SNF standard explained: all requirements

01What is the SNF and who is the quality mark for?

The Stichting Normering Flexwonen (SNF, the Flexible Housing Standards Foundation) maintains a standard for housing migrant workers and keeps a public register of companies that meet it. Companies in the register may use the SNF quality mark. The standard is not a law, but in practice many companies cannot do without it: collective labour agreements and the rules for deducting housing costs from the minimum wage refer to it.

The register is large. According to the SNF factsheet for 2026 it lists 790 companies, with around 20,000 registered locations and more than 147,000 beds. Almost 90% of the complaints SNF receives come from residents themselves.

Who is the quality mark for? In practice mainly:

Staffing agencies that house their temporary workers. They must first be listed in the SNA register (Stichting Normering Arbeid) before an SNF inspection can start.
Agricultural and other employers housing their own staff. They show good employment practice with a declaration on compliance with their collective agreement.
Housing providers and landlords who offer accommodation to migrant workers, even without staff of their own.

A key term is first-responsible party (eerst-verantwoordelijke). The company that is first-responsible for a location has that location inspected. If you rent beds from another SNF-registered company, you still report the location, but it does not need to be inspected a second time.

02Which types of accommodation does the standard cover?

The standard applies to every type of accommodation a registered company uses, not just ordinary houses. Short stay in a hotel or guesthouse is covered too and must be reported. Some requirements differ slightly by type, for example for cooking facilities or daylight. The spread of capacity in the register shows how varied it is:

Type of accommodation	Beds	Share
Regular dwelling	85,534	58%
Residential units in a building complex	27,947	19%
Campus	14,122	10%
Hotel / guesthouse	7,715	5%
Housing on a holiday park	6,488	4%
Housing units	5,798	4%

Source: SNF factsheet 2026. The type of accommodation must be registered correctly in the location register (Informis). That is more than a formality: according to the inspection body Normec, the most common mistake is registering residential units in a building complex as a hotel or guesthouse. From 1 October 2026 the registered housing type becomes part of the administrative inspection.

03What does the SNF standard require? The main requirements at a glance

According to SNF the standard has nine parts: occupancy, space, daylight and heating, sanitary facilities, hygiene, facilities, (fire) safety, maintenance and management, and information for residents. Each requirement has a weight. A major non-conformity must be fixed quickly; a minor one must be resolved by the next inspection.

The table below gives the core of the set of requirements as included in 2025 in the housing policy of the municipality of Deurne, updated with later changes. Numbering and details differ between versions: always use the current SNF text when you set up a location.

Topic	Requirement (core)	Weight
Living space	At least 10 m² usable living floor area (GBO) per person; 12 m² in a regular dwelling, hotel/guesthouse and housing units zoned as residential	Major
Bedroom	At least 3.5 m² floor area per person; at most 2 people per bedroom	Major
Furnishing	Per resident a bed of at least 80 × 200 cm with mattress, a wardrobe of at least 0.36 m³ and a chair	Major
Toilet and shower	At least 1 toilet and 1 shower per 8 people	Major
Fridge and freezer	At least 30 litres of fridge and freezer space per person	Minor
Cooking	At least 4 burners; above 8 people 1 burner per 2 people; above 30 people at least 16 burners	Major (hotel/guesthouse: minor)
Daylight	At least 0.5 m² of daylight opening in living rooms zoned as residential	Minor
Ventilation and mould	Demonstrably maintained ventilation; no mould in bathroom, kitchen or other rooms	Minor or major
Installations	Central heating boiler, gas heater and water heater demonstrably checked every two years	Major
Fire safety	Extinguishing agent, fire blanket at every cooking point, working smoke and CO alarms	Major
Information	Information card on site with contact details, house rules and emergency procedure	Major
Administration	Up-to-date overview of locations and residents; actual occupancy matches the records	Major

For some requirements, such as hygiene, ventilation and mould, the inspector decides whether a finding is minor or major. A small spot in a bathroom joint is not the same as a bedroom with black walls.

