What are the new requirements for parking lots?

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Please note: This article concerns French legislation. The requirements described may not apply in other countries.

From shading structures and permeable surfaces to renewable energy production, here is an overview of the key requirements for parking lots.

In recent years, several laws have strengthened the requirements for parking lots to promote the preservation of natural spaces and the development of renewable energy.

As a result, certain types of parking lots are now subject to requirements for:

shading;
the installation of renewable energy systems;
water management systems.

1 – Outdoor parking lots over 1,500 m²: requirements for carports equipped with renewable energy production systems

Introduced by Law No. 2023-175 of March 10, 2023, the Act on Accelerating the Production of Renewable Energy, known as the APER Act, requires that outdoor parking lots over 1,500 m² existing as of July 1, 2023, must be equipped with carports incorporating a renewable energy process over at least half of their surface area by:

July 1, 2026, for lots (*) with an area equal to or greater than 10,000 m²,
July 1, 2028, for lots (*) with an area of less than 10,000 m².

(*) lots not managed under a concession or public service delegation

Additional time may be granted, particularly for lots with an area equal to or greater than 10,000 square meters, when the operator provides proof of a commitment contract with a deposit by December 31, 2024, and a purchase order signed before December 31, 2025, for photovoltaic panels whose technical and environmental performance, as well as supply chain resilience, are specified by decree (not yet published), with installation scheduled before January 1, 2028, in order to encourage the installation of European-made photovoltaic panels.

When installing these carports, a notice specifying the origin of the panels must be displayed by the parking lot operator for one year starting from the beginning of the work.

The law allows for such an installation to be shared between adjacent parking lots if

an agreement is formalized
the total surface area of the solar canopies installed is equal to the sum of the canopies required for each of the parking lots involved.

Exemptions from installing solar canopies that incorporate renewable energy systems are provided, notably:

due to technical, safety, architectural, heritage, environmental, or landscape-related constraints
due to economic costs
if 50% of the parking lot area is already shaded
if other renewable energy production systems are implemented on the parking lot, provided they generate an equivalent amount of renewable energy
in the event of the total or partial removal or transformation of a parking lot as part of a development project for which an initial permit is issued before the deadlines expire

Justification is required to qualify for an exemption. A decree regarding these exemptions is forthcoming.

For overseas departments and regions, a decree will specify the compliance thresholds for each, which will be set between 500 and 2,500 m².

Finally, financial penalties are applied annually until compliance is achieved, up to a maximum of:

€20,000 if the parking lot is less than 10,000 m²
€40,000 if the parking lot is 10,000 m² or larger

Implementing orders are expected regarding these solar canopies equipped with renewable energy production systems.

2 – Parking lots associated with certain types of buildings: requirements for shading and hydraulic installations

As a reminder, the Energy and Climate Law of November 8, 2019, and the Climate and Resilience Law of August 22, 2021, introduced and strengthened requirements in the Urban Planning Code to equip certain parking lots with shading systems and hydraulic installations for stormwater management.

This requirement applies to:

parking lots that are new or undergoing major renovation, associated with new building construction of over 500 m² (1,000 m² for office buildings, and 500 m² starting January 1, 2025);
parking lots that are new or undergoing major renovation, associated with extensions and major renovations of buildings or parts of buildings of over 500 m² (1,000 m² for office buildings, and 500 m² starting January 1, 2025);
publicly accessible parking structures of over 500 m².

Therefore, for these parking lots, you must provide:

over at least half the surface area of the parking lot, a shading system :
- either shade structures featuring solar panels (thermal or photovoltaic);
- or vegetated systems (wide-canopy trees).
and stormwater management systems through surface paving, hydraulic structures, or vegetated systems that promote soil permeability and facilitate water infiltration or evaporation.

To clarify the context, the following definitions have been provided:

Major building renovation: work intended to reinforce or replace structural elements essential to the building's stability or integrity, or that makes such work necessary.
Major parking lot renovation: the total replacement of the surface paving over an area representing at least half of the parking lot's total surface area. Any parking lot where the cumulative surface area undergoing total paving replacement over a fifteen-year period exceeds half of the total surface area is subject to the requirements set forth in Article L. 111-19-1 of the Urban Planning Code.
Vegetated shading systems: planting large-canopy trees distributed throughout the lot at a ratio of one tree for every three parking spaces.

