Town planning lawyer Paris
Obtain. Challenge. Regularise.
Permits, challenges, pre-emption: tell our town planning lawyer in Paris about your project or the decision you received.
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THIRD-PARTY CHALLENGE
Paris
PERMIT DISPLAY
Paris
TACIT PERMIT
Paris
MODIFYING PERMIT
Paris
ANNULLED PERMIT
Paris
DEMOLITION PERMIT
Paris
ABUSIVE CHALLENGE
Paris
PLANNING CERTIFICATE
Paris
LOCAL PLAN AMENDMENT
Paris
RIGHT OF PRE-EMPTION
ParisPlanning law, in seven parts.
Permits, challenges, refusals, pre-emption, offences: choose your situation. Each rule points to its official text.
Town planning lawyer in Paris
Reda Kohen, a lawyer (avocat) at the Paris Bar, advises and defends owners, neighbours, buyers, property holding companies (SCI) and project developers at every stage of a planning authorisation as a town planning lawyer in Paris: filing and following up a building permit or a prior declaration, challenging the permit granted to a neighbour, defending a permit under challenge, challenging a refusal, a withdrawal or a deferral of decision (sursis à statuer), a pre-emption decision, or an offence report.
Planning litigation is decided first on time limits and form: a well-founded challenge can be declared inadmissible because a notification was forgotten or a time limit miscounted. The firm therefore starts by dating each document, checking the display of the notice and identifying the competent court, then builds the argument on the local urban plan (plan local d'urbanisme) and the documents in the file. It appears before the administrative courts of Paris, Montreuil, Cergy-Pontoise, Versailles and Melun.
- Challenging a neighbour's permit
- Defending your permit under challenge
- Refusal, withdrawal, deferral of decision
- Tacit permit and processing times
- The municipality's right of pre-emption
- Offences and regularisation
Challenging a neighbour's building permit
The time limit for a court challenge against a building, development or demolition permit, or against a decision not to oppose a prior declaration, runs against third parties from the first day of a continuous two-month period of display on the land (Article R.* 600-2 of the Town Planning Code). Everything is therefore counted from the notice board: the date it was put up, its visibility from the public highway and its contents.
from assessing the scale and nature of the project(our translation) (CE, 16 October 2019, No. 419756).
Conditions of admissibility
The challenge, whether a court challenge or an administrative appeal, must be notified to the author of the decision and to the permit holder by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, within fifteen clear days of its filing, failing which it is inadmissible (Article R.* 600-1). The project must be capable of directly affecting the conditions of occupation, use or enjoyment of the property you hold or lawfully occupy (Article L. 600-1-2). No action is admissible more than six months after the completion of the construction (Article R.* 600-3), and no new ground may be raised more than two months after the first statement of defence has been communicated (Article R. 600-5).
where he or she puts before the court, which rules on the basis of all the documents in the file, matters relating to the nature, scale or location of the construction project(our translation). Alleged nuisance, loss of sunlight or views without supporting documents are not enough; the court did, however, accept a house visible from the applicant's own, on undeveloped land at the edge of a natural zone (CAA Versailles, 26 January 2023, No. 22VE00779).
Suspending the works
The main challenge may be accompanied by an urgent application for suspension (référé-suspension) until the time limit for crystallising the grounds expires. For a building or development permit, urgency is presumed to be met and the urgent applications judge rules within one month (Article L. 600-3). A ground capable of creating a serious doubt as to the lawfulness of the decision is also required (Article L. 521-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice).
What the judge may decide
Where a defect can be regularised, the judge stays the proceedings and sets a time limit for the permit holder to obtain a regularisation measure, even after the works are complete (Article L. 600-5-1), or limits the annulment to the part of the project concerned (Article L. 600-5). The judge must then check personally whether the notified measure regularises the defect found, even without observations from the parties on that point (CE, 30 April 2025, No. 493959).
For building permits for a building of more than two dwellings and development permits for a subdivision, the judge rules within ten months (Article R. 600-6). For those same authorisations, where the project is located in a high-demand area municipality referred to in Article 232 of the General Tax Code (Code général des impôts), the administrative court rules at first and last instance on challenges brought up to 31 December 2027: the only remedy against the judgment is then an appeal on points of law (cassation) (Article R. 811-1-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice).
