Shop signs and window graphics: what French law actually requires in 2026

Putting up a shop sign or a window graphic looks simple. Legally, it is not. Signage regulation in France falls under the Environment Code, it was substantially reworked between 2023 and 2026, and its application changes from one town to the next. Here is where things stand on 30 July 2026, for the Gers and southern Landes.

Enseigne, préenseigne, publicité: three words, three regimes

"An enseigne is any inscription, shape or image affixed to a building and relating to an activity carried out there" (Environment Code, art. L581-3, 2°). Three cumulative conditions: an inscription, shape or image; affixed to the building; relating to the activity carried out there. "Building" means the land as much as the structure standing on it: a totem planted at the edge of the plot is still an enseigne, the distance to the shop entrance being irrelevant (Conseil d'État, 28 February 2020, SARL Espace Rénovation, no. 419302). The ministry's February 2025 guide reads that land as the unité foncière, a continuous set of cadastral parcels forming a single property (point no. 122 and glossary).

A préenseigne "indicates the proximity of a building where a given activity is carried out". The only criterion is location: on your own parcel it is an enseigne; anywhere else it is a préenseigne, governed by the advertising regime (art. L581-19) and therefore prohibited outside built-up areas unless an exemption applies.

A typical case in the Gers: a tradesperson between Nogaro and Manciet puts a panel at the roadside, three hundred metres from the workshop. That is not an enseigne but a préenseigne outside the built-up area, and therefore unlawful. Four categories escape the ban: local produce sold by local businesses, cultural activities, historic monuments open to visitors, and exceptional events. Garages, hotels, restaurants and professional practices were removed from that list on 13 July 2015; their only lawful route is local information signposting, managed by the highway authority.

Window graphics: everything hinges on which face of the glass

This is the least well understood point, and it changes everything. The Environment Code does not apply to devices located inside premises, unless those premises serve principally as an advertising medium (art. L581-2; Conseil d'État, 28 October 2009, Sté Zara, no. 322758). The Ministry for Ecological Transition's February 2025 practical guide says so in as many words: a graphic applied to the outside of a shop window falls under the Environment Code, and does not if it is applied on the inside.

The very same design therefore switches regime depending on the face of the glass. Outside: it is an enseigne, it counts against the surface quota and may require authorisation. Inside: out of scope. That is a genuine design lever, and one we use in window graphics when premises sit in a protected area. One breach only: since the Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021, article L581-14-4 allows a local advertising bylaw (RLP) to regulate illuminated signs behind the window.

The message matters just as much. Name, logo, trade, opening hours: that is an enseigne. Sales or a promotion running under three months: a temporary enseigne, which may go up three weeks before the operation and must come down one week after (arts. R581-68 to R581-70) — leaving a "SALE" up all year round is an offence. A third-party brand or a product sold elsewhere: that is advertising, and "advertising may not cover all or part of a window bay" (art. L581-8, III), subject to two exceptions: micro-displays integrated into the shopfront and covering the bay only partially — under 1 m² per unit, combined areas capped at one tenth of the shopfront and at 2 m² (art. R581-57) — and the shopfront of a business temporarily closed for refurbishment or following court-supervised insolvency proceedings (règlement judiciaire). Micro-displays remain subject to the absolute prohibitions of art. L581-4 and to the relative ones of art. L581-8, I, which an RLP may lift.

No national text sets a maximum window-obscuring ratio: the figures that circulate (5%, 25%, 30%) come from local bylaws or municipal charters. Opacity still counts, since lettering applied on a solid background is measured against the whole background, and, since no text settles the point for window graphics, it is safer to assume perforated film will be counted as a solid one — that is the rule for banners (art. R581-53). Finally, because your shop is a public-access building, glazed partitions must be identifiable through "contrasting visual elements" visible from both sides (order of 8 December 2014, art. 10): the 5 cm bands at 1.10 m and 1.60 m are recommended, not mandatory.

