Housing Information Record: the Obligation That Follows the Asset on Resale (Art. L. 126-35-2 CCH)

A residential asset acquired in 2021, renovated in 2024 with the heating system replaced and the loft insulated, and put back on the market in 2026: at signing, the notary asks for the housing information record (carnet d'information du logement). The seller has the invoices, sometimes the technical data sheets, and rarely a properly assembled file. Since Article 167 of Law No. 2021-1104 of 22 August 2021, known as the Climate and Resilience Law, the housing information record (CIL) is not a building-site formality: it is an obligation that passes with the asset on every transfer of ownership, and it carries the traceability of the energy capex incurred. This guide sets out what the seller must have put together under Art. L. 126-35-2 of the French Construction and Housing Code (CCH), what the buyer actually inherits, and the litigation exposure arising from a missing or incomplete record, in the absence of any special sanction provided for by the text.

The housing information record arises from a triggering event, not from a characteristic of the dwelling

The first error of analysis, common on the seller's side and the buyer's side alike, is to reason as if every dwelling must have a record. The text says otherwise.

Two triggering events, exhaustively defined

Article L. 126-35-2 CCH, which opens section 5 bis of Chapter VI of Title II of Book I of the French Construction and Housing Code (Articles L. 126-35-2 to L. 126-35-11), provides that the record is drawn up on the construction, within the meaning of 8° of Article L. 111-1, of a dwelling or on the carrying out of renovation works on an existing dwelling having a significant impact on its energy performance, assessed in accordance with 1° of Article L. 171-1.

There are therefore two events, and only two. Construction, within the meaning of 8° of Article L. 111-1 CCH, covers the erection of a new building or the extension of an existing building. Adding a storey or an extension that creates a dwelling falls within that scope; a mere internal restructuring is not construction within the meaning of the text. The second triggering event is renovation works having a significant impact on energy performance, which by definition excludes cosmetic works, isolated electrical upgrades and finishing works with no thermal effect.

The purpose of the record, stated in the same article, sheds light on its content: to facilitate and support works to improve the energy performance of the dwelling and the installation of energy monitoring and active energy management equipment. The CIL is a tool for preparing future capex, not a technical inventory of the property.

The 1 January 2023 time filter

Article L. 126-35-4 CCH sets a threshold for application over time that must be applied rigorously before any sale is launched. The record is drawn up for each dwelling whose construction or renovation works referred to in Art. L. 126-35-2 CCH are the subject of a building permit application or a prior declaration filed on or after 1 January 2023. Where the works require neither a permit nor a prior declaration, the record is drawn up where the works are the subject of a quotation accepted on or after 1 January 2023 or, failing a quotation, where they begin on or after 1 January 2023.

The operational consequence for the resale of a dwelling is direct: a property that has undergone, since that date, neither construction nor energy renovation works falling within the text has no record to hand over. Conversely, an asset renovated in 2024 or 2025 on a quotation accepted after 1 January 2023 triggers the obligation, even without planning consent. The criterion is therefore not the date the works were completed, but the date the application was filed, the quotation was accepted or the works started. In a residential portfolio being disposed of unit by unit, it is that date which must be traced, not the invoice date.

A scope of property wider than the conventional dwelling

Article L. 126-35-3 CCH defines the notion of dwelling broadly for the purposes of the section. The following constitute dwellings: premises intended for residential use and their outbuildings, including residential care homes, caretaker's lodgings, staff rooms, service accommodation, dwellings included in a commercial lease and furnished premises let under the conditions provided for in Article L. 632-1.

There are three lessons here for the investor. Staff rooms and outbuildings in a Haussmann-style building are within scope. Dwellings included in a commercial lease, a frequent situation in mixed-use buildings or residential hotel assets, are expressly included. Furnished lettings governed by Article L. 632-1 CCH are also covered. A disposal of an investment building (immeuble de rapport) therefore calls for a unit-by-unit review, not a global approach based on the building's dominant use. On the other energy documents specific to such assets, see our analysis of the collective energy performance certificate (DPE) and energy audit of an investment building.

