Week of 7 to 13 September 2026
Legislative, regulatory and case-law review
I. Judicial acceptance: it cannot be ordered in the absence of the contractors
In a judgment of 10 September 2026, given by a section of the chamber and published in the Bulletin, the third civil chamber of the Cour de cassation quashed a decision that had ordered judicial acceptance of works. The Court holds that judicial acceptance, being pronounced after adversarial proceedings under Article 1792-6 of the Civil Code, cannot be ordered in the absence of the contractors concerned.
The rule is procedural, but its consequences are substantive. Acceptance sets the starting point of the warranties of completion, proper functioning and the ten-year liability. An acceptance pronounced without every contractor concerned having been joined to the proceedings exposes the decision to being quashed, and with it the whole timetable of the warranties attached to the works.
The ruling invites project owners and their insurers to check, in any proceedings seeking judicial acceptance, that all the contractors concerned are parties. A late joinder is still preferable to an acceptance whose starting date may be disputed several years later, when defects appear.
II. Energy performance diagnosis: entry into force on 1 January 2027
The order of 11 June 2026 adapting the rules on energy performance diagnosis to European Union law sets, in its Article 6, the entry into force of its provisions on 1 January 2027. It brings the French diagnosis rules into line with the requirements of the applicable European directive.
The deadline concerns sales and lettings after that date, as well as real estate assets held by companies, whose energy documentation will need to be brought into compliance in advance.
III. Other points to watch
The Conseil d’État published no topical planning decision during the period, the latest decisions reported dating from the end of June 2026. No new text was published on co-ownership or leases. The deadline to watch remains the entry into force, on 1 January 2027, of the order of 11 June 2026 on energy performance diagnosis.
The firm advises on French real estate and construction law.
Previous edition: Weekly Digest: Real Estate and Construction Law (1-7 September 2026)
Our practice: lawyer in French real estate law