Spot mould and cold before the inspector does

With one sensor per room you see damp, cold and plug-in heaters in time, and record inspections with photos. So you have the figures per room at hand when the inspector comes.

Request a pilot

04Space and occupancy: what changes on 1 October 2026?

The rules on space and privacy have tightened step by step in recent years:

From 1 January 2025 no more than two people may share a bedroom, in every type of accommodation. Bunk beds are not allowed.
From 1 July 2025 new hotels/guesthouses and new-build locations (first environmental permit applied for after that date) need at least 15 m² GBO per resident, including the bedroom. In principle each resident has a private bedroom.
From 1 October 2026 the 15 m² GBO per resident applies to all new locations: for companies newly entering the register, and for new locations of companies already in it.

For new locations a private bedroom per resident is the starting point. Two people may share a room only if they want to themselves, for example as partners, and you must be able to show that choice in writing. In a shared room the 3.5 m² per person still applies, as do the rules for the bed and wardrobe.

Existing locations of companies that are already registered keep the current floor area requirements. Note that the municipality can be stricter. Under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) each municipality sets its own minimum floor area per person in its environmental plan; the national minimum for a dwelling is 12 m². The Agrarisch Keurmerk Flexwonen (AKF), the quality mark for the agricultural sector, has already required 15 m² of living space per person since 1 January 2026.

05Sanitary facilities, kitchen, hygiene and ventilation

This is where things most often go wrong in practice, because these requirements concern not only the building but also how it is used.

Sanitary facilities

At least one toilet and one shower per eight people. Sanitary facilities must be under the same roof as the sleeping places and reachable indoors: a shower across the yard does not count. Lighting in wet rooms must be splash-proof.

Kitchen and facilities

At least four burners, and more as more people live there. At least 30 litres of fridge and freezer space per person. Washing machines and drying facilities must be available. A hotel or guesthouse without cooking facilities must show that residents receive meals. A studio for at most two residents needs at least two burners plus a microwave or oven if there is no other cooking facility.

Hygiene, ventilation and mould

Hygiene in and around the location must not endanger health. There must be sound and demonstrably maintained ventilation, mechanical or natural, and there must be no mould in bathrooms, kitchens or other rooms. The word demonstrably matters: an inspector wants to see that maintenance happens, not just hear that it does.

Mould rarely appears in a day. It is moisture, a cold wall and time. Why these homes are so prone to it, and what you can do room by room, is covered in Preventing mould in worker housing. How to keep track of damp and cold room by room with the inspection in mind is shown in the SNF package.

06Fire safety, installations and heating

Fire safety carries a lot of weight: most of these requirements are majors.

Extinguishers. At least 6 litres or 6 kg of extinguishing agent in total, with an extinguisher of at least 2 litres or 2 kg within 5 metres of cooking points and open fire. Extinguishers must meet the NEN standards, be maintained by a certified company and come with instructions.
A fire blanket at every cooking facility.
Smoke and CO alarms in the prescribed places, and they must work. Combined smoke and CO alarms are not allowed.
Electrics. The electrical system must not be visibly overloaded, and there must be no situations that could cause danger or injury.
Central heating boilers, gas heaters and water heaters are demonstrably checked every two years.

From 1 October 2026 a declaration signed by management is added: the company confirms that its locations meet the fire safety rules of the Dutch building regulations (Bbl) and the municipal rules, and that it has checked whether a notification or permit is required. This declaration is requested during the administrative inspection.

Heating is a separate part of the standard (daylight and heating). A common problem in practice is the plug-in heater: residents who are cold bring their own, leading to an overloaded socket and a high electricity bill. More on that in What does a plug-in heater cost?

07Information, management and records

The standard also covers what residents know and what you can show.

Information card. Every location has an information card with the address, the number of beds, text in Dutch and English, and QR codes. Through the QR code residents find information in seven languages, including how to reach SNF with a complaint. From 1 October 2026 new locations must have the information card from appendix 6 on site.
Maintenance logbook. A first-responsible company uses a logbook to show that the condition of its homes is checked four times a year. Since 2025 the logbook must also record how findings were resolved and by whom, alongside the date, the name of the person checking, the address and the findings.
Location overview. An up-to-date overview of all locations with the number of residents per location, and actual occupancy must match the records.
Good employment practice. Staffing agencies are listed in the SNA register; agricultural and other employers provide the collective agreement declarations that apply to their sector.

