Certain contracts are prohibited by itinerant sale. This is the case, for example, for contracts that concern heat pumps and air conditioning appliances, decontamination and insulation services, and credit or long-term lease contracts. However, some exceptions may apply.

General prohibition

Barring any exceptions, an itinerant merchant is prohibited from entering into or participating in entering into (offering to enter into, assisting or inciting to enter into or soliciting to enter into), even in an incidental manner, contracts concerning:

• heating or air conditioning appliances (e.g., air conditioners, heat pumps, furnaces, geothermal systems, etc.);
• decontamination services;
• insulation services.

This includes any contract related to any of these goods or services, such as a maintenance or warranty contract.

Itinerant merchants are also prohibited, barring exceptions, from entering into or participating in entering into a credit or long-term lease contract.

If, despite the prohibition, a contract is entered into, you have one year after the day on which it was signed by both parties to cancel it.

Exceptions to contracts entered into by itinerant trade

The following are exceptions to this prohibition:

• Financial institutions: a bank or a financial services cooperative may enter into a credit contract.
• Insulation services: a merchant may enter into a contract for insulation services at your home, provided that you have explicitly requested to do so and that there was no solicitation by the merchant elsewhere than at their place of business.
• Telecommunications: a broadcasting or telecommunications company may enter into a long-term lease contract at your home (e.g., for a modem).
• Heating- or hot water-related repairs: a merchant may enter into a contract at your home regarding an appliance that is essential to heating or the production of hot water, including leased equipment, when all of the following conditions are met:
  • The merchant visits your home at your explicit request to repair an appliance that is essential to heating or the production of hot water.
  • The appliance cannot be repaired and must be replaced.
  • You specifically requested that the contract be entered into.
  • The contract only covers the replacement of the defective appliance.
• Estimate: a merchant may enter into a contract at your home regarding a heating or air conditioning appliance, a decontamination or insulation service, or a lease contract when all of the following conditions are met:
  • The merchant visits your home at your explicit request, and that request is not the result of the merchant contacting you for the purpose of you inviting them to your home.
  • The purpose of your request was to receive an estimate for goods or services.
  • The contract is entered into at your explicit request and only covers the purpose of the estimate.
  • In the case of a lease contract, it is not a “high-cost” contract.

Contracts entered into prior to November 7, 2024

This prohibition does not apply to contracts entered into prior to November 7, 2024.

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