The government wants to simplify the building code by removing unnecessary standards

Engaged since the spring in a vast simplification project, the government is launching a working group to identify existing unnecessary standards, particularly in the building code, it was learned on Tuesday December 9 at the end of a second "Roquelaure of simplification".

This "taskforce", which will be placed under the aegis of the National Council for the Evaluation of Standards (CNEN), "will carry out targeted work each year to identify excessive, redundant or obsolete standards", announced the Ministry of Territorial Development, specifying that it will focus in the first year on "the building code and the standards for public buildings".

This announcement comes at the end of a meeting held at the Hôtel de Roquelaure to take stock of the measures already implemented, in the presence of members of the CNEN and local elected officials.

"We want fewer standards and less complexity to produce the service that our fellow citizens expect, sometimes with contradictory demands for freedom and security," said Minister of Territorial Development Françoise Gatel, quoted in the press release.

The "mega-decree" announced at the end of November at the Congress of Mayors by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, which simplifies the first 30 regulatory standards (removal of the obligation to empty municipal swimming pools annually, postponement from 2027 to 2030 of the obligations for energy renovation of tertiary buildings), will also be sent this week to the CNEN.

Since the first "Roquelaure of simplification" organised at the end of April, the ministry has also collected 654 simplification proposals from the prefectures, particularly in the areas of urban planning law, the environment, human resources and public procurement.

Regarding future standards, a charter will be signed with the National Assembly and the CNEN to "improve the quality of mandatory impact studies".

Among the advances cited by the ministry, the Huwart law promulgated on November 26 simplifies certain urban planning procedures and accelerates the processing of appeals in litigation.

On the regulatory front, four decrees have been taken to facilitate recruitment, while the "fauna-flora" decree of August 11, 2025 extends to five years the validity of the eponymous inventories carried out as part of environmental authorization applications.

A decree dated November 19 also simplifies fire safety rules.