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8. Works Declaration in France - Déclaration Préalable

8.3. Completion Notice

Whilst you are not obliged to advise the planning authority of the start of works (as it the case with a planning consent) you will need to advise them of completion of the works, using a standard form.

The form is the Déclaration attestant l'achèvement et la conformité des travaux.

The planning authority may undertake site visits to ensure conformity with the declaration, although this is not routine practice.

Once you have completed the works, and returned the completion notice, they then have three months (five months in a conservation area and risk zones) to undertake an inspection to ensure conformity with the declaration.

At the end of three months, you can ask the mairie to supply you with a notice confirming their 'non-opposition' to the completed works. The notice is only likely to be available on request.

Receipt of a formal notice of 'non-opposition' gives you the certainty that (short of a fraudulent application) it would make it almost impossible for the planning authority to be able to mount a challenge against the works.

Where works are not started within two years, or interrupted for longer than a year, then permission is considered to be null and void. You can ask for an extenstion of this period, provided it is received at least two months prior to the expiry of the approval date.

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