Which formality, and with whom

First misconception to clear up: enseignes are never subject to prior declaration under the Environment Code. The declaration in article L581-6 covers only advertising and préenseignes; the ministry guide states this in a box on page 76. An enseigne is subject either to prior authorisation or to no formality at all. Article L581-18, in force in this wording since 1 January 2024, makes it subject to authorisation in four cases:

1. absolute prohibition (art. L581-4): listed or registered historic monuments, natural monuments and classified sites, national park core areas, nature reserves, trees;
2. relative prohibition (art. L581-8, I): the surroundings of historic monuments, remarkable heritage sites, regional natural parks, registered sites, the 100-metre perimeter and field of visibility of buildings placed off limits to advertising by order of the mayor or, failing that, the prefect on account of their aesthetic, historic or picturesque character (art. L581-4, II), national park adhesion areas, Natura 2000 areas;
3. the entire territory of a municipality or inter-municipal authority covered by a local advertising bylaw;
4. laser-beam signs.

Outside those four cases, no formality — but "no authorisation" does not mean "no rules": the substantive rules all apply, and you will have had no exchange with the town hall before installing: the first contact will be the formal notice, which allows only five days. Remember the third case above all: a local bylaw is enough to make every sign subject to authorisation, even adhesive lettering in an ordinary retail zone. That is the first question to ask at the town hall, the single filing desk since 1 January 2024: the file is lodged there, the mayor issues the receipt, and the two-month period runs from "receipt at the town hall of a complete file" (arts. R581-9, R581-9-1 and R581-13). The filing desk is not always the deciding authority, however: "the policing of outdoor advertising is exercised by the mayor on behalf of the municipality" (art. L581-3-1), but those powers pass to the president of the inter-municipal authority where it is competent for local planning (PLU) or for the local advertising bylaw (RLP) (art. L5211-9-2, I A, of the CGCT), the mayor then forwarding the application within a week (art. R581-9-2). For inter-municipal authorities already competent on 1 January 2024 — which covers the three named further down — the transfer took effect on 1 July or 1 August 2024, unless a mayor objected or the president renounced it. So there is a second question to ask: who handles the file? In the table below, as in the ministry guide, "the mayor" means the competent authority, mayor or inter-municipal president.

Decree no. 2025-1354 of 26 December 2025 changed three things with effect from 1 July 2026. The form: the order of 25 June 2026 mandates CERFA no. 16308, covering installation, replacement and modification; its article 3 repeals the order of 31 August 2012, whose single authorisation form — 14798*01, covering advertising, pre-signs and signs alike — is split in two: 16308 for signs, 16309 for advertising or pre-signs, the declaration becoming 16310. No text makes a file submitted on the old model inadmissible; it exposes you to a notice of missing documents, to be made good within two months on pain of tacit rejection (art. R581-10-1). The supporting documents: a situation view, a view of the building with and without the sign, and a graphic document showing integration into the surroundings (art. R581-16) — this third item is not new, but the "assessment of its integration into the environment" required since 2012 becomes a graphic document, judged against neighbouring buildings and landscapes. Completeness: the file is deemed complete if the authority has not notified missing documents within one month (art. R581-13). The application comes from the person carrying out the activity being signposted, not from the sign maker nor the owner of the walls; the authority decides within two months and its silence amounts to consent. Keep the receipt: it is what starts the clock.

These formalities are independent and cumulative: a building permit showing a sign does not exempt you from the authorisation under article L581-18.

The three private consents that block projects most often

The landlord: most commercial leases make any works altering the façade, the shopfront or the sign subject to written consent, and going ahead regardless exposes you to reinstatement or even termination of the lease — the Code itself does not require the landlord's authorisation. The co-ownership: as the façade is a common part, the works require a general meeting vote under the majority rule of article 25(b) of the Act of 10 July 1965, and the managing agent cannot authorise them alone. Planning law: if the external appearance of the building changes, a prior declaration is required (Planning Code, art. R421-17, amended by a decree of 20 February 2026), something applying a window graphic is not generally treated as doing.