The six categories of works that trigger creation of the record

Decree No. 2022-1674 of 27 December 2022 inserted Articles R. 126-32 to R. 126-34 CCH. Section I of Article R. 126-33 CCH lists the renovation works on an existing dwelling that give rise to creation of the record and must be entered in it:

• thermal insulation works on roofs;
• thermal insulation works on external walls;
• thermal insulation works on glazed surfaces and external doors;
• thermal insulation works on lower floors;
• works to install, regulate or replace heating or cooling systems, including the economical and efficient ventilation systems associated with them where applicable, or domestic hot water production;
• works to install heating or domestic hot water production equipment using a renewable energy source.

These categories are not enough on their own. The text adds that the works must meet characteristics laid down, for each of these categories, by order of the minister responsible for construction, Article L. 126-35-11 CCH referring to the regulatory authority for the criteria used to determine the works, materials and equipment concerned. Classifying a past project therefore means checking the description of the works against the characteristics laid down by order, an exercise that is as much technical as legal. Replacing a boiler does not, as a matter of principle, trigger the record: it must still be verified that the operation meets the regulatory characteristics.

Who draws up the record, who feeds it, and in what format

Article L. 126-35-5 CCH is unambiguous as to who owes the obligation: The housing information record is drawn up and kept up to date by the owner of the dwelling. Neither the notary, nor the diagnostician, nor the estate agent draws up the record. It is an asset manager's responsibility, not a service that can be outsourced at the point of sale.

The same article does, however, organise a chain of input. The persons deemed to be builders within the meaning of Article 1792-1 of the French Civil Code, namely the architect, the contractor, the technician bound to the client by a contract for hire of work, the seller after completion of a structure that he built or had built, and the agent performing a task comparable to that of a contractor, pass the elements of the record to the owner no later than acceptance of the construction or renovation works. For renovation works, the Agence nationale de l'habitat (National Housing Agency), the energy renovation support desks within the meaning of Article L. 232-2 of the French Energy Code and the approved operators within the meaning of Article L. 232-3 of the same Code pass on certain elements, but only subject to their not having been passed on by the persons who have the status of builder. Finally, where the owner is not the client, a common situation in an off-plan sale (VEFA) or in the acquisition of an asset renovated by a property dealer-developer, the elements are passed to the owner by the client no later than delivery of the dwelling or acceptance of the works.

This chain governs contract drafting at the outset. An investor acting as client has an interest in stipulating, in works contracts, design-supervision contracts and property development contracts, a document-handover obligation aligned with Article L. 126-35-5 CCH, with identified deliverables and, where appropriate, a retention conditional on handover. Trying to recover an execution drawing or an equipment manual three years after acceptance, from a company that has disappeared or a subcontractor who cannot be found, is a futile exercise.

As to format, Article L. 126-35-9 CCH provides that the elements are passed to the owner in a digital format meeting an open standard, within the meaning of Article 4 of Law No. 2004-575 of 21 June 2004 on confidence in the digital economy, the owner being able to request transmission in a non-digital format. These texts do not impose any single official platform: the requirement concerns the openness of the format, and therefore the lasting readability of the files, not a specific proprietary medium.

The content: three documentary bases to distinguish

The record does not contain the same documents depending on whether it arose from construction or from energy renovation. The distinction is structuring when auditing a record before resale.

Construction base (Art. L. 126-35-6 CCH)

For constructions, the record contains the floor plans and sections of the dwelling, the plans, diagrams and descriptions of the dwelling's water, electricity, gas and ventilation networks, and the operating, maintenance and upkeep manuals for the structures having a direct impact on energy performance. The text adds a requirement that is often overlooked: For each plan, diagram and description, it is stated whether it corresponds to design or to execution. A record made up only of design plans, without that qualification, is incomplete under the text, and above all unusable for costing a future intervention on the networks.

Energy renovation base (Art. L. 126-35-7 CCH)

For the energy renovation works referred to in Art. L. 126-35-2 CCH, the record contains the dates and description of the works thus carried out. The wording is short, but it is precisely what underpins the traceability of capex: dates and description form the enforceable history of the successive operations carried out on the asset.

Common base (Art. L. 126-35-8 CCH and Articles R. 126-32 to R. 126-34 CCH)

Article L. 126-35-8 CCH adds, in both cases, the list and characteristics of the materials having a direct impact on energy performance, the operating, maintenance and upkeep manuals for the equipment within the meaning of 11° of Article L. 111-1 CCH having such an impact, and the documents making it possible to attest to the energy performance of the dwelling and to know the means of improving it, where they have been drawn up.

