Visible or not, a building modification is declared

The law does not make this distinction related to visibility and the Court of Cassation did not allow the installation of a roof window to be sponged, although of reduced dimensions and invisible from the street.

Seized by a disgruntled neighbor, the town hall had however accepted the fait accompli. She observed that if the owner had not made a declaration, it was not very serious, this opening frame on the roof being on the side of an interior courtyard, invisible from the public highway. She also deduced, like the owner who had done the work and like the Court of Appeal, that the exterior appearance of the building had not undergone any modification.

But it is a mistake, ruled the Court of Cassation. Because the town planning code does not make a difference depending on whether the modification of the exterior aspect is visible or not by passers-by. It imposes a declaration for "work having the effect of modifying the external appearance of an existing building, with the exception of renovation work", without any further details.

The neighbor who saw this change on the roof from his home could therefore take legal action, as he did, the Court concluded.

(Cass. Crim, 19.3.2019, V 18-83.833).