The substantive rules, applicable everywhere

"Signs affixed to the commercial façade of an establishment may not have a cumulative surface exceeding 15% of the surface of that façade", raised "to 25% where the establishment's commercial façade is under 50 square metres" (art. R581-63). The 25% rate is not an option you may elect: it applies only below 50 m². The ministry's own example: a shopfront 8 m by 4 m is 32 m², hence 8 m² of signage at most.

Three decisive clarifications: shop windows are included in the reference surface; projecting signs count towards the calculation, both faces added together; and an inscription applied on a background is measured against the whole background, or without a background against the rectangle enclosing it, never letter by letter.

• Flat against a wall (art. R581-60): no overhang beyond the wall or the roof eaves, maximum projection of 0.25 m — the depth of built-up letters depends on it.
• Projecting (art. R581-61): projection limited to one tenth of the distance between the street alignments and to 2 m in all cases, prohibited in front of a window or balcony.
• Ground-anchored above one square metre (arts. R581-64 and R581-65): a single device per street bordering the building, at least 10 m from a neighbouring window, set back by at least half its height from plot boundaries, 6 m² unit surface, raised to 10.50 m² above 10,000 inhabitants.

That 10.50 m² ceiling replaced the previous 12 m² on 2 November 2023 (decree no. 2023-1007): older devices are tolerated only until 2 November 2027, and only if they do not exceed 12 m². We build that timetable into our studies for panels and totems.

On lighting, "illuminated signs are switched off between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. where the signposted activity has ceased" (art. R581-59), and flashing signs are prohibited except for pharmacies and emergency services — everywhere, with no population threshold. A sign must also be made of durable materials and kept in good condition by the person carrying out the activity (art. R581-58): a peeling or yellowed graphic is an offence. No lifespan is set; the rule is a condition — so the choice of film, anti-UV lamination and installation is a matter of compliance as much as of aesthetics. Finally, the sign must be removed within three months of the activity ceasing.

Where are you? Built-up area, countryside, local bylaw

The Environment Code refers across to the Highway Code: the built-up area is the developed space between the entry and exit signs. Manciet, population 758, has a built-up area; an isolated business park 2 km from the centre of Mont-de-Marsan is outside it. The limits are set by mayoral order, and where the signs do not match the actual built form, the built form prevails (Conseil d'État, 2 March 1990, Sté Publi-system, no. 68134).

The 10,000-inhabitant threshold is measured on the population of the built-up area, not on that of the municipality: a municipality of more than 10,000 inhabitants may contain several built-up areas each staying below the threshold, and it then falls to the mayor to count the population in each of them, absent a figure authenticated by decree (Conseil d'État, opinion, 29 March 1993, Sté Dauphin OTA, no. 143774). The count does stop at the municipal boundary, however: two adjoining municipalities with a continuous built fabric are not added together, the threshold being assessed "for each municipality separately" (Conseil d'État, 26 November 2012, Sté Avenir, no. 352916). Municipal populations therefore give the first indication. Auch (22,428 inhabitants) and Mont-de-Marsan (31,592) are above it; Condom (6,473), Aire-sur-l'Adour (6,211), Eauze (4,108), Nogaro (2,238) and Manciet (758) below. Below that threshold — and provided the built-up area does not belong to an urban unit of more than 100,000 inhabitants, a second condition that is often overlooked — ground-anchored advertising, illuminated advertising and advertising banners are prohibited, and wall advertising is capped at 4.70 m² (art. R581-26). Those prohibitions target advertising, not signage: a business sign remains possible, within the 6 m² ground limit. Outside built-up areas all advertising is prohibited (art. L581-7), but an Armagnac estate or a joinery out in the countryside may put up a façade sign and a totem on their own land — subject to article R418-6 of the Highway Code: outside built-up areas, advertising, advertising signs and pre-signs visible from national, departmental and municipal roads are prohibited on either side of them over "a width of 20 metres measured from the outer edges of the carriageway" — the reference point is the edge of the carriageway, not that of the road right-of-way. The prohibition does not apply to advertising signs and pre-signs which, not impairing the perception of road signage and presenting no danger to traffic safety, meet the surface area and siting conditions set by interministerial order. Along motorways and express roads the prohibited strip outside built-up areas widens to 200 metres (art. R418-7).