The scope of the materials and equipment is specified by regulation. For constructions, Article R. 126-32 CCH covers the materials used for the thermal insulation of the roof, external walls, glazed surfaces and external doors and lower floors, together with the main elements of the heating, cooling, associated ventilation or domestic hot water production systems and their regulation elements, and of systems using a renewable energy source. For renovations, sections II and III of Article R. 126-33 CCH refer to the insulation materials in the first four categories and to the main elements of the systems in the last two.

As to the documents attesting to energy performance, section I of Article R. 126-34 CCH gives a closed list: the energy performance certificate (DPE) referred to in Article L. 126-26 CCH, the document attesting that the thermal regulations have been taken into account where required under Article R. 122-24 CCH, the document attesting that the energy and environmental performance requirements have been taken into account where required under Article R. 122-24-3 CCH, certificates of labels or certifications highlighting the energy performance qualities of the building, and any energy audit meeting the conditions of the audit provided for in Article L. 126-28-1 CCH. Section II specifies that the documents attesting that maintenance operations preserving the energy performance of heating systems have been carried out may be attached: they are optional. A record enriched with these maintenance records is a negotiating argument, not an obligation.

Transmission on transfer of ownership: the obligation follows the asset

This is the heart of the scheme for a seller and a buyer alike.

The information record is passed to the buyer on any transfer of ownership of the dwelling as it stands at the time of the transfer. This transmission takes place no later than the date of signature of the notarial deed (acte authentique). The buyer certifies it in the notarial deed. (Art. L. 126-35-10 CCH)

Three elements must be read to the letter. First, the transmission applies to any transfer of ownership, with no distinction drawn from the nature of the transaction. Second, the record is passed on as it stands at the time of the transfer: the text does not require the seller to reconstitute retroactively what he never received, but he passes on the actual state of the file, gaps included. Finally, the deadline is set at no later than the date of signature of the notarial deed, and the buyer certifies it in the notarial deed.

A clarification follows that practitioners must take on board: Article L. 126-35-10 CCH does not require the record to be annexed to the preliminary sale agreement (promesse de vente), nor handed over at the first viewing. That early-handover rule does exist in positive law, but for the energy audit referred to in 6° of section I of Article L. 271-4 CCH, which is handed by the seller or his representative to the prospective buyer at the first viewing. Transposing that requirement to the record would be an error of classification. That said, an informed buyer has no reason to wait for completion: the price negotiation takes place before the preliminary agreement, and it is at that stage that the request for the record must be made, and formalised in the conditions precedent or in the seller's representations. The weight of that document in the price discussion is analysed in our article on the mandatory energy audit on sale.

The record is not part of the technical diagnostics file

The list in section I of Article L. 271-4 CCH, in the wording resulting from Law No. 2024-322 of 9 April 2024, contains twelve items: lead, asbestos, termites, gas, risk status, DPE and, where applicable, energy audit, electricity, non-mains drainage, dry rot (mérule), noise exposure plan, compliance of the wood-burning heating appliance in an atmosphere protection plan zone, and police orders on safety and health. The housing information record does not appear in it.

The consequence is legally decisive. The civil sanctions in section II of Article L. 271-4 CCH, namely the seller's inability to exclude the corresponding latent defects warranty where certain documents are missing, and the buyer's right to seek rescission of the contract or to ask the court for a price reduction where others are missing, do not apply automatically to the CIL. The record falls under a separate regime, housed in section 5 bis, and not under the regime of the technical diagnostics file (DDT). The conditions for the validity of a clause excluding the seller's warranty are set out in our article on the clause excluding the latent defects warranty.

Litigation exposure: no special sanction, so the general law applies

None of Articles L. 126-35-2 to L. 126-35-11 CCH provides for a sanction where the record is missing, incomplete or wrong. There is no fine, no nullity and no automatic rescission. To assert the contrary would be inaccurate. The real exposure lies elsewhere: it is on the ground of the general law of contract, and it is far from theoretical for a high-value transaction.

