Carrez law: floor area counted, 5% margin, remedies

When the Carrez area is compulsory

Article 46 of the law of 10 July 1965 requires the area of the private part to be stated in any unilateral promise to sell or to buy and any contract recording the sale of a lot or part of a lot in a copropriété. It therefore covers flats and, more broadly, any lot in a building subject to co-ownership status.

Excluded from the requirement (art. 46, para. 3, and decree, art. 4-2):

• cellars, garages and parking spaces;
• lots or parts of lots of less than 8 m².

A detached house that is not in a copropriété is not covered by the loi Carrez.

What the Carrez area counts, and what it excludes

The rule fits into one sentence of decree no. 67-223 (art. 4-1): it is “the floor area of the enclosed and covered rooms after deducting the areas taken up by walls, partitions, steps and stairwells, ducts, and door and window recesses. Floors of parts of rooms with a height of less than 1.80 metres are not taken into account.”

Two exclusions come from the case law of the Cour de cassation (France’s highest court), analysed by the ANIL (Agence nationale pour l’information sur le logement, national housing information agency):

• a loggia that is not an enclosed room does not count (Cass. civ. 3e, 18 September 2012);
• a common part for private use is not a private part and is not included in the calculation (Cass. civ. 3e, 2 July and 8 October 2008).

Take care not to confuse the Carrez area with the surface habitable (habitable area) used for leases or the DPE (energy performance certificate): these are two separate legal definitions. The habitable area starts from the same deductions (walls, partitions, steps and stairwells, ducts, recesses) and also excludes parts under 1.80 m, but it additionally excludes, by name, unconverted lofts, cellars, basements, storerooms, garages, terraces, loggias, balconies, drying areas outside the home, conservatories, glazed spaces provided for in article R. 155-1, shared premises and other outbuildings of homes (CCH, code de la construction et de l’habitation (Construction and Housing Code), art. R156-1).

Who measures?

The law does not require a professional. The seller may measure the property themselves; the ANIL nevertheless recommends measurement by a professional “to avoid any risk of error”. In the practice observed by the network of ADIL (the ANIL’s local housing information offices), géomètres-experts (chartered land surveyors) and agents immobiliers (estate agents) come far ahead of architects and engineering firms; the notaire (notary) advises using a professional but rarely measures personally.

The choice has consequences: if a professional made a mistake, the seller who had to repay part of the price can take action against them. The Cour de cassation holds that refunding the overpayment is not in itself compensable loss, but allows compensation for a loss of chance of selling at the same price for a smaller area (Cass. civ. 3e, 28 January 2015). The buyer can also obtain compensation from the professional for separate loss, for example additional bank costs (ANIL, 2016 case law).

The 5% margin and the buyer’s remedies

Actual area more than 5% smaller. If the area is “smaller by more than one-twentieth than that stated in the deed”, the seller must, at the buyer’s request, bear a price reduction proportional to the missing area (art. 46). Worked example: a lot sold for €300,000 for 60 m² Carrez, which actually measures 56 m², shows a shortfall of 6.7%; the proportional reduction is 4/60 × €300,000 = €20,000. At 57.5 m² (a shortfall of 4.2%), no action is possible.

Time limit: 1 year. The action for a price reduction must be brought within one year of the acte authentique, “on pain of forfeiture” (art. 46). After that, the right is lost.

Larger area. If the actual area is larger than that stated in the deed, the seller cannot claim any price supplement (art. 46).

No area stated. The buyer may seek the annulment of the promise or contract, no later than one month after the acte authentique. However, if the acte authentique states the area, this right disappears for the preliminary contract that omitted it (art. 46).

Which professional to consult

The géomètre-expert (chartered land surveyor) is the specialist in measuring and defining property boundaries; according to the ADIL, it is the professional most often chosen for a Carrez measurement. The diagnostiqueur immobilier (property surveyor) also commonly carries out this measurement at the same time as the technical survey file. The instructed agent immobilier (estate agent) can take it on or have it done, and the notaire (notary) will check that the area appears in the promise and the deed of sale, a condition of their validity.