Your permit is under challenge or at risk
The first issue is proof of display. Without a report from a court bailiff (commissaire de justice) establishing continuous and complete display for two months, the time limit for third-party challenges remains open and the sale, the financing or the start of the works remain exposed. The firm arranges these reports as soon as the permit is issued.
A permit, tacit or express, can be withdrawn by the municipality only if it is unlawful and within three months of its date; after that, it can be withdrawn only at your request (Article L. 424-5). While proceedings are under way, a modifying or regularising permit can remedy the defect identified by the judge, on the basis of Articles L. 600-5 and L. 600-5-1.
Where the challenge amounts to abusive conduct and causes you harm, you can claim damages by a separate pleading (Article L. 600-7). Finally, the permit lapses if the works are not begun within three years, or if they are then interrupted for more than one year (Article R.* 424-17).
Permit refused, prior declaration rejected
The standard processing time is one month for a prior declaration, two months for a demolition permit or a building permit for a single house, and three months for other permits (Article R.* 423-23). Subject to exceptions provided by the code, the municipality's silence at the end of that period amounts to a tacit permit or non-opposition (Article R.* 424-1).
Against a refusal, the informal administrative appeal is likewise subject to the one-month time limit and does not extend the time limit for a court challenge (Article L. 600-12-2). Annulment of a refusal has protective effects: if it becomes final and you confirm your application within six months of its notification, the municipality cannot rely on planning rules adopted after the annulled refusal; nor can it put forward new grounds for refusal more than two months after the challenge was registered (Article L. 600-2). The court may order the authority to take the measure that its judgment necessarily entails (Article L. 911-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice).
A deferral of decision (sursis à statuer) is possible only in the cases strictly provided for, in particular while a local urban plan is being drawn up or when a development operation is approaching (Article L. 424-1). An application filed within eighteen months of a planning certificate benefits from the rules in force on the date of the certificate, except those whose purpose is public safety or health (Article L. 410-1).
The municipality pre-empts your property
The sale of a property located within the perimeter of the urban right of pre-emption is preceded by a declaration of intention to sell. The silence of the holder of the right of pre-emption for two months from receipt amounts to waiver; that period is suspended by a request for documents or for a visit (Article L. 213-2).
the reality of a planning scheme or operation(our translation), make its nature apparent in the decision, and the pre-emption must serve a sufficient public interest (CE, 13 March 2019, No. 419259). Where a municipality in Seine-Saint-Denis merely relied on the planning and sustainable development project and the guidelines of its local urban plan, the administrative court of appeal of Paris upheld the annulment: those documents contained only general considerations (CAA Paris, 11 July 2024, No. 22PA03109).
If the pre-emption is annulled after ownership has been transferred, the holder of the right of pre-emption must offer the property first to the former owners, then to the ousted buyer whose name appeared in the declaration (Article L. 213-11-1).
Construction without authorisation or not in compliance
Works carried out without authorisation or in breach of the permit carry a criminal fine of between €1,200 and €6,000 per square metre of floor area built, or €300,000 in other cases (Article L. 480-4). After an offence report, the competent authority, generally the mayor, may also, independently of any prosecution, impose an administrative fine of up to €30,000 and serve formal notice to regularise, with a penalty of up to €1,000 per day of delay (Article L. 481-1).
The municipality may also apply to the judicial court for demolition or bringing the structure into compliance, within ten years of completion of the works (Article L. 480-14). For a construction completed more than ten years ago, a refusal of a permit can in principle no longer be based on the irregularity of the original construction, subject to exceptions, in particular where the structure was built without the required building permit (Article L. 421-9). The firm assesses whether regularisation is possible and provides the defence before the mayor and before the courts.
Frequently asked questions on planning law
Each answer points to the text or decision on which it is based, with its official link. For a specific situation, contact Reda Kohen by telephone or through the confidential form.
How long do I have to challenge my neighbour's building permit?
The time limit for a court challenge is two months. It runs, as against third parties, from the first day of a continuous two-month period during which the permit is displayed on the land (Article R.* 600-2 of the Town Planning Code). If the notice board was never put up, or remained invisible from the public highway, the time limit does not run; however, an error in one of the particulars prevents it from running only if it deprives third parties of the ability to assess the scale and nature of the project (CE, 16 October 2019, No. 419756). In all cases, no action is admissible six months after completion of the construction (Article R.* 600-3). Photograph the notice board, date your photographs and keep them: they will be used to calculate the time limit.