The pre-contractual duty to provide information (Art. 1112-1 of the French Civil Code)

Article 1112-1 of the French Civil Code requires a party who knows information that is of decisive importance to the other party's consent to inform that party of it, where the latter is legitimately unaware of the information or is relying on the other contracting party. Information is of decisive importance where it has a direct and necessary link with the content of the contract or the capacity of the parties. Two features make this basis formidable on resale.

First, the burden of proof: The person who claims that information was owed to him must prove that the other party owed it to him, and it is then for that other party to prove that it provided it. Once the decisive nature is established, it is for the seller to show that he passed the information on. Second, its public-policy character: The parties may neither limit nor exclude this duty. A general waiver clause inserted in the deed does not neutralise the complaint. The text provides, in addition to the liability of the person owing the information, for the possibility of annulment of the contract under the conditions of Articles 1130 et seq. of the French Civil Code.

In a transaction where the buyer is purchasing precisely an asset presented as renovated, the existence, nature and performance of the energy works carried out since 2023 have a direct and necessary link with the content of the contract. The argument is available.

Fraud by intentional concealment (Art. 1137, paragraph 2, of the French Civil Code)

The second paragraph of Article 1137 of the French Civil Code characterises as fraud (dol) the intentional concealment by one of the contracting parties of information which he knows to be of decisive importance to the other party. A record deliberately stripped of the documents revealing a non-compliance, or presented as complete when the seller knows that it is not, falls on this ground. The difference from a simple failure to inform lies in the intentional element, proof of which determines the outcome.

The obligation to deliver accessories (Art. 1615 of the French Civil Code)

Finally, Article 1615 of the French Civil Code states that the obligation to deliver the thing includes its accessories and everything intended for its permanent use. Treating the record as one of the documentary accessories of the building is a defensible analysis, consistent with the logic of Article L. 126-35-10 CCH, which makes the record follow the asset on any transfer of ownership. It is not established by a special text and must be presented as such, but it offers an additional basis for a request for disclosure backed by a daily penalty after the sale.

These three bases do not open the same remedies or the same time limits. The choice between them is a matter of procedural strategy, decided according to what the buyer is really seeking: obtaining the documents, reducing the price, or leaving the transaction.

What the buyer actually inherits

The record passed on as it stands at the time of the transfer becomes the buyer's documentary inheritance, with its strengths and its gaps. Three economic consequences follow.

The first concerns the costing of residual capex. A complete record, including the characteristics of the insulation materials and the manuals for the heating systems, makes it possible to draw up a works plan without a survey campaign or a preliminary diagnostic assignment. An empty record shifts that cost to the buyer, who must reflect it in the price.

The second concerns demonstrating the energy history. The dates and description of the works (Art. L. 126-35-7 CCH) are the proof, year after year, of what has been done on the asset. With a view to a later resale, a refinancing tied to non-financial criteria or a discussion with a lender, this traceability has a value of its own, distinct from that of the DPE, which takes a snapshot of a condition without recording how it came about.

The third concerns the continuity of the obligation. Having become the owner, the buyer becomes the person responsible for drawing up and updating the record within the meaning of Article L. 126-35-5 CCH for the works he will himself undertake, and will in turn pass it on at the next transfer of ownership. The documentary chain is cumulative: an interruption in one link is paid for at every following link.

Audit method before putting the property on sale

The review to be carried out, upstream of marketing rather than three days before the notarial deed, comes down to a few operations:

• identify, for each unit, any construction or energy renovation project for which the permit or prior declaration was filed, the quotation accepted or the works started on or after 1 January 2023;
• check the description of the works against the six categories in section I of Article R. 126-33 CCH and the characteristics laid down by order;
• reconstitute the chain of transmission provided for in Article L. 126-35-5 CCH, by questioning the builders within the meaning of Article 1792-1 of the French Civil Code and, for an asset acquired new or renovated, the client;
• verify the presence of the documents under Articles L. 126-35-6 to L. 126-35-8 CCH, including the design or execution entry for each plan, diagram and description;
• check the closed list of energy performance documents in section I of Article R. 126-34 CCH;
• make sure the files are in a digital format meeting an open standard (Art. L. 126-35-9 CCH), a condition of their readability by the buyer and his advisers;
• document the handover, its date and its content, consistently with the certification the buyer will give in the notarial deed.