A local advertising bylaw may only contain rules that are more restrictive than the national regulation: number of signs per façade, cut-out lettering imposed, lighting, duration of temporary signs. Major pitfall: bylaws in force on 12 July 2010, known as "first generation", have lapsed on one of two dates: 14 January 2021 where no inter-municipal bylaw had been initiated before that date, and 14 July 2022 where one had been initiated but was never adopted (art. L581-14-3). A bylaw approved between 13 July 2010 and 13 July 2011 under the earlier procedure is not first generation: it does not lapse and remains applicable until amended or revised (art. 39 of the Act of 12 July 2010). A PDF still downloadable from a town hall website proves nothing. Conversely, when a new bylaw comes into force, non-compliant signs may be kept for six years if they complied with the previous regulation (art. L581-43).

An essential caveat: the absence of public information does not prove the absence of a bylaw. For Eauze, Nogaro, Manciet, Aire-sur-l'Adour and Auch, have the town hall confirm in writing whether a bylaw exists and from what date, before placing any order.

The ABF question: where it is really decided

There is no such thing in law as an "ABF zone". The shorthand conflates five distinct regimes, whose authorities, type of opinion and appeal routes all differ. The question is not whether you are "in an ABF zone", but on what basis you are protected: the surroundings of a historic monument with or without a delimited perimeter, a remarkable heritage site, a listed or registered building, a classified or registered site. The agreement of the Architecte des Bâtiments de France — the State heritage architect, or ABF — is required in the first four cases; on a classified site it is the regional prefect's; on a registered site alone, article R581-16-1 does not require it.

With or without a delimited perimeter: the decisive point

Since the Act of 7 July 2016, protection of a monument's surroundings exists in two forms (Heritage Code, art. L621-30). With a delimited perimeter, every building within it is protected and co-visibility is irrelevant: you may not be able to see the church from your window and still need the ABF's agreement. Without a delimited perimeter, protection applies only to buildings visible from the monument or visible at the same time as it, and within 500 metres; outside that field of visibility, agreement is not required. Two premises on the same street can therefore fall under different regimes.

Here lies the real difficulty: that field of visibility appears on no map. The ABF assesses it case by case from a publicly accessible vantage point. In a Gers village, 500 m around a listed church often covers the whole centre.

Agreement or opinion: the distinction that settles everything

The ABF's agreement is a binding opinion: the mayor cannot authorise despite a refusal, and must enforce any conditions attached to it. The converse does not hold — a favourable agreement does not oblige the mayor to authorise. A simple opinion is advisory, and the appeal under article L632-2 of the Heritage Code is not available against it: only agreements, agreements with conditions, and refusals of agreement can be challenged. A refusal must give reasons, failing which the lack of reasons itself becomes a ground of appeal. Silence from the ABF amounts to agreement.

The regimes do not stack: the surroundings regime has no effect on a building located in a remarkable heritage site or on a listed building (art. L621-30, II). The ABF then gives reasons by reference to the site's own regulation — a real lever for challenge. The file also grows heavier there (art. R581-16-1): a section drawing of the façade, close and distant photographs, and a description of materials.

What the ABF accepts, and what it refuses

There is no enforceable national doctrine: practice is found in local shopfront charters and in the advisory sheets of the departmental architecture and heritage units (UDAP).