Separately from the standard, the Good Landlordship Act (Wet goed verhuurderschap, since 1 July 2023) applies: the tenancy agreement and the employment contract must be separate documents, and migrant workers must be informed of their rights and duties in a language they understand.

08How do registration and inspection work?

The route to the register follows a fixed order:

You choose an inspection body that inspects for SNF and register your company with SNF.
You enter all your locations in the location register (Informis), with the correct type of accommodation.
An administrative inspection checks that all locations have been reported and that all locations you are first-responsible for have been inspected.
The location inspections assess each location against all requirements.
If the outcome is positive, you are entered in the register.

After that there is an administrative inspection every year, before the current certificate expires. All locations are inspected again periodically; SNF calls this 100% inspection. According to Normec, all locations a company is first-responsible for must be re-inspected in 2025/2026. Changes to your location register must be reported, because they affect the schedule.

After complaints, SNF can also act with an urgent inspection, an extra interim (ad hoc) inspection, a check at the next regular inspection, or a hearing of both sides. Inspection costs depend on the inspection body and the number of locations; how to prepare in practice is covered in Preparing for an SNF inspection.

09What happens if you fall short, and how does SNF link to the CAO and minimum wage?

Deadlines and sanctions

A major found during the administrative inspection must be fixed within 10 working days, followed by a new administrative inspection within 6 months. A major found during a location inspection must be resolved within 6 weeks. A minor must be resolved by the next inspection. If a major is not fixed in time, this can lead to suspension and removal from the register.

Deductions from the minimum wage

An employer may deduct at most 25% of the gross minimum wage for housing. This is only allowed if the home meets the quality requirements of the collective agreement and the landlord is certified against those requirements. The employee gives written authorisation stating the names of employee and employer, the amount and the costs it covers (rent, service charges and utilities with individual meters). The rules on this deduction are under political discussion: check the current position with the Dutch government.

The temporary workers' CAO and the price-quality system

Since 1 January 2025 the collective agreement for temporary workers has included a price-quality system (PKS), agreed by ABU, NBBU, FNV, CNV Vakmensen and De Unie. The SNF standard is its guiding norm. A temporary worker pays at most 25% of the statutory hourly minimum wage times 40 hours a week; for housing that only meets the basic SNF standard, the cap is 20%. Homes score points for space and privacy, extra quality and region. If you keep track of your workers' housing in one system, you already have the data for the PKS calculation at hand.

This article is an explanation, not legal advice. If in doubt about your situation, consult a lawyer or your inspection body, and always read the current text of the standard at normeringflexwonen.nl.

10Frequently asked questions

Is the SNF standard a legal requirement?

No, the SNF standard is a quality mark, not a law. But if you want to deduct housing costs from the minimum wage, the housing must be certified, and the temporary workers' collective agreement uses the SNF standard as its guiding norm. Municipalities also often ask for SNF certification in their policies.

How many square metres per person does SNF require?

For existing locations at least 10 m² of usable living floor area per person, and 12 m² in a regular dwelling or hotel/guesthouse. For new locations at least 15 m² per resident applies from 1 October 2026. In the bedroom at least 3.5 m² per person is needed.

May two residents share a bedroom?

In existing locations at most two people may share a bedroom. In new locations a private bedroom is the starting point; sharing is only allowed if the residents want it themselves and you can show that choice in writing.

How often are inspections carried out?

There is an administrative inspection every year. All locations you are first-responsible for are inspected on site periodically, and after complaints SNF can order an extra or urgent inspection.

What happens after a major non-conformity?

A major found at a location must be fixed within 6 weeks, and one found in the administrative inspection within 10 working days. If that fails, SNF can suspend the company and remove it from the register.

The SNF standard explained: all requirements for migrant worker housing