Pools, gardens, terraces and gates on the Riviera, from English-speaking contractors

For a pool, what counts is the surface of the water. Up to 10 m² needs no filing outside a protected sector. From 10 m² to 100 m² you file a déclaration préalable at the mairie and wait a month. Above 100 m² it becomes a permis de construire. A shelter taller than 1.80 m also needs a permis, whatever the size of the pool.

A terrace laid at ground level needs nothing outside a protected sector. A raised one, on pillars or stepping down a slope, needs a déclaration préalable up to 40 m² in an urban zone with a PLU, or 20 m² elsewhere. Beyond that it needs a permis.

Fences and gates catch people out. Nationally a clôture needs no filing, but a commune can make fences and gates declarable, and a protected sector always does. The PLU then sets the height, the materials and often the colour. Ask the service urbanisme before you order a gate from a catalogue.

In a protected old town such as Nice, Antibes or Menton, the Architecte des Bâtiments de France reviews every filing, and even a 9 m² plunge pool needs a déclaration. Our guide to French permits shows how to check your address.

Since 2003, every private outdoor pool that is in-ground or semi-in-ground must have an approved device to stop a small child drowning. The rule covers a pool you inherit with a house as much as one you build. Above-ground, inflatable and indoor pools are outside it.

You need one of four approved devices: a barrier with a self-closing gate, an immersion or perimeter alarm, a safety cover, or a shelter that closes over the whole pool. One is enough. A cover also keeps heat in and leaves out. A barrier still works when a guest forgets to reset the alarm.

A pool without a compliant device can cost its owner up to 45,000 EUR. What the installer must hand over, and how to test a device you inherit, is in our pool guide.

Most summers the préfet issues drought arrêtés, and each river basin sits at one of four levels: vigilance, alerte, alerte renforcée or crise. Vigilance asks for restraint and bans nothing.

From alerte upwards, filling a pool and daytime watering are restricted, and at crise even topping up a pool is banned. Ask your caretaker or pool firm to check the level for your commune before you fill or plant. Breaking an arrêté can cost up to 1,500 EUR.

The Département 06 pays up to 5,000 EUR towards a rainwater tank, second homes included, if you apply before you buy: our garden guide has the conditions.

The PLU adds limits too. Nice's metropolitan plan and many other coastal plans keep part of each plot as pleine terre, unpaved soil that rain soaks into. In some residential zones it's 45%. Pools, terraces and paved drives all count against it.

Felling a tree in an espace boisé classé needs its own déclaration préalable, so check the protected-tree rules in our garden guide before a plan is drawn.