• Composition and materials: the shopfront follows the ordering lines of the openings, stops at first-floor level and does not extend across several buildings. Cut-out, painted or wrought letters; light boxes ruled out, only built-up letters accepted. Painted wood, powder-coated metal; glossy plastics, pure white and pure black refused.
• Lighting and dimensions: indirect lighting, invisible source, under 2,700 K; lettering no more than 40 cm high, one flat sign and one projecting sign per façade, the projecting sign around 60 × 80 cm.
• Window graphics: cut-out lettering with no background, transparency preserved, graphics limited to essential information, solid backgrounds and blacked-out windows refused.

These are local recommendations that vary from one UDAP to another, not national rules. The only figures enforceable everywhere remain those of the national regulation: 15% or 25% of the façade, 0.25 m projection when flat, 2 m when projecting, lights out between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Appeals against a refusal

Two routes, not to be confused. A mayor who disagrees with the ABF sends the file and the draft decision to the regional prefect, who decides after consulting the regional heritage and architecture commission; the prefect's silence amounts to approval. An applicant whose request is refused writes to the regional prefect by registered post, copying the ABF, within two months of notification, and may from the outset ask for a mediator chosen from the elected members of that commission; here silence amounts to rejection. The ABF's opinion itself cannot be challenged: only the mayor's decision can, within two months, before the Administrative Court of Pau.

Your point of contact, and the local picture

The ABF works within the UDAP for their department. For the Gers: UDAP 32, 97 boulevard Sadi-Carnot, 32000 Auch, +33 5 62 05 62 08, udap.gers@culture.gouv.fr; the Landes come under UDAP 40. The reflex that saves months: a preliminary meeting, façade photograph and sketch in hand, before anything is manufactured. An opinion given upstream is not legally binding, but it avoids a refusal after production.

According to the Ministry of Culture's official list, the Gers has only three remarkable heritage sites: Auch, Lectoure and Lombez. Nogaro, Eauze, Condom, Manciet, Montréal-du-Gers, Gimont, Plaisance-du-Gers, Mont-de-Marsan and Aire-sur-l'Adour are not among them. Do not conclude that there is no constraint: the surroundings regime then applies instead. A restaurant opening in Eauze, near the church, may find itself within a monument's field of visibility without suspecting it — authorisation and ABF agreement both required, where the same establishment in a business park would have nothing to apply for. Conversely, a shop in the old centre of Auch is in a remarkable heritage site: authorisation, ABF agreement, advertising prohibited. We check this point before any study, including for businesses in Eauze and the surrounding area, which we serve from Manciet. Two recent Senate texts are sometimes presented as a coming relaxation. Neither concerns signage. The bill passed on 19 March 2025 frames how ABF opinions are issued — a free national register, a conciliation panel — without removing the binding opinion. The Housing bill passed on 8 July 2026 does turn it into a simple opinion, but only for external solar protections and for designated local-interest operations. As at 30 July 2026, neither is in force and neither changes the regime applicable to signs.

What you actually risk

Let us correct a stubborn misconception: the €1,500 administrative fine under article L581-26 cannot be imposed in respect of an enseigne; it targets advertising and préenseignes only. The real exposure lies elsewhere, and is more severe.

1. Formal notice. As soon as the breach is recorded, the mayor issues an order requiring removal or compliance within five days (art. L581-27). The mayor is under a duty to act, and the period runs from the first presentation of the registered letter.
2. Daily penalty. After those five days it runs per day and per device. The statutory base is €200, revalued each year against the INSEE index: €243.67 from 19 February 2025 to 20 February 2026, then €244.25 per day since 21 February 2026. Three non-compliant signs come to over €730 a day.
3. Enforcement by the authority, at the offender's expense, then a criminal fine of €7,500 for an individual and €37,500 for a company, applied as many times as there are non-compliant devices (art. L581-34). On top of that come a second-class fine for failure to maintain and a fifth-class fine for breaching the night switch-off.

One rule to know before taking over premises: time regularises nothing. The limitation period runs only from the day of removal or compliance (art. L581-38): a sign put up fifteen years ago can still be penalised today. The three-month removal obligation falls on whoever ceased the activity, but whoever "maintains" an unlawful sign becomes the addressee of the formal notice. Have the existing signage audited before signing.

