The scope of loi MOP
Loi MOP applies to public clients: the State and its agencies, local authorities and public bodies. This regime does not apply to private clients, even where they receive public subsidy, except those the code lists: the private bodies referred to in article L124-4 of the Social Security Code, and their unions or federations, and, for their state-aided rental housing only, private social housing bodies and semi-public companies (L2411-1, 3° and 4°).
Certain buildings procured publicly are exempt from loi MOP, notably industrial facilities whose design is dictated by the process they house, and buildings acquired by social housing bodies off-plan. For their state-aided rental housing, public housing offices, private social housing bodies and semi-public companies are clients within the meaning of the code (L2411-1), but the rules on private-sector design teams, the appointment, the fee and the design team's commitment on cost, do not apply to them (L2430-2); their other operations do not fall under this regime.
The founding principle
ℹ The principle of the core appointment: one team, from beginning to end Loi MOP requires the design to be entrusted to a single, answerable team, from first sketch to handover. The principle forbids splitting the appointment between one team for the design and another for the site. It was a significant advance on earlier practice: the design team that conceived the project also supervises its construction, which keeps the architectural intention and the built result in step, and keeps liability in a continuous chain.
What the core appointment contains
The Public Procurement Code (articles R2431-1 to R2431-23), whose technical performance arrangements are set out in the order of 22 March 2019, defines precisely the elements a design team may be engaged for. The core appointment comprises:
| ESQ, concept design | Testing the feasibility of the brief, checking compatibility with the share of the provisional financial envelope that the client has adopted and allocated to the works. On new build only; replaced by a survey in existing buildings. |
|---|---|
| APS, outline design | Preliminary technical options, estimate by trade. Provisional estimate of the forecast cost, no commitment. |
| APD, developed design | Settled technical definition, APD quantities, planning file. Definitive estimate of the forecast cost, broken down by trade; the appointment can place the commitment here. |
| PRO, detailed design | Specifications, construction drawings, pricing schedules. Everything the tender process requires. |
| ACT, contract assistance | Analysis of the bids, comparative table, settlement of the contracts. |
| VISA | Review of the construction drawings produced by the contractors, or EXE where the design team produces them itself. |
| DET, direction of the works | Weekly site supervision, validation of interim applications, handling of instructions and variations. |
| AOR, assistance at handover | Pre-handover inspections, clearing of defects, as-built file, final account. |
The core appointment runs from ESQ to AOR on new build, and from APS to AOR on refurbishment, where the core appointment comprises the same elements as on new build, except the concept design (R2431-5); the survey studies, which inform the client about the condition of the building and the feasibility of the operation (R2431-19), are a separate element of the appointment, outside the core appointment (R2431-1, 2°). It cannot be broken up without legitimate cause.
How fees work under loi MOP
Remuneration under loi MOP carries particularities every architect and economist should know.
The fee at signature is provisional
Contrary to a widespread belief, the fee stated in the original appointment is provisional. Where the forecast works cost is not yet known when the design appointment is awarded, the fee it states is provisional: it is calculated on the share of the client's provisional financial envelope allocated to the works (R2432-7). APD must allow the final lump-sum fee to be set on the terms of the appointment (R2431-11, 6°); that fee takes account of the forecast works cost, based on either the APS or the APD estimate (R2432-6, 3°).
If the project grows between the bid and the settling of the forecast cost, an enriched brief, larger areas, a higher specification, the final fee will exceed the original. If the project shrinks, the fee falls in proportion.
Adapting the studies and reducing the fee
Where its appointment covers assistance to the client with awarding the works contracts, the design team commits to keeping within the forecast works cost settled no later than the launch of the procedure for awarding the public works contracts (R2432-3). Compliance with that commitment is checked at the end of the works tender: if the tolerance is exceeded, the client can ask the design team to adapt its studies at no extra fee. For design appointments whose tender was launched, or contract notice sent for publication, on or after 1 January 2023, the client can only do so if the overrun does not result from circumstances the design team could not foresee; the earlier wording set no such condition (decree no. 2022-1683, arts. 3 and 8).
Where its appointment also covers site direction of the works contracts and assistance to the client at handover, the design team also commits to keeping within the cost resulting from the works contracts awarded by the client, with a new tolerance (R2432-4). Compliance is checked after full completion of the works, against the final total cost resulting from the contractors' final accounts and invoices, and the design appointment sets how changes in economic conditions are taken into account. If the tolerance is exceeded, the design team's fee is reduced, using the calculation method set by its appointment, by no more than 15 % of the fee for the elements of the appointment after award of the works contracts. For design appointments whose tender was launched, or contract notice sent for publication, on or after 1 January 2023, only an overrun resulting from a failing of the design team in site direction and handover assistance triggers the reduction; before that, any overrun beyond the tolerance set by the appointment did (decree no. 2022-1683, arts. 3 and 8). Design appointments tendered before 1 April 2019 remain governed by decree no. 93-1268.
