French law requires the seller of a home to hand over a technical file of up to twelve documents, and none of them is a structural survey: nothing in it assesses the load-bearing structure, the roof frame, the foundations or the ground. Closing that gap is left to the buyer, and it is the business of AEB 360, an independent building expertise firm based in Lyon that carries out pre-purchase building surveys in France for international buyers of chalets, villas, apartments and châteaux. The firm’s office is at 131 rue de Créqui, 69006 Lyon, France (+33 4 82 83 97 00, www.aeb360.fr).
A buyer used to an American home inspection or a British survey will look for the equivalent step in the French process and not find it. The notaire who authenticates the deed verifies title and legal compliance, not the physical condition of the building, a point already made in this magazine’s guide for American buyers in Provence. French preliminary contracts do not normally include a survey condition. The technical check exists only if the buyer commissions it, and the calendar leaves little room.
At a Glance
| The French seller’s diagnostic file (dossier de diagnostic technique, or DDT) holds up to twelve items listed in article L271-4 of the Construction and Housing Code. None assesses the structure of the building.A non-professional buyer of a home in France has ten days to withdraw after the preliminary contract is notified (article L271-1 of the same code).Article 1643 of the Civil Code lets a private seller exclude liability for hidden defects, and notarial deeds between individuals commonly contain that clause.Works less than ten years old remain covered by the builders’ ten-year liability (Civil Code, article 1792), which passes to the buyer.France has no regulated building-surveyor profession of its own. Pre-purchase surveys are carried out by independent building experts (experts en bâtiment), a title that is not protected. |
What the French Diagnostic File Actually Covers
The DDT is attached to the preliminary contract. Its content depends on the age of the building, its location and its equipment. Notaires de France publish an English summary of the mandatory diagnostics.
| Document | When it is required | What it reports |
| Lead exposure report | Home built before January 1, 1949 | Lead in paint coatings |
| Asbestos report | Building permit issued before July 1, 1997 | Presence or absence of materials containing asbestos |
| Termite report | Property in an area designated by prefectoral order | Presence or absence of termites |
| Gas installation report | Installation more than 15 years old | Safety of the indoor gas installation |
| Electrical installation report | Installation more than 15 years old | Safety of the indoor electrical installation |
| Energy performance certificate (DPE) | Almost all enclosed, heated buildings | Energy use and rating, with an energy audit added for houses and single-owner buildings rated E, F or G |
| Risk statement (ERP) | Property in a regulated risk area, such as a risk prevention plan area, a seismic zone, a radon zone or a coastal-erosion zone | Exposure of the plot to natural, mining and technological risks, seismic zoning and radon |
| Non-collective sanitation report | Property not connected to the public sewer | Condition of the private wastewater system |
The list was extended to twelve items in April 2024. It also includes information on dry rot (mérule) in designated areas, a statement on aircraft noise, a compliance certificate for wood-burning appliances in certain air-quality zones, and any safety or sanitation orders affecting the property.
What No Document in the File Examines
Read together, these reports describe health hazards, energy use and regulatory exposure. They do not say whether the building is sound. Each diagnostic is limited to its own subject, and the items that cost the most to put right fall outside all of them:
- Foundations and ground movement;
- Load-bearing walls, floors and the roof frame;
- Damp, whether rising, penetrating or caused by condensation;
- Retaining walls, terraces and swimming pools;
- Outbuildings, and alterations carried out without permission.
Ground is the clearest example. The national clay shrink-swell map revised by ministerial order of January 9, 2026 places 55% of mainland France at medium or high exposure, against 48% on the 2020 map. The new zoning has applied since July 1, 2026 to sales of building land and to house-building contracts. For an existing house it triggers no study. The address can be checked free of charge on the government’s Géorisques portal (georisques.gouv.fr), but a map cannot say whether the cracks in a gable are old and stable or recent and active. Only an inspection of the house can.
Why Timing Matters More Than in a U.S. or U.K. Purchase
The buyer’s exit is short. A non-professional buyer of residential property has ten days to withdraw, counted from the day after the first presentation of the registered letter notifying the preliminary contract (Construction and Housing Code, article L271-1). No reason has to be given. After that the buyer is bound, subject to the conditions written into the contract, usually the mortgage. A survey condition can be negotiated, but it is not standard practice. The safe sequence is to commission the survey before signing the preliminary contract. Inside the ten days it remains possible only if the dates of the visit and of the report are agreed in writing at the outset.
After completion, recourse narrows. The seller is liable for hidden defects under article 1641 of the Civil Code, but article 1643 allows a private seller to contract out of that liability. The clause gives way if the buyer proves the seller knew of the defect, or if the seller is a professional, and the action must be brought within two years of discovering the defect (article 1648). There is one statutory exception: when the lead, asbestos, termite, gas, electricity or sanitation report is missing, the seller cannot rely on the clause for the corresponding defect (article L271-4). No report covers the structure as such, so that exception rarely helps with a structural defect, termite damage to timber apart.