A separate tax point: the local outdoor advertising tax exists only where the municipality has instituted it, and it amounts to neither authorisation nor declaration. Signs whose surfaces for a single activity total 7 m² or less are exempt by default — but only « sauf délibération contraire », that is unless the municipality decides otherwise (art. L2333-7 CGCT) — it is the total per establishment that counts, and adding window lettering to an existing fascia can push you over the threshold.

A word of caution

This article points you in the right direction; it does not replace consulting your municipality's planning department. The rules set out here are national, but their application depends on three strictly local elements: whether a local advertising bylaw exists and what it says, the mayoral order delimiting the built-up area, and where your premises sit in relation to protection perimeters. Those three elements vary from one municipality to another, sometimes from one street to another. The absence of information online proves nothing: only written confirmation from the town hall is authoritative. And no administrative information more than a year old should be relied on without rechecking, since the procedure changed on 1 July 2026.

How 2M Numérique supports you

We manufacture and install signs, window graphics, panels and banners from our workshop in Manciet, between Nogaro and Eauze. The administrative side is part of the job: a feasibility study (classifying the device, built-up area, local bylaw, protection perimeters, calculating the 15% or 25% against your actual façade), preparing the CERFA 16308 file, an early exchange with the ABF, then manufacture and installation.

Our completed projects give a concrete idea of the result on shopfronts across the Gers and the Landes. A sign or shopfront project in mind? Let's talk before anything is drawn: request your quote, and we will check your regulatory position at the same time as we price the work.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need authorisation to put a sign on my façade?

Not always. You need one if your municipality is covered by a local advertising bylaw, if your premises sit within a heritage protection perimeter (surroundings of a historic monument, remarkable heritage site, classified or registered site, Natura 2000), or for a laser sign. Elsewhere, no formality — but the substantive rules still apply.

I have to "declare" my sign at the town hall, don't I?

No. Signs are never subject to prior declaration under the Environment Code. The word "declaration" refers either to the local outdoor advertising tax, which is fiscal, or to the planning declaration required if the shopfront changes appearance.

How much signage surface am I allowed?

15% of your commercial façade area, raised to 25% below 50 m². It is a total: all your signs add up, projecting signs included, both faces counted. The window counts within the reference surface, and if your letters sit on a background, the whole background is measured.

Does a graphic applied inside my window follow the same rules?

No, and this is the most useful point in the article. The Environment Code does not apply to devices located inside premises (art. L581-2, Sté Zara ruling of 28 October 2009). The same design applied to the outer face is fully subject to it. One exception only: a local bylaw may regulate illuminated devices placed in the window.

My shop is near a listed church. Do I need the ABF's agreement?

It depends on whether a delimited surroundings perimeter exists. If one does, every building within it is concerned, whether the monument is visible or not. If not, you must be within 500 m and in its field of visibility. That field appears on no map: only the ABF establishes it, which makes consulting the UDAP unavoidable.

What is the risk with a non-compliant sign?

Not the €1,500 administrative fine often quoted, which targets advertising only. But a formal notice enforceable in five days, then a penalty of €244.25 per day and per device since 21 February 2026, removal by the authority at your expense, and a criminal fine of €7,500 (€37,500 for a company).

Official sources

• Environment Code, arts. L581-1 et seq. and arts. R581-58 to R581-65-1.
• Decree no. 2025-1354 of 26 December 2025 and order of 25 June 2026 (CERFA 16308).
• Ministry for Ecological Transition, outdoor advertising, signs and pre-signs and the February 2025 practical guide; Service-public, Enseigne (F24357), checked on 1 July 2026, and Préenseigne (F24358).
• Heritage Code, arts. L621-30 to L621-32, L631-1 and L632-2. Perimeters: Atlas des patrimoines and Géoportail de l'urbanisme.

Sources consulted on 30 July 2026. The regulation changes quickly: check the update date of each page before relying on it.