Guide
What permits and approvals do you need for home energy work in France?
On this page6 sections
- Does a heat pump or AC outdoor unit need a déclaration préalable?
- What permission do solar panels need in France?
- Do you need planning permission for an EV charger in France?
- How does the ABF affect energy work near a listed monument?
- Which energy work in a copropriété needs a vote of the owners?
- Who files the planning paperwork, and what should you ask?
Most home energy work in France needs either nothing at all or a short planning notice to the mairie, the déclaration préalable (DP). A full permis de construire is rare for this kind of work. Two situations add a layer. In a flat in a shared building, the other owners get a say. Near a listed monument, the state heritage architect does.
Your installer usually files the paperwork. What you need to know is which case you're in, so you can ask the right questions before you sign.
Does a heat pump or AC outdoor unit need a déclaration préalable?
It depends where the outdoor unit goes. A unit fixed to a wall or roof changes how the building looks, so it needs a DP. One standing on the ground in a rear garden usually doesn't. Changes inside the house need nothing. The rules are the same for a reversible heat pump and a split air conditioner.
The mairie has one month to answer a DP, or two in a protected zone. If it says nothing by then, the work counts as approved. Your commune's PLU (its local zoning plan) can add rules on where units go or how they're screened, so ask the installer to check it for your street.
A ground-source heat pump is a bigger step. The drilling has its own declaration, separate from the DP, and the driller must be qualified for it. Ask the installer who files it and ask to see a copy before drilling starts.
What permission do solar panels need in France?
Panels on the roof of a house need a DP, whichever slope they sit on. The file includes where the panels go, their size and colour, and photos of the roof as it is now. A panel on a slope you can see from the street gets a closer look. Your installer normally prepares and submits it.
Panels on the ground follow a different scale. A small, low system (under 3 kW and no more than 1.80 m high) needs nothing outside a protected zone. Anything bigger needs a DP, and in a protected zone a system of 3 kW or more needs a full permis de construire.
Do you need planning permission for an EV charger in France?
Not for a wallbox in your own garage or on your own land. What matters is the installer: any home charger over 3.7 kW has to be fitted by an IRVE-qualified (qualified to fit EV chargers) electrician. Ask them too whether your electricity subscription needs raising for the charger.
A charger in a shared car park in a building works differently, as the section on flats below explains.
How does the ABF affect energy work near a listed monument?
Your property may fall under heritage review if it's within 500 metres of a listed monument or inside a protected heritage zone (site patrimonial remarquable). There, the Architecte des Bâtiments de France (ABF) reviews outside changes before the mairie decides. That covers outdoor AC and heat pump units, and solar panels on visible roofs.
In the Alpes-Maritimes, protected heritage zones cover parts of Nice, Antibes, Menton and Grasse. Many other villages sit near a listed church, chapel or château. Your mairie or installer can confirm your status. The Géoportail de l'urbanisme map is there if you want to look yourself.
ABF review turns a one-month wait into two. The ABF may ask for a unit to move out of sight from the street, for screening, or for panels in a darker finish. Refusals are rare. Before you sign, ask the installer where the unit or panels will go and whether the price covers screening if the ABF asks for it.
Which energy work in a copropriété needs a vote of the owners?
In a copropriété (a building or estate with shared ownership), anything that changes the outside needs a vote at the owners' general assembly (AG). The syndic, the building manager, can't approve it alone. That covers an AC or heat pump unit on a facade, balcony or roof. Solar panels on a shared roof need an AG decision too. Ask the syndic early about the building's rules (règlement de copropriété) and the date of the next AG, because the vote can hold up the whole project.
EV chargers have a stronger right, the droit à la prise. You can fit a charger in your own parking space after notifying the syndic. If the building objects, it can't simply refuse: it has three months to take the case to court.
Work inside your flat, such as a new water heater or internal electrical work, generally needs no vote.
Who files the planning paperwork, and what should you ask?
For a standard job, such as a split system, roof panels on a house or a home charger, the contractor usually files the DP. Ask them to confirm that before you sign the devis (written quote), and ask for a copy of what they submit. If a contractor builds without a required DP, the legal problem stays with you as the owner.
For a protected zone, a copropriété or anything unusual, agree the process and timing with the contractor before work is booked.
Grants such as MaPrimeRénov' (the state renovation grant) and CEE (energy-supplier grants) run separately from planning, and each has to be applied for before work starts. MaPrimeRénov' is for a principal residence only, so a second home can't claim it. Ask the installer about both at the first visit.
More on heat pump, solar and planning rules
Sources
Official sources for French planning rules on energy work
- Service-Public.fr: déclaration préalable de travaux (F17578) The mairie has one month to answer a déclaration préalable, or two in a protected sector, and silence counts as approval.
- Service-Public.fr: solar panels on a roof (F36798) Roof-mounted panels need a déclaration préalable.
- Service-Public.fr: solar panels on the ground (F31923) A small, low ground-mounted system outside a protected zone needs no paperwork; larger ones need a declaration or a permit.
- Ministère de la Culture: les abords des monuments historiques The 500-metre perimeter around a listed building where the ABF must agree to outside changes.
- Service-Public.fr: works in a flat in a copropriété (F31513) Fitting air conditioning or changing the outside of the building needs a vote of the owners at the general assembly.
- Légifrance: Code de la construction, articles R113-6 to R113-10 The right to fit a charger in your own parking space, and the three months the building has to go to court if it objects.
Rules checked against these sources in September 2026.