Buildings open to the public: classification, categories and compliance 2026

Every such building is first defined by its activity type, given a letter, then by its category, from first to fifth, according to the occupancy admitted. Those two parameters determine the whole body of safety rules that applies. Confusing the two levels is a frequent error: the type fixes how occupancy is calculated and the particular provisions, while the category determines the general regulatory corpus — the second book for the first four categories, the third book for the fifth.

The general regulation distinguishes two sets: the ordinary types, subject to the first three books, and the so-called special types with partly self-standing regulations. The table gives the types most commonly encountered, with the maximum occupancies allowing a building to stay in the fifth category and therefore benefit from the lighter regime.

Table 1. Common types and the maximum fifth-category occupancies. Below these thresholds the simplified regime applies.

ℹ Special types with self-standing regulations • Mountain hotels and restaurants • Covered car parks: compartments up to 3,000 m², smoke extraction at 900 m³/h per vehicle, REI 90 separation from third parties • Publicly accessible railway stations • Marquees and temporary structures. These types are not subject to the second book of the general regulation but to their own sector texts.

The occupancy used for classification is the sum of public and staff, except in the fifth category where only the public counts. Calculating the public occupancy follows methods specific to each type — number of seats, sales area open to the public, the operator's declaration — set out in each particular regulation.

Table 2. Categories and regulatory corpus.

The safety regulation consists of the order of 25 June 1980 as amended, completed by numerous thematic orders and technical instructions. Its structure in four books answers a logic of differentiated application by size and activity.

Book I gathers the general articles applicable to every such building without distinction. The first defines the types. One article is critical for work in existing buildings: only the parts modified must be brought into compliance, which means the scope of the works must be precisely defined in the planning application.

Book II is the heart of the regulation for the first four categories. It divides into general provisions structured by theme — general matters, construction, materials, escape, heating, electricity, lighting, lifts, means of rescue — and particular regulations for each activity. Those particular regulations complete and adapt the general provisions: the obligations of a first-category hotel differ appreciably from those of a shop of the same category.

Book III governs fifth-category buildings under a simplified regime, with separate articles for hotels and for healthcare. The economist should note that structural requirements there are markedly reduced — no fire resistance requirement where the top floor sits less than 8 m above ground — except in establishments with sleeping accommodation.

Book IV covers special establishments with their own regime. Among them, covered car parks are very common in mixed operations and deserve particular attention in design and estimating.

The construction articles of Book II are the most structuring for architect and economist. They define siting constraints, escape routes, fire resistance, travel distances and the rules on fire spread.

Any such building whose lowest floor of the highest level open to the public sits more than 8 metres above ground must be served by ladder access routes at least 4 m wide. Appliance routes at least 3 m wide are required for every such building. The maximum distance between two accessible openings on the same façade is 20 metres, reduced to 10 metres where the façade has no opening lights.

The regulation fixes the number of façades accessible to the fire service: two in the first category, one for the second, third and fourth. For a first-category building in a dense urban setting, that constraint can force a set-back, the removal of on-street parking or expensive architectural solutions.

The regulation fixes the fire resistance of load-bearing elements and floors according to the category and height of the building. The higher the category and the taller the building, the more severe the requirements. Basement floors are systematically required to a degree one hour higher than upper floors. The roof can be exempted if it is inaccessible to the public, built of non-combustible material or timber, and its structure left exposed.

The regulation defines the unit of passage: one unit is 0.90 m, two units 1.40 m, three units 1.80 m, and beyond that each unit adds 0.60 m. Calculating the number of units required adds the occupancies of every room served by the same route towards the exit.

Maximum travel distances are 40 metres from any point in a room to a protected stair, enclosed or in the open air, and 30 metres to an unprotected stair or in a dead end. These distances directly govern where the vertical circulation cores sit on the plan.

This rule aims to prevent fire spreading from one floor to the next by way of the façade. It measures the height of solid construction between the head of one opening and the sill of the opening above, plus the depth of the floor between the two levels. The sum must exceed 1 metre. It applies to the façades of first-group buildings with sleeping accommodation above the first floor, notably hotels, and to façades facing high-risk rooms.

ℹ A rule to anticipate at outline stage It can make a continuous glazed façade incompatible with a hotel or care programme. It often imposes solid spandrels of significant height — concrete upstands, parapets or solid bands. An exemption is possible where the building is wholly occupied by the establishment and fully sprinklered or fitted with a category A fire safety system.

Every room is classified as ordinary risk or particular risk, medium or high. Medium risk covers kitchens above 20 kW, stores and linen rooms. High risk covers boiler rooms above 70 kW, high-voltage substations, refuse chutes and gas storage. Medium-risk rooms must be separated to REI 60, high-risk rooms to REI 120. The precise list varies with the type; refer to the particular regulation.

The regulation requires refuge areas for people with reduced mobility. The most widespread solution is to widen the landings of protected stairs to create a space inaccessible to smoke and fire while waiting for the fire service. These requirements are frequently forgotten at design stage and can force a revision of the stair drawings if not anticipated early.

