G/TBT/N/FRA/206  
6 January  2021 
(21-0187) 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 government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:  
Ministère de la transition écologique   
(Ministry for the Ecological Transition)  
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)  
Tour Sequoia, place Carpeaux  
92055 La Défense Cedex  
FRANCE  
 
Name and address (including telephone 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) : 
Construction products, decorative products and electrical, electronic and HVAC equipment 
as defined below:  
- "Construction products" : products incorporated into the construction of a building or 
part of a building in a durable manner;  
- "Decorative products" : products used as wall, floor and ceiling co verings;  
- "Electrical, electronic and HVAC equipment" : technical systems integrated into the 
building or part of a building or its plot, contributing to the operation of the building for 
heating, cooling, ventilation, local energy production, lighting, do mestic hot water and 
other systems relating to sanitation, safety, fire safety, mobility of building occupants, 
building automation and regulation, and energy and communication networks.  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document : Arrêté relatif 
aux exigences de performance énergétique et environnementale des constructions de 
bâtiments d'habitation, de bureaux ou d'enseignement primaire ou secondaire en France 
métropolitaine  (Order relating to the energy and environmental performance 
requirements applicable to the construction of residential, office or primary or secondary 
education buildings in Metropolitan France) (49 pages, in French)  G/TBT/N/FRA/206  
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  6. Description of content : The notified draft Order relating to the energy and 
environ mental performance requirements applicable to the construction of residential, 
office or primary or secondary education buildings in Metropolitan France defines the 
various regulatory requirements on energy and environmental performance that are 
applicable  to new buildings for residential, office or primary or secondary education 
purposes.  
The main requirements involve:  
- limiting energy needs for heating, cooling and artificial lighting;  
- limiting energy consumption for six types of appliance (heating, co oling, domestic hot 
water, lighting, ancillary appliances, mobility of building occupants), and limiting the 
impact on climate change associated with such energy consumption;  
- limiting the impact of the building components on climate change;  
- limiting in door discomfort during the summer period.  
The draft Decree also provides for the mandatory calculation of certain indicators . This 
should lead the sector to anticipate future requirements, with minimum levels to be 
achieved and provide additional informati on on the impact of the building on global 
warming . Resource requirements are also provided for in order to safeguard performance 
(most of the previous regulation has been retained).  
Adjustments are provided for in respect of temporary buildings and buildi ngs and 
extensions with a small surface area.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable : By signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, France made a firm commitment to 
the fight against climate change . This ambition was reaffirmed in the energy -climate Law, 
which provides for the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050 ; improving the energy 
and environmental performance of new buildings is an important tool for the fulfilment of 
this objective . This requires reducing the energy needs of buildings, curbing the reliance 
on fossil or non -renewable energy, and lessening building components' climate change 
impact (which often accounts for more than 50% of the climate change impact of new 
buildings) . It is also considered necessary to improve indoor comfort during the summer 
period to ensure buildings remain comfortable in a warming climate, and to limit 
subsequent energy consumption for the purposes of cooling . The draft Order seeks to 
detail the requiremen ts applicable to new buildings for residential, office or primary or 
secondary education purposes ; Protection of the environment  
8. Relevant documents:  
• Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 1 9 May 
2010 on the energy perform ance of buildings, amended by Directive (EU) 
2018/844 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 0 May 2 018, in 
particular Articles 3, 4 and 6  
• Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 1 1 
December 2 018 on the promotio n of the use of energy from renewable sources, 
in particular Article 15  
9. Proposed date of adoption : 1 July 2 021 
Proposed date of entry into force : 1 July 2 021 
10. Final date for comments : 60 days from the date of notification  G/TBT/N/FRA/206  
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  11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:  
Association Française de Normalisation , AFNOR (French Standardization Association)  
Centre d'Information sur les N ormes et Règlements Techniques , CINORTECH 
(Information Centre on Standards and Technical Regulations)  
11, Avenue Francis de Pressensé  
La Plaine Saint Denis CEDEX  
93571  
Tel.: (+33) 1 41 62 87 43  
Fax: (+33) 1 41 17 91 69  
di9834@afnor.org ; jeanloup.commo@afnor.org ; martine.vaquier@afnor.org  
http://www.af nor.org