Recent works are where the law helps the buyer. Builders are liable for ten years from acceptance of the works (réception) for damage that undermines the solidity of the structure or makes the building unfit for its purpose (Civil Code, articles 1792 and 1792-4-1), and the guarantee passes to successive owners. When a sale takes place within those ten years, the deed must state whether structural damage insurance (dommages-ouvrage) and the builders’ liability insurance exist (Insurance Code, article L243-2). Buyers should ask for the certificates before signing the preliminary contract.
Where to Look First, Property by Property
Châteaux and Country Houses
Start with the roof: the frame, the covering and the gutters, outbuildings included. Then check the heritage status, because it changes the budget and the schedule. A classified monument cannot be altered or repaired without authorization (Heritage Code, article L621-9). An inscribed one requires four months’ prior notice (article L621-27). Works on a building that stands within 500 meters of a protected monument and is visible from it or together with it, or inside a perimeter drawn around it, need the approval of the state heritage architect.
Mountain Chalets
The points to read are the timber roof frame and where it bears on the walls, the base of posts in contact with masonry or soil, the balconies and their fixings, and the uphill walls, which receive meltwater. Snow load on a roof increases with altitude, so an extension added to an old frame should be assessed as a structure in its own right.
Villas on the Riviera and in Provence
A house on a slope depends on its retaining walls: ask who built them, when, and how they drain. Near the sea, chlorides attack the steel inside exposed concrete, and balconies, pergola beams and pool surrounds are typical places to find the damage. Each pool, terrace and extension should match a planning permission or declaration. One that does not is a risk the buyer inherits.
Apartments in Nineteenth-Century Paris Buildings
The buyer acquires a lot in a co-ownership (copropriété), where the structure, the roof and the façades are generally common parts. Inside the apartment, the floors and any load-bearing wall opened up in an earlier renovation come first. The seller must supply the co-ownership regulations, the minutes of the general meetings of the last three years and the building’s maintenance log (Construction and Housing Code, article L721-2). The minutes show works voted on the roof or façade and any dispute in progress.
Who Carries Out a Building Survey in France
France has no regulated building-surveyor profession of its own. Some RICS-qualified surveyors practice in France, but the RICS designation is not a French regulated title. The French professional is the expert en bâtiment, alongside architects and structural engineers, and the title expert en bâtiment is not protected: anyone may use it. Four practical checks matter more than the title.
- Independence: the expert works for the buyer only, with no tie to the agent, a contractor or an insurer.
- A written scope, set out in an engagement letter before the visit.
- A report with dated and photographed findings, and a statement of what could not be inspected.
- Professional liability insurance, and clarity on what is delivered in English.
AEB 360, the Lyon firm named at the top of this article, is one French firm organized for foreign buyers. The firm states that the assignment is conducted in English by the expert who visits the property, that the complete report is in French, the working language of a notaire, an insurer or a court, and that the client also receives an executive summary in English. It also states that the visit takes place within 72 business hours once the engagement letter is signed and the deposit paid, anywhere in France, and that the delivery date of the report is set in that letter. One limit is worth knowing: the English document supplied by AEB 360 is a summary, not a full translation of the report.
What to Request Before Making an Offer
- The complete diagnostic file, with the date of each report.
- Invoices and ten-year liability insurance certificates for any works less than ten years old, and the structural damage policy if one was taken out.
- Planning permissions and completion declarations for extensions, pools and converted outbuildings.
- For an apartment: the co-ownership regulations, the minutes of the last three years of general meetings and the maintenance log.
- The Géorisques risk report for the exact address.
- Any earlier expert report or insurance claim on the property, including natural-disaster claims that gave rise to compensation, which the seller has to declare (Environment Code, article L125-5).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Building Survey Compulsory When Buying Property in France?
No. French law imposes the seller’s diagnostic file, not a survey. A building survey in France is a voluntary step, commissioned and paid for by the buyer. It covers what the diagnostics leave out: structure, roof, foundations, damp and external works.
Can a French Purchase Be Made Conditional on a Survey?
Yes, if both parties agree to write that condition into the preliminary contract, but it is not standard practice. A buyer who wants a survey should therefore commission it before signing, or at the very start of the ten-day withdrawal period.
What Recourse Does a Buyer Have if a Defect Appears After Completion?
There are two main routes. The hidden-defects action must be brought within two years of discovering the defect, and the exclusion clause in the deed defeats it unless the seller is a professional or the buyer proves the seller knew. The builders’ ten-year liability applies to works less than ten years old. A lawyer assesses which route fits the facts.
A French sales file answers the questions the law asks of the seller. Whether the roof frame, the walls and the ground are sound is a question only the buyer can put, and the ten-day clock starts on the day after the contract arrives by registered letter.
General information only. It does not replace advice from a French notaire, lawyer or building expert on a specific property, and the rules described here may change.