Conclusion

The housing information record suffers from a reputation as a formality because the legislator attached no sanction of its own to it. That is a short-sighted reading. The absence of a special sanction does not protect the seller: it sends the litigation towards Article 1112-1 of the French Civil Code, under which the burden of proof falls on the person who owed the information and whose public-policy character forbids any neutralising clause. The risk is therefore not administrative but contractual, and it materialises where it costs most, in post-completion negotiation or before the court.

For an investor, an institutional landlord or a manager disposing of a residential asset, the course of action is twofold. On the seller's side, put together and check the record before the property is marketed, not at signing: late reconstitution from defaulting companies is the scenario that causes signing to be postponed. On the buyer's side, require disclosure of the record at the audit stage, before the preliminary agreement, and have its gaps translated into a price adjustment or a condition, rather than certifying without reservation in the notarial deed a handover whose content you will no longer be able to challenge.

Frequently asked questions

Must every dwelling put up for sale be accompanied by a housing information record? No. Article L. 126-35-2 CCH creates the record only in two cases: construction within the meaning of 8° of Article L. 111-1 CCH, namely the erection of a new building or the extension of an existing building, and the carrying out of renovation works on an existing dwelling having a significant impact on its energy performance. Article L. 126-35-4 CCH adds a time filter: a building permit or prior declaration filed on or after 1 January 2023, or, where no planning authorisation is needed, a quotation accepted on or after that date or, failing a quotation, works beginning on or after that date. A dwelling that has undergone none of these operations has no record to hand over.

When must the record be handed to the buyer? Article L. 126-35-10 CCH provides for transmission no later than the date of signature of the notarial deed, the buyer certifying it in that deed. The text requires neither annexation to the preliminary sale agreement nor handover at the first viewing. That early-handover obligation does exist, but for the energy audit referred to in 6° of section I of Article L. 271-4 CCH. In practice, a buyer has an interest in obtaining the record before the preliminary agreement, since that is the stage at which the price is negotiated.

Is the record part of the technical diagnostics file? No. The list in section I of Article L. 271-4 CCH, in the wording resulting from Law No. 2024-322 of 9 April 2024, comprises twelve documents, including the DPE and, where applicable, the energy audit, but not the housing information record. The civil sanctions in section II of the same article, non-exclusion of the latent defects warranty, rescission or price reduction, therefore do not apply to it automatically.

What sanction applies where the record is missing or incomplete on sale? No article of section 5 bis of the French Construction and Housing Code provides for a fine, nullity or specific rescission. The exposure falls under the general law: breach of the pre-contractual duty to provide information in Article 1112-1 of the French Civil Code, for which proof of performance lies on the person who owed it and which can be neither limited nor excluded, fraud by intentional concealment within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 1137 of the French Civil Code, or failure to deliver accessories under Article 1615 of the French Civil Code. These characterisations are for the court to assess and must be presented as levers, not as established rules.

Who must draw up the record: the owner, the notary or the diagnostician? The owner. Article L. 126-35-5 CCH provides that the record is drawn up and kept up to date by him. The persons deemed to be builders within the meaning of Article 1792-1 of the French Civil Code pass the elements to him no later than acceptance of the works; the National Housing Agency (ANAH), the support desks under Article L. 232-2 of the French Energy Code and the approved operators under Article L. 232-3 of the same Code act only subject to the elements not having been passed on by the builders; where the owner is not the client, the client passes them on no later than delivery of the dwelling or acceptance of the works.

Is a dwelling included in a commercial lease or a staff room concerned? Yes, provided the triggering event and the date condition are met. Article L. 126-35-3 CCH defines as dwellings premises intended for residential use and their outbuildings, including residential care homes, caretaker's lodgings, staff rooms, service accommodation, dwellings included in a commercial lease and furnished premises let under the conditions provided for in Article L. 632-1. A unit-by-unit review is therefore needed on an investment building or a mixed-use asset.

Which energy performance documents must appear in the record? The list in section I of Article R. 126-34 CCH is exhaustive: the DPE under Article L. 126-26 CCH, the certificate that the thermal regulations have been taken into account where required under Article R. 122-24 CCH, the certificate that the energy and environmental performance requirements have been taken into account where required under Article R. 122-24-3 CCH, certificates of labels or certifications, and any energy audit meeting the conditions of Article L. 126-28-1 CCH. The records of maintenance of heating systems, referred to in section II, are optional.