Does an informal appeal to the mayor still suspend the time limit for challenge?
No. In the version in force since 28 November 2025, Article L. 600-12-2 of the Town Planning Code provides that an informal or hierarchical administrative appeal against a decision on a planning authorisation must be made within one month, that silence for more than two months amounts to rejection, and that such an appeal does not extend the time limit for a court challenge. Anyone who writes to the mayor and waits for a reply before applying to the court therefore risks letting the two-month time limit expire. The informal appeal remains useful for opening a discussion, but it must be pursued in parallel with the application to the administrative court, never in its place.
Do I have to tell the permit holder that I am challenging the permit?
Yes, and in a prescribed form. The person bringing a challenge against a planning decision must notify it to the author of the decision and to the holder of the authorisation, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, within fifteen clear days of filing it (Article R.* 600-1 of the Town Planning Code). The obligation also applies to an administrative appeal, failing which a court challenge brought afterwards would be inadmissible. Notification is deemed made on the date the letter was sent, as shown by the postal certificate of posting. This is one of the main reasons neighbours' challenges are rejected: the firm prepares and sends these notifications on the day of filing.
I am not an immediate neighbour: can I still take action?
Possibly, but you will have to demonstrate it. An individual has standing only if the project is capable of directly affecting the conditions of occupation, use or enjoyment of the property he or she holds or lawfully occupies (Article L. 600-1-2 of the Town Planning Code). An immediate neighbour benefits from a presumption: he or she has, in principle, standing to sue once he or she puts forward matters relating to the nature, scale or location of the project (CAA Versailles, 26 January 2023, No. 22VE00779). Further from the site, specific documents are needed: plans, photographs taken from your home, views, sunlight, traffic. Nuisance that is merely alleged is not enough.
Can the municipality withdraw a permit it has granted me?
Only within strict limits. A building, development or demolition permit, tacit or express, and a decision not to oppose a prior declaration, can be withdrawn only if they are unlawful and within three months of their date; after that period, withdrawal is possible only at the express request of the beneficiary (Article L. 424-5 of the Town Planning Code). A late withdrawal, or one based on a ground that does not amount to unlawfulness, can be challenged before the administrative court. You then need to gather the permit order, the date of its notification or the date on which the tacit permit arose, and the withdrawal decision, and act within the time limit for challenge.
My building permit was refused: what can I do?
Start by reading the grounds: a refusal based on a missing document or a detail of the plans can often be remedied by a new application, whereas a refusal based on a misapplied rule of the local urban plan justifies a challenge. The challenge before the administrative court must be brought within two months of notification of the refusal; an informal administrative appeal, to be made within one month, does not extend that time limit (Article L. 600-12-2). If the refusal is finally annulled and you confirm your application within six months, the municipality can no longer rely on planning rules adopted after the refusal (Article L. 600-2), and the judge may order it to take the decision that its judgment entails (Article L. 911-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice).
The municipality pre-empted the property I was selling or buying: can I challenge it?
Yes, before the administrative court, within the time limit for court challenges. Both the seller and the ousted buyer can bring an action. The judge checks that the authority showed, at the date of its decision, the reality of a planning scheme or operation, that it indicated its nature in the decision, and that the pre-emption serves a sufficient public interest (CE, 13 March 2019, No. 419259). General references to the local urban plan or to the planning and sustainable development project are not enough (CAA Paris, 11 July 2024, No. 22PA03109). If the decision is annulled after ownership has been transferred, the property must be offered first to the former owners, then to the ousted buyer (Article L. 213-11-1 of the Town Planning Code).
I built without authorisation: what are the risks?
They are of three kinds. Under criminal law, the fine ranges from €1,200 to €6,000 per square metre of floor area built, or €300,000 in other cases (Article L. 480-4 of the Town Planning Code). Under administrative law, after an offence report, the competent authority may impose a fine of up to €30,000 and serve formal notice on you to regularise, with a penalty of up to €1,000 per day (Article L. 481-1). Under civil law, the municipality may apply to the judicial court for demolition or bringing the structure into compliance for ten years after completion (Article L. 480-14). A well-prepared regularisation application, filed before any proceedings, often changes the outcome of the case.