G/TBT/N/FRA/158  
1 August 2014  
(14-4457)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: French  
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Notifying Member: FRANCE 
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  
Direction Générale de l'Aménagement, du Logement et de la Nature (Directorate-General 
for Planning, Housing and Nature) Direction de l'Habitat, de l'Urbanisme et des Paysages (Housing, Urban Planning and 
Landscape Department) 
Sous-Direction de la Qualité et du Développement Durable dans la Construction (Unit for 
Quality and Sustainable Development in Construction) Bureau de la Qualité Technique et de la Réglementation Technique de la Construction  
(Office for the Technical Quality and Technical Regulation of Construction) 
Arche Sud - 92055 LA DEFENSE cedex France 
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2. 10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided  in addition where applicable): Building 
shell components, heating systems, domest ic hot water systems, cooling systems, 
equipment for generating energy using renewa ble energy sources, ventilation systems, 
and lighting systems. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Arrêté relatif aux 
caractéristiques thermiques et aux exigences de performances énergétiques applicables aux bâtiments nouveaux et aux parties nouvel les de bâtiment de petites surfaces et 
diverses simplifications  (Order concerning the thermal characteristics of and energy 
performance requirements for new buildings and new parts of buildings with a small 
surface area, and various simplifications) (173 pages, in French) 
6. Description of content: The notified draft order concerning the thermal characteristics of 
and energy performance requirements for new buildings and new parts of buildings with a 
small surface area, and various simplifications, defines a number of areas of flexibility in 
the regulatory requirements for energy pe rformance that are applicable to all new 
buildings. The main requirements relate to a li mit on energy consumption for five types of 
appliance (heating, cooling, domestic hot water, lighting and ancillary appliances), a limit 
on energy requirements in terms of heatin g, cooling and artificial lighting, and a 
summertime discomfort limit. 
The amendments affecting the regulations are described in the body of the Order and in 
Annexes 1 and 2. Annex 3 concerns a text that has already been notified (No 2012/649/F).  G/TBT/N/FRA/158 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable: Pursuant to Article 4 of the Grenelle 1 Law, new thermal regulations applicable 
to new buildings entered into force in January 2013, with a view to limiting the 
conventional primary energy consumption of new buildings to a maximum of 50 kWh EP/(m² 
yr) on average. 
Within the framework of the "Objectifs 500 000" programme aimed at relaunching 
construction, in-depth consultations were held with stakeholders in the housing and 
construction sector. In February 2014 a joint action plan was proposed, which would be implemented by the State and by industry pr ofessionals to increase high-quality cost-
controlled construction and renovation. 
In the context of this programme, construction sector representatives were invited to 
participate in the working group on the "simplification of the regulation and drafting of 
construction standards". The report issued by this working group provides an overview of 
the proposed amendments to the standards and regulations applicable to buildings. It is fully in line with the "simplification shock" sought by the President of the Republic in March 2013. 
8. Relevant documents:  
 Directive 2010/31/EU of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings 
 Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011 of 9 March 2011 laying down harmonised conditions 
for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC 
 Loi n° 2009-967 du 3 août 2009 de programmation relative à la mise en œuvre du 
Grenelle de l'environnement  (Law No. 2009-967 of 3 August 2009 concerning the 
implementation of the results of the Environmental Round Table) 
 Code de la construction et de l'habitation  (Building and housing code) (Articles L. 
111-9, L.151-1, *R.111-2, R. 111-6, R.111-20 and R.131-28) 
 Décret du 26 octobre 2010 relatif aux caractéristiques thermiques et à la 
performance énergétique des constructions  (Decree of 26 October 2010 concerning 
the thermal characteristics and en ergy performance of buildings) 
 Arrêté du 26 octobre 2010 relatif aux caractéristiques thermiques et aux exigences 
de performance énergétique des bâtiments nouveaux et des parties nouvelles de 
bâtiments  (Order of 26 October 2010 concerning the thermal characteristics of and 
energy performance requirements for new buildings and new parts of buildings) 
 Décret n° 2012-1530 du 28 décembre 2012 relatif aux caractéristiques thermiques 
et à la performance énergétique des constructions de bâtiments  (Decree No. 2012-
1530 of 28 December 2012 concerning the thermal characteristics and energy performance of buildings) 
 Arrêté du 28 décembre 2012 relatif aux caractéristiques thermiques et aux 
exigences de performance énergétique des bâtiments nouveaux et des parties nouvelles de bâtiments autres que ceux concernés par l'article 2 du décret du 26 octobre 2010 relatif aux caractéristiques thermiques et à la performance énergétique 
des constructions  (Order of 28 December 2012 concerning the thermal 
characteristics of and energy performance requirements for new buildings and new parts of buildings not covered by Article 2 of the Decree of 26 October 2010 
concerning the thermal characteristics and energy performance of buildings) 
 Arrêté du 30 avril 2013 portant approbation de la méthode de calcul Th-BCE 2012 
prévue aux articles 4, 5 et 6 de l'arrêté du 26 octobre 2010 relatif aux 
caractéristiques thermiques et aux exigences de performance énergétique des 
bâtiments nouveaux et des parties nouvelles de bâtiments  (Order of 30 April 2013 
approving the Th-BCE 2012 calculation method provided for in Articles 4, 5 and 6 of 
the Order of 26 October 2010 concerning th e thermal characteristics of and energy 
performance requirements for new buildings and new parts of buildings) 
9. Proposed date of adoption: 1 October 2014 
Proposed date of entry into force: 1 November 2014  
10. Final date for comments: 60 days G/TBT/N/FRA/158 
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  11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresse s, if available, of other body:  
Point national d'information 
CINORTECH AFNOR 11 avenue Francis de Pressensé 
93571 SAINT-DENIS - LA PLAINE Cedex 
http://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2014/tbt/fra/14_3426_00_f.pdf