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What is planning law?
(Droit de l'urbanisme)
Planning law is of body of rules that regulates space allocation and planning.
This specific branch of public law frequently derogates from the general administrative proceeding.
Planning law revolves around two major notions:
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Planning rules (règles d'urbanisme):
Planning rules are norms concerning land use, planning and management.
Those rules impose buildings standards (for example: maximum building height, distance from property lines...)
Those rules are contained in:
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The planning Code (le Code de l’urbanisme) : this code contains legal norms that are applied on a national scale and set the rules for land use.
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The planning documents (les documents d’urbanisme) : they take the form of plans (plans, schémas), programs (programmes) or chart (carte). Those documents defines the planning rules on a territorial level, for example by dividing the territory according to their constructability.
Examples of planning documents: le Schéma de COhérence Territoriale (SCOT), le Plan Local d’Urbanisme (PLU), la carte communale…
You will often need a permit or an authorization to build, demolish or modify a construction.
Those documents have to be obtained from a competent authority, which will verify if your project complies with the relevant planning rules.
Failure to comply with this permit or authorization is a criminal offense punishable by a judge in a criminal trial.
Examples of planing authorization or permit: le permis de construire, la déclaration préalable de travaux, le permis d’aménager, le permis de démolir, le certificat d’urbanisme…
