Town planning and building permits

Up to 5 m² of floor area or ground footprint: no formality. From 5 to 20 m²: a prior declaration. Above 20 m²: a building permit. For an extension in the urban zone of a local town planning scheme, this declaration threshold rises to 40 m² (articles R.421-1 et seq. of the French Town Planning Code).

The building permit is filed at the town hall or online, together with the plans, a description and photographs. The town hall reviews the application in two months for a single-family house, three months for other constructions (article R.423-23). In a protected area, this period is extended by one month (article R.423-24).

The prior declaration covers minor works: small extensions of 5 to 20 m², facade changes, change of use, installing a fence, or facade cleaning where the municipality requires it. The town hall has one month to rule, its silence amounting to non-opposition (articles R.423-23 and R.424-1 of the French Town Planning Code).

A third party has two months to challenge a permit, running from the first day of a continuous two-month period of posting on the site (article R.600-2). They must show an interest in bringing the action and notify their appeal to the author of the decision and to the permit holder within fifteen days (article R.600-1).

The informative town planning certificate (a) states the rules applicable to the land; the operational certificate (b) also states whether a specific project is feasible. Both freeze the town planning rules and the taxation applicable to the land for eighteen months (article L.410-1 of the French Town Planning Code).

Building without a permit is an offence punishable by a fine (article L.480-4 of the French Town Planning Code), which prosecution bars after six full years (article 8 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure). The ten-year administrative limitation (article L.421-9 of the French Town Planning Code) does not benefit constructions built with no permit at all where one was required.

Before selling a property that has undergone works, check that the town planning authorisations exist and that the declaration of completion (DAACT) has been filed. Within ten years of acceptance of the works, the ten-year (decennial) guarantee benefits the buyer of the structure (articles 1792 and 1792-4-1 of the French Civil Code).