Tertiary sector decree: industry concerned

What is the tertiary decree?

The scheme goes by two names: tertiary decree in everyday use, Dispositif Éco Énergie Tertiaire in the official texts. Two elements sum it up: the reduction pathway it sets and the annual filing through which that pathway is measured.

What reduction targets, and by when?

Stemming from article 175 of the ELAN law of 23 November 2018, decree no. 2019-771 of 23 July 2019 came into force on 1 October 2019 [3]. Article L174-1 of the French construction and housing code sets the target: cutting the final energy consumption of existing tertiary buildings by at least 40 % in 2030, 50 % in 2040 and 60 % in 2050 compared with 2010 [4].

Two methods are available to demonstrate that the target has been met:

• ●
  The relative value (Crelat): the reduction percentage is measured against a full reference year representative of the activity, later than 2010, adjusted for weather variations [5].
• ●
  The absolute value (Cabs): a consumption level expressed in kWh/sq m/year, set by ministerial order for each activity category, serves as the target [6].

Meeting either one satisfies the obligation. Across a mixed portfolio, the choice is made functional entity by functional entity.

What has to be filed on OPERAT and by when?

Filings are made on OPERAT, the platform operated by ADEME [7]. Every covered party submits the previous year's consumption data by 30 September of the following year at the latest [8]. In 2026, the 30 September deadline therefore covers 2025 consumption.

The filing generates an annual digital certificate in return, along with an Éco Énergie Tertiaire rating that runs from a grey leaf to three green leaves and positions the building against the target expressed in absolute value [9].

The collective effort is real: as at 31 January 2026, around 340,000 buildings were covered and more than 1,145,000 consumption filings had been validated, for a platform completion rate estimated at between 50 % and 60 % [10].

Which premises on an industrial site fall under the tertiary decree?

Coverage depends on the nature of the activity housed in each set of premises. A production site mixes both registers, which means sorting the areas before checking whether the threshold is crossed.

How is the 1,000 sq m threshold calculated?

The decree covers any group of buildings located on the same land unit or the same site, where those buildings house tertiary activities over a combined floor area of 1,000 sq m or more [11]. Aggregation often changes the answer: three buildings holding 400 sq m of offices each on the same land unit cross the threshold, whereas each one taken separately would stay below it.

Tertiary activities are understood in the sense of the tertiary sector. Raw material processing activities belong to the secondary sector and fall outside the scope [12]. On an industrial site, the dividing line therefore runs inside the site itself.

Which areas fall within the perimeter?

The most common premises of a production site fall into two groups.

Counted as tertiary, and therefore included in the 1,000 sq m total:

• ●
  Administrative, commercial or technical offices
• ●
  The staff canteen
• ●
  Warehouses operated as a logistics activity
• ●
  Covered car parks
• ●
  Data centres, training rooms, sports or cultural facilities

Outside the scope of the tertiary decree:

• ●
  Production workshops and halls
• ●
  Storage integrated into the production process
• ●
  Technical rooms dedicated to the industrial plant
• ●
  Temporary structures
• ●
  Places of worship, along with defence or civil security premises

Sources for this split: tertiary activity categories listed by the French ministry for ecological transition [13] and exclusions set out in the decree of 23 July 2019 [14].

Two situations call for a case-by-case review. Warehouses first, depending on whether they support a logistics activity or serve the production flow alone. Laboratories next, depending on whether they provide an analysis service or belong to the manufacturing chain. The frequently asked questions published on the OPERAT platform address these borderline cases [15].

A practical obstacle then arises. The site's electricity bill gives a total per delivery point, without separating the share consumed by the offices or by the warehouse. Sub-metering, or failing that a documented allocation key, determines how accurate both the filing and the pathway will be.

What are the obligations and the penalties for non-compliance?

Three obligations structure the scheme. An administrative penalty procedure enforces it. The first part sets out what is expected, the second what is at stake.

