Buying land in France: CU, boundaries, soil survey

No cooling-off period for land

This is the first trap: service-public.gouv.fr points out that the buyer of a building plot benefits neither from the 10-day cooling-off period (délai de rétractation) after the promesse, nor from the 10-day reflection period (délai de réflexion) before the acte authentique (final deed of sale). All checks must therefore be done before signing, or protected by conditions suspensives (conditions precedent: obtaining planning permission, the loan, etc.).

The planning certificate: the first check

The certificat d’urbanisme (CU) (planning certificate) comes in two versions (service-public.gouv.fr):

If the town hall does not reply within the time limit, the CU is tacit (deemed granted). It is valid for 18 months from the date it is issued: a planning application filed during this period is assessed under the rules in force on the date of the certificate, and the tax rates do not increase. It can be extended by one year if the request is made at least 2 months before it expires; no reply within 2 months counts as an extension (service-public.gouv.fr).

The CU also gives information on pre-emption zones, former industrial sites and areas of polluted soil.

Utilities and access: what to check

Buildable land is not necessarily connected to utilities. The detailed CU shows the state of existing or planned roads and networks: this is where you will find out whether water, electricity and sewerage reach the plot. The CU also shows the applicable planning taxes and contributions; the centre départemental des impôts fonciers (departmental land tax office) can give you information (service-public.gouv.fr).

Access is a potential deal-breaker. If the land has no direct access to the public highway, check with the seller whether there is a servitude de passage (right of way); failing this, one must be established over neighbouring land before the permis de construire (building permit) application is filed (service-public.gouv.fr). Landlocked land gives entitlement to a right of way over the neighbouring land, in return for compensation, including for building operations (Code civil (Civil Code), art. 682, as noted by service-public.gouv.fr).

For a plot in a lotissement, the deed of sale must in principle be signed after the shared infrastructure has been completed (roads, water, electricity, gas, etc.), unless the developer has obtained authorisation to defer certain finishing works or a completion guarantee (service-public.gouv.fr).

Boundary survey: compulsory in a lotissement

Any promesse or contract for the sale of land on which the buyer intends to build a home states whether the description of the land is based on a boundary survey (Planning Code, art. L115-4). The rule is stricter when the land is:

• a plot in a lotissement;
• the result of a division carried out in a zone d’aménagement concerté (ZAC, joint development zone) by the developer;
• the result of a remembrement (land consolidation) by an association foncière urbaine (AFU, urban landowners’ association).

In these three cases, the description of the land based on the boundary survey is included in the promesse or contract (art. L115-4). Outside a lotissement, a boundary survey is not compulsory, but if there is one, it officially fixes the boundaries (service-public.gouv.fr).

Penalty. The buyer (or the beneficiary of the promesse) can apply for the contract to be declared void for lack of these statements, up to one month after the final deed; signing a final deed that contains the statement extinguishes this remedy against the preliminary contract (Planning Code, art. L115-5).

Soil survey in clay areas

When buildable undeveloped land located in a zone exposed to differential ground movement caused by drought and soil rehydration is sold, a preliminary geotechnical study is provided by the seller (CCH, art. L132-5). These zones are those with medium or high exposure on the national map (CCH, art. R132-3, IV).

• The study is attached to the promesse or, failing that, to the final deed, and stays with the land on subsequent sales (art. L132-5).
• It remains valid for 30 years if the ground has not been reworked (art. R132-6).
• A G1-type preliminary study (site study and general construction principles phases) complying with standard NF P 94-500 of November 2013 is presumed to comply (arrêté (order) of 22 July 2020, art. 1).
• Land in areas where the planning rules do not allow detached houses to be built is not covered (art. L132-5).

The exposure map has changed: the one annexed to the arrêté of 9 January 2026 applies to promesses, deeds and contracts concluded from 1 July 2026. Details are in our guide on sol argileux et étude de sol (clay soil and soil survey).

Before signing a building contract or a project management contract for a house (two homes at most), the maître d’ouvrage (client commissioning the works) passes this study on to the builders; if it is not attached to the title deed, they must provide one themselves (CCH, art. L132-6).

Which professional to consult

The géomètre-expert (chartered land surveyor) carries out the boundary survey that officially fixes the boundaries of the land. The notaire (notary) checks the planning certificate and the clearance of the pre-emption right, and attaches the soil study to the deed. To finance the land and the build, a courtier en crédit (mortgage broker) can compare offers, and the agent immobilier (estate agent) can tell you about available plots.