| Forecast cost | Settled on the terms of the appointment, no later than the launch of the works tender (R2432-2 and R2432-3). The reference for the first commitment. |
|---|---|
| Tolerance | Set by the design appointment (R2432-2). Failing any mention in the appointment, and where it refers to the 2021 CCAG-MOE, art. 13.2 calculates it excluding VAT: forecast works cost x 1.05 on new build and x 1.1 on refurbishment; cost resulting from the works contracts x 1.03 and x 1.05 for the second commitment. That is 5 % or 10 %, then 3 % or 5 %, above the reference amount: a ceiling, not a band. |
| Fee reduction | Second commitment only, checked after completion against the final total cost: if the tolerance is exceeded, the fee is reduced, using the calculation method set by the appointment, by up to 15 % of the fee for the elements after award of the works contracts (R2432-4). For design appointments whose tender was launched, or contract notice sent for publication, on or after 1 January 2023, only an overrun caused by a failing of the design team in site direction and handover assistance triggers it; before that, any overrun beyond the tolerance did (decree no. 2022-1683). |
| Outside causes | Change of brief or of services decided by the client: a negotiated amendment of the design appointment settles the amended brief and the forecast cost and adjusts the fee and the commitment (L2432-2). Circumstances the design team could not foresee: the commitment stands, but for design appointments whose tender was launched, or contract notice sent for publication, on or after 1 January 2023, the client cannot ask for the studies to be adapted at no extra fee if the overrun results from them (R2432-3). Price movements: arrangements for changes in economic conditions set by the design appointment (R2432-4; 2021 CCAG-MOE, art. 13.1, where referred to). |
The private appointment: freedom and exposure
For a private client, a developer, a private individual, a company or an association, no regulation dictates the content of the appointment. The contract is freely negotiated, which is a freedom and also a source of risk where the scope is not carefully defined.
Partial appointments: advantages and traps
A developer may engage the architect for concept, outline design and the planning application only, with no site duties. The arrangement is common on off-plan schemes and has economic advantages, but it exposes the architect to a serious risk: being held liable for defects in work they never supervised.
ℹ The trap of a partial appointment with no site duties An architect who designs a project but does not supervise the works remains legally exposed under the ten-year and perfect completion warranties. If defects appear, the client can pursue the architect even though the architect was never on site. The remedy: set out very precisely in the appointment which stages are included and which are not, and add an explicit clause that lists the stages not included in the appointment. A waiver by the client of any recourse against the design team would not hold for the liabilities and warranties of articles 1792 to 1792-4 and 1792-6 of the Civil Code: article 1792-5 deems unwritten any clause that excludes or limits them.
What a well-drafted private appointment states
- ℹ Subject and parties: define the operation and the members of the design team in a few lines.
- ℹ Content by stage: state explicitly which stages are included and which are excluded.
- ℹ Fee by stage: set the lump sum for each stage, the grounds for revision, changes of brief and inflation, and what triggers each instalment.
- ℹ Approval of each stage: state the period within which the client must approve each submission, and what follows from silence, the stage being deemed approved once the period expires.
- ℹ Design periods: state how long each stage takes and from what point it runs, an instruction to proceed, receipt of a document from the client.
- ℹ Changes of brief: state that significant changes give rise to additional fees.
- ℹ Meetings and travel: on distant projects, state how many meetings the fee includes and how additional travel is reimbursed.
The two regimes side by side
| Criterion | Loi MOP, public client | Private appointment |
|---|---|---|
| Content of the appointment | Set by decree; the core appointment ESQ to AOR is mandatory | Freely negotiated; partial appointments possible |
| Fees | Provisional at signature while the forecast cost is not known (R2432-7), then a final lump sum set on the terms of the appointment, on the APS or APD estimate (R2432-6) | Lump sum or time-based by agreement |
| Commitment on cost | Before the works tender, then on the contracted cost; rework at no extra fee at the client's request, then a reduction capped at 15 % | Contractual, on whatever terms are agreed |
| Selecting the design team | Restricted competition, then negotiation with the winner or winners, for appointments that reach the formal procedure thresholds, except where exempt, including refurbishment and, since 22 February 2026, local authority appointments below 300,000 € excluding VAT (R2172-2); without a competition, a tender procedure or another formal procedure (L2124-1); below those thresholds, the adapted procedure (L2123-1) | By negotiation or invitation, at the client's choice |
| Revising fees | On a change of brief or a change in cost | On the terms of the contract, to be negotiated |
| Liquidated damages | Set by the standard conditions or the contract | By contractual agreement |
Sources: Public Procurement Code, Book IV of Part Two (L2411-1, L2430-1, L2430-2, L2432-2, R2431-1 to R2432-7) · Ordinance no. 2018-1074 of 26 November 2018 · Order of 22 March 2019 · CCAG-MOE 2021, art. 13 · Decree no. 2022-1683 · Civil Code, art. 1792-5 · Léonard Hamburger, Maître d'œuvre Bâtiment, 3rd ed., Eyrolles, 2016.