Reporting obligations

The scheme rests on three successive commitments:

• ●
  Choosing a reference year, full and representative of the activity, later than 2010 [16].
• ●
  Putting in place a reduction action plan, combining the energy performance of the building fabric, equipment efficiency, quality of operation and occupant behaviour [17].
• ●
  Filing annual consumption data on OPERAT, by 30 September of the following year at the latest [18].

Penalties incurred

Article L174-1 of the construction and housing code leaves it to a decree issued after consultation with the Conseil d'État to organise the administrative penalty procedure in case of non-compliance [19]. It unfolds in three stages: a formal notice issued by the prefect, publication of the breach on a government website, then an administrative fine capped at 1,500 euros for an individual and 7,500 euros for a legal entity [20].

The amount stays modest against an industrial budget. Publication, on the other hand, puts the site's reputation at stake with its customers, its lenders and the local authorities that host it.

What changes in 2026 for industrial sites

Three recent texts alter the timetable applying to the tertiary buildings of a production site. Two concern the tertiary decree itself, the third concerns a neighbouring obligation that the same teams have to handle.

The digital certificate and its display become mandatory

The order of 1 August 2025 moves the annual digital certificate onto the OPERAT platform. It states that "until 1 July 2026, assessment of compliance, on the basis of the digital certificate, with the obligation set out in the final paragraph of article R. 174-31 of the construction and housing code, and the display required by article R. 174-32 of the same code, are optional" [21]. Since that date, displaying the Éco Énergie Tertiaire rating in the premises concerned falls under the mandatory regime.

Absolute values now cover new activity categories

The order of 5 July 2024, known as "absolute values IV", set the first-decade thresholds for new activity categories: transport, audiovisual, culture and leisure, vehicle sales and services, non-medical laboratories, open-air hospitality, printing, education, early childhood care, health and justice, along with the values applicable in the French overseas territories [22]. The order of 1 August 2025 then replaced annex II of the order of 10 April 2020 and revised the coefficients in its annex III [23]. A target expressed in absolute value may therefore have changed since the previous filing.

The BACS timetable moves back by three years

Decree no. 2025-1343 of 26 December 2025 pushes back from 2027 to 2030 the obligation to fit existing tertiary buildings with a building automation and control system [24]. The same text sets 1 January 2027 as the deadline for new builds and 1 January 2030 for existing buildings, covering both temperature control for heating and cooling systems and the insulation of heat and cold distribution networks [25]. This extra time leaves the 2030 pathway of the tertiary decree untouched, which is precisely what these systems are there to support.

How can the consumption reduction targets be met?

An energy audit gives a snapshot at a given moment. The pathway is built over twenty-five years, which means connecting three elements: an audit obligation that is tightening, an energy management system and an investment master plan.

The energy audit becomes mandatory on 11 October 2026

Since 1 October 2025, article L233-1 of the French energy code bases the obligation on consumption rather than on company size. Above 2.75 GWh of average annual final energy consumption, an energy audit is required every four years. Above 23.6 GWh, a certified energy management system becomes mandatory [26]. Article 25 of the law of 30 April 2025 sets the first deadlines: the first energy audit by 11 October 2026 at the latest for newly covered legal entities, then the certified management system by 11 October 2027 at the latest [27].

ISO 50001 as the backbone

The NF EN ISO 50001:2018/Amd.1:2024 standard organises energy management as a continuous cycle: measurement, action plan, verification, review. Decree no. 2025-1382 of 29 December 2025 provides that an energy management system covering at least 80 % of final energy consumption exempts the company from the energy audit [28]. On an industrial site covered by the tertiary decree, a single measurement setup then feeds both the OPERAT filing and compliance with the energy code.

The energy master plan

An isolated audit produces a list of savings opportunities. The energy master plan sequences them over time, according to the investment plan, the remaining service life of the equipment and the regulatory deadlines. On a production site, this alignment avoids the classic case of replacing an air handling unit three years before the scheduled shutdown of the workshop it serves.

At Lemon Energy, the way into the subject runs through the actual breakdown of the site's consumption, use by use, since that breakdown determines both the perimeter to be reported and the savings to be tackled. The 2030 pathway is built from that reading.