Guides
Before the works, the right questions.
Guides to prepare an office decision in France: every rule cited links to its text, every figure to its source, with the date it was checked.
- Author
- Quentin Piepszownik, architect
- Checked on
- 9 October 2026
- Topics
- Space use, regulations, energy, employee relations, comfort, budget, timeline
Office occupancy rate: measure before you decide.
Attendance, occupancy, utilisation, capacity: four measures that are often confused, and why the average is misleading.
Fitting out offices: what the French Labour Code requires.
Lighting, ventilation, toilets, accessibility, maintenance file: the articles to know, and the exact values.
Offices open to the public: when your floor becomes an ERP.
Type W, 5th-category thresholds, headcount calculation, works authorisation in four months: what changes when you receive the public.
Tertiary Decree: what your office works need to anticipate.
1,000 m², −40% by 2030, annual reporting on OPERAT, building automation (BACS): the obligations and what they change for a project.
Office projects: when and how to consult the works council (CSE).
50-employee threshold, “major alteration”, time limits of one to three months, expert assessment: build the works council into the timeline from the start.
Office acoustics: concentrating and talking in the same place.
What the law requires (little), what the NF S31-080 standard recommends, and why decorative panels are not enough.
An office project budget: count everything, from the start.
Works, furniture, IT, relocation, fees, contingencies, reinstatement: the items in a complete budget, and the ones that get forgotten.
An office project timeline is built backwards.
Permit, prior declaration, ERP authorisation, works council consultation: the time limits set by law, and how to plan backwards.
Preparing the first conversation: what saves time.
Headcount, attendance, plans, lease, timeline, pain points: the list of useful information, even if incomplete.
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