Building your House in France

Building permit (PC) (The original version of the text, issued by the French government is located here: Procedures for Construction ) You may either use Chrome browser and have that translated for you in real time, or you may want to read the key excerpts here below.

It is very important for you to know that if you engage in this work, you are going to be facing terrible bureaucracy proceedings that will extend for months and months. You will be engaging in months of written letters to and from the local Administration. You must be aware that you will be taxed for every little thing you undertake. Once you engage with the French Administration, they will never leave you alone. Consider that basically 33% of the population are civil servants working for the government. Even after you sell your plot or home and you are no longer in France, you will still be receiving registered letters.

Verified on January 1, 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister) You plan to build a building of more than 20 m² or carry out major work on an existing construction. Depending on the situation of your project, you must obtain planning permission from the town hall by filing a building permit (PC). Smaller works and constructions are subject to a prior declaration of works (DP). We guide you through the steps of the process. You must first contact your town hall to find out if your project is located in a protected Remarkable heritage sites, surroundings of historic monuments, listed sites or sites awaiting classification, nature reserves, heart of national parks or future national park:

Procedures before building a house

(PC stands for Construction Permit)

• Check if the work is affected by a PC
• Find out who can file a PC
• Fill out the PC file
• Send the PC file to the town hall or Basu (Basu = Bureau accueil et service à l'usager = Reception and user service office
• Find out the processing times for a PC
• Receive the PC decision from the town hall or Basu
• Display the PC on the ground
• Start the work
• Challenge a decision to refuse or stay the decision on a PC
• Find out the validity period of a PC
• Declare the opening of the worksite on a form to be filed or sent to the town hall
• preferably by letter
• Declare the completion of the work
• Pay the taxes for a PC: tax and fee

When should you use an architect?

Verified on June 11, 2024 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister) As a general rule, using an architect is mandatory to draw up the plans for the building permit application. In some cases, this is not required for individuals and farmers who build or modify their buildings for their own use. On the other hand, using an architect is mandatory for legal entitiesGroup of natural persons brought together to accomplish something together (companies, civil companies, associations, State, local authorities, etc.). This group may also bring together natural persons and legal persons. It may also consist of only one member (single-person limited liability company - EURL - for example).