The parking lot surface areas to be taken into account are as follows:

For the requirement to install vegetated shading systems or solar carports incorporating renewable energy production:
- Spaces intended for parking vehicles and their trailers, located off public roads, within the perimeter between the lot's entrance(s) and exit(s) (excluding green spaces, rest areas, storage zones, and logistics, handling, or unloading areas);
- Traffic lanes and pathways, infrastructure, and toll zones providing access to these spaces, within the perimeter between the lot's entrance(s) and exit(s).
For the requirement to incorporate surface paving, hydraulic structures, or vegetated systems that promote permeability and stormwater infiltration or evaporation:
- The same surfaces as for shading systems + areas designated for the integration of surface paving, hydraulic structures, or vegetated systems within the parking lot perimeter.

Finally, exemptions from installing such systems are possible when it is demonstrated that the installation of each of these processes and systems is impossible due to:

Technical constraints related to the nature of the ground (geological composition, slope)
Technical impossibility of avoiding the aggravation of a natural, technological, or civil security risk as a result of such an installation
Technical constraints related to the use of the parking lot, rendering it incompatible with such an installation (vehicle load-bearing capacity)
The following economic constraints:

	Regulatory provision	Provisions of the order of 5 March 2024
Excessive cost (regarding stormwater management and vegetated shading systems)	Total pre-tax cost of the works proves excessive because it is driven up by a technical constraint	Pre-tax cost of the works required to install a vegetated shading system and stormwater management system: ➤ exceeds 15% of the total pre-tax cost of the works where a new car park is being built or an existing one renovated ➤ exceeds 10% of the car park's market value at the time of the request where it is an existing car park (on conclusion or renewal of a contract) and the works are solely intended to comply with the requirements to install a shading system (excluding canopies) and water management on the car park
Excessive cost (canopies incorporating a renewable energy generation system)	Total pre-tax cost of the works proves excessive	Pre-tax cost of the works linked to the obligation to install the system MINUS (in the case of new construction or major renovation) the discounted revenue that could be obtained from selling the electricity generated over twenty years, determined based on an assessment of the installation's expected output and the electricity-generation support mechanisms in place ➤ exceeds 15% of the total pre-tax cost of the works where a new car park is being built or an existing one renovated ➤ exceeds 10% of the car park's market value at the time of the request where it is an existing car park (on conclusion or renewal of a contract) and the works are solely intended to comply with the renewable energy generation and vegetation system requirements
Profitability of the installation (only for canopies incorporating a renewable energy generation system)	Technical constraints or insufficient sunlight causing investment costs that significantly undermine the profitability of the installation	The discounted cost of the energy that could be produced over 20 years is greater than the purchase tariff or reference tariff multiplied by a coefficient of 1.2.

Exemption specifics for shading structures equipped with renewable energy production:

The assessment of the discounted cost and discounted revenue must be the subject of a techno-economic study.

In the case of a photovoltaic installation, the techno-economic study is carried out by a company holding a professional qualification or certification, or, by way of derogation, by a company holding a quality label issued by an organization that has signed the "RGE Etudes" charter with ADEME and corresponds to the photovoltaic activity.

In all cases, the techno-economic study must be attached to the certificate justifying the exemption conditions.

A ministry guide from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion outlines the regulatory obligations on these topics and provides application details with concrete examples.

In addition, it is also necessary to be aware of the requirements of local urban plans (PLU) that may apply to parking lots.

Finally, it should be noted that these regulatory provisions are not the only ones concerning parking lots. These include, in particular, obligations to install charging infrastructure for electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, secure bicycle parking, and parking for people with reduced mobility.

Sources:

‍Law No. 2023-175 of March 10, 2023
Urban Planning Code, Article L. 111-19-1: Construction of parking areas
Construction and Housing Code, Articles L. 171-1 to L. 175-2
Construction and Housing Code, Articles R. 171-32 to R. 171-42
Urban Planning Code, Articles R. 111-1 to R. 111-55: National Urban Planning Regulations
Order of March 5, 2024, implementing Decree No. 2023-1208 of December 18, 2023, regarding the application of Article L. 171-4 of the Construction and Housing Code and Article L. 111-19-1 of the Urban Planning Code governing parking lots