The ''loi Carrez'', or Carrez law is a

French law The Law of France refers to the legal system in the French Republic, which is a civil law legal system primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with case law also playing an important role. The most influential of the French legal codes is ...

enacted on 18 December 1996 which obliges the vendor of a

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

lot Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to: Common meanings Areas * Land lot, an area of land * Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *Lot number, in batch production *Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...

(or fraction of a lot) in a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

to specifically mention the surface area in all documents relating to the property sold. It is named after its author Gilles Carrez, the then RPR member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for the Val-de-Marne's 5th constituency. The law does not apply to sales of property not yet constructed, which comes under the building code, nor to construction land.

Calculation of floor area

The effective usable surface area, known as the "''superficie Carrez''", is the total enclosed floor area of an apartment or other construction discounting walls, partitions, staircases and stairwells, piping and electricity conduits and ducting, window and door

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

s. Parts of the enclosed area which are of less than in height are also excluded. Lots, or fractions of lots of surface areas of less than are also excluded from the calculation of habitable surface area. Typically, maid's rooms (''chambre de bonne'') would fall into this category. Cellars, garages, parking places, and other storage facilities sold as separate lots are also excluded.

Redress

* If the floor area is not indicated in the legal sale contract of the property, the buyer may

void Void may refer to: Science, engineering, and technology * Void (astronomy), the spaces between galaxy filaments that contain no galaxies * Void (composites), a pore that remains unoccupied in a composite material * Void, synonym for vacuum, a s ...

the contract within one month of signing the contract. * If the floor area is overstated by more than 5% in the sale contract, the buyer has the right, within one year, to demand a price reduction in proportion to the extent of overstatement. * If the floor area is understated, the seller has no recourse.Article 46 of the law n° 65-557 of 10 July 1965, as modified by the loi Carrez

References

{{reflist Law of France Real property law 1996 in law 1996 in France December 1996 events in France