,000 (Wkkgz, article 20). An advisory committee at a housing association, a public body or a school can only recommend compensation.
Send this page to the other members or the secretariat. Would you like to see how this works in Adminio, with your own regulations set up? We can show you in half an hour.
Prefer to call? You can reach us from 9am to 9pm on +31 85 060 88 49.
This page and the template are general information, not legal advice. The example case in the animations is fictional. Sources (in Dutch): Decree designating the complaints regulations for housing associations, Housing Act, article 55b, Rental Prices (Housing) Implementation Act, article 4, General Administrative Law Act, chapter 9, Care and Compulsion Act, chapter 4, Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act, chapter 10, Primary Education Act, article 14, Secondary Education Act 2020, articles 3.35 and 3.36, Healthcare Quality, Complaints and Disputes Act, articles 18 to 20, General Rules of De Geschillencommissie, Kifid Disputes Committee Rules, Dutch Civil Code, Book 7, article 904, Senate, Future-Proof Rent Tribunal Act, Dutch government, Senate approves the Future-Proof Rent Tribunal Act (29 September 2026), amended bill (Parliamentary Papers 36791, A), memorandum in response to the report (Parliamentary Papers 36791, C) and Dutch Data Protection Authority, what is personal data. Updated: 1 October 2026.