Fifth-category buildings, by far the most numerous in France, benefit from a markedly simplified regime. The economist should note that it allows standard construction with no specific structural constraint where the top floor stays below 8 metres, except in establishments with sleeping accommodation.

Table 3. The essential articles for fifth-category buildings.

ℹ Fifth category with sleeping accommodation: a reinforced regime Hotels and social care establishments of the fifth category with bedrooms carry markedly heavier obligations: • a category A fire safety system, with full detection and control • bedroom partitions fire-resisting to at least half an hour • finishes at sleeping levels: walls to B-s1,d0 and ceilings to A2-s1,d0 • the hotel articles exceptionally include provisions applicable to existing hotels. Estimated fire safety premium: 5–8 % of the works budget.

The safety commission is the body that checks fire compliance. It is consulted at two distinct moments: during determination of the planning application, giving an opinion on the scheme, and at completion, giving the opinion that allows operation. An unfavourable opinion at completion is decisive: no opening to the public is possible without a favourable one.

For buildings in the first four categories, and for fifth-category buildings with sleeping accommodation, the commission is systematically consulted. For fifth-category buildings without sleeping accommodation it is called only at the mayor's request or in particular circumstances.

ℹ Composition and working of the commission It is generally a joint fire safety and accessibility commission. It includes a representative of the prefecture, a fire service officer, a representative of the municipality and, on some projects, the police. For the first four categories the technical control office's report is a mandatory document. The completion visit should be planned three months before the intended opening to allow for any recalibration.

The opening visit must be anticipated in the construction programme. A premature visit, before every fire safety installation is operational — smoke control tests, actuator tests, alarm tests — ends in a deferred opinion. That delay can push the opening back several weeks, with significant financial consequences for the operator.

The regulation defines a safety file running alongside the planning application. Though not systematically required, it is indispensable as soon as the project includes particular provisions — atypical smoke control, an alternative solution to a regulatory provision, an overhaul of the fire safety system in an existing building — that merit validation by the commission before work starts. It avoids an unfavourable opinion at completion on provisions that should have been reconsidered earlier.

ℹ ✔ Mandatory technical documents for a first- to fourth-category building • A fire safety statement: type and category classification, fire resistance, compartmentation, escape routes, smoke control, the fire safety system, means of rescue • An accessibility statement signed by a technical controller or an architect • Drawings of the fire safety installations: schematic and detection zones • Smoke control drawings: reservoirs, vents, air inlets • The technical control office's report covering coordination, accessibility and structural soundness • The safety file where provisions are exceptional or derogatory • The environmental regulations compliance certificate, according to building type

The regulation generates specific premiums the economist must price from the outline stage, on pain of significant overruns later. They are structured in several cumulative items.

Requirements on the fire resistance of structure, from R 30 to R 120 according to category and height, can force larger steel sections, fire protection to steel frames through plasterboard or sprayed coatings, or thicker concrete columns. The estimated premium on the structural package is 5 to 15 % according to category and building type.

Fire-resisting partitions, fire doors, fire-resisting access panels in risers and fire dampers in ductwork represent a further 5 to 20 € excluding VAT per square metre of usable floor according to the density of the brief. Self-closing fire doors add 800 to 1,500 € each and can multiply maintenance problems in operation.

A category A system represents 30,000 to 200,000 € excluding VAT according to area and the number of detection zones. It covers detection, the control equipment, the actuators — dampers, powered doors — the safety power supplies and the alarm sounders. The coordinator role, mandatory for category A or B systems, adds 5,000 to 20,000 € of fees.

Mechanical smoke control, mandatory for windowless rooms, basements and certain volumes above 2,000 m², represents 15,000 to 80,000 € excluding VAT according to area. Naturally ventilated rooms are markedly cheaper but require roof vents or façade openings respecting the siting rule: the maximum distance between the smoke outlet and any point of the room must not exceed four times the ceiling height, or 30 metres.

Creating or laying out appliance and ladder routes represents 80 to 150 € excluding VAT per square metre of dedicated roadway. The technical control office covering soundness, coordination and accessibility represents 0.3 to 0.8 % of the works cost.

ℹ ✔ Summary for the economist: first- to fourth-category buildings • Structure, for fire resistance: +5–15 % on the structural package • Compartmentation, partitions, doors and dampers: 5–20 € excl. VAT per m² of floor • Category A fire safety system: 30–200 k€ excl. VAT, excluding the coordinator • Fire safety coordinator: 5–20 k€ of fees • Mechanical smoke control: 15–80 k€ according to volume • Fire service routes, where created: 80–150 € excl. VAT per m² • Technical control covering soundness, coordination and accessibility: 0.3–0.8 % of the works • Anticipate the safety commission three months before the intended opening

ℹ To go further on building regulation → Construction regulations in France: the overview and general framework → Accessibility in construction: obligations and measures → Fire safety and fire resistance → Planning permission: procedures, timescales and parties → The environmental regulations: requirements and their measured impact → Hotel regulation and sleeping accommodation: the complete guide. Your projects deserve sharp regulatory and economic expertise. Submit your programme on quostra.com and an economist prices the fire, accessibility and structural constraints within hours.