Criminal and civil penalties: the risks for a professional without décennale insurance

Working without décennale (ten-year structural liability) insurance in construction is not a mere administrative oversight: it is a criminal offence, compounded by unlimited civil exposure. And these penalties are not theoretical — checks are multiplying, and recent case law is trending towards greater strictness. This article is aimed at construction professionals who are still hesitating to regularise their situation.

The legal framework for the penalties

The obligation to hold décennale insurance is set out in Article L241-1 of the Code des assurances (French Insurance Code). The penalty for failing to be insured is defined by Article L243-3 of the same code, which provides:

"Anyone who contravenes the provisions [imposing the insurance obligation] shall be liable to six months' imprisonment and a fine of €75,000."

This provision is cumulative with other forms of liability. In practice, a professional without décennale insurance is exposed to four layers of risk:

The criminal penalty (imprisonment and a fine)
Civil liability against their personal assets
Administrative penalties (being struck off, a ban on trading)
Commercial consequences (loss of contracts, being delisted)

The criminal side: prison and a fine

An offence in its own right

The offence is established by the mere fact of trading without insurance, even where there is no claim. You do not need to have caused any damage to be prosecuted: a check, or a certificate verification on a site, is enough.

The penalties provided for are:

Up to 6 months' imprisonment
Up to a €75,000 fine

In practice, a custodial sentence is rare for a first offence, but the fine can be heavy, especially when combined with other charges (undeclared work, fraud, etc.).

Possible aggravating factors

Several factors increase the penalty:

Reoffending within a 5-year period
Works of a certain scale (a high value)
Combination with other offences (undeclared work, breach of trust)
Proven harm to the victim

Who can be prosecuted?

The sole trader, the auto-entrepreneur, the company director: any natural person responsible for carrying on the activity. Within a company, it is the legal representative who answers for it.

The civil side: your personal assets at stake

This is often the most dangerous risk, and yet the least well understood. A professional without décennale insurance who causes a claim will have to compensate the client (maître d'ouvrage) out of their own funds.

In practical terms

Imagine an auto-entrepreneur bricklayer with no décennale insurance who builds an extension. Three years after handover, structural cracks appear. The estimated cost of the repair: €80,000.

If the professional had been insured: their insurer pays out, and the professional pays their excess (a few hundred euros)
Without insurance: the professional owes €80,000 out of their personal assets

The sole trader or auto-entrepreneur does not benefit from the same asset protection as a company. Their personal assets (their main residence has been excluded since 2015, but other accounts and assets are included) can be seized.

Administrative and professional penalties

Beyond the criminal and civil sides, the lack of insurance can lead to indirect but very real professional penalties:

Refusal of registration with the Chambre des métiers et de l'artisanat (Chamber of Trades and Crafts)
Removal from the Répertoire des métiers (Trades Register)
A ban on managing a business for several years
Being listed on the register of persons refused insurance, making any future policy very difficult to obtain
URSSAF penalties (social-security authority) where there is also a suspicion of undeclared work

For an auto-entrepreneur, being struck off can mean the outright end of their professional activity.

The commercial consequences: an immediate effect

Even before any court is involved, the lack of insurance has immediate commercial effects:

Refusals from clients and main contractors

Main contractors systematically require your décennale certificate before entrusting you with a subcontracting job. Without it, you will not get the work.

Public clients (town halls, départements, hospitals) require the certificate in all public tenders. No certificate = no contract.

Well-informed private individuals (our verification guide is circulating more and more) now systematically ask for the certificate. You lose the job.

Difficulty accessing credit and grants

Banks refuse to grant business loans without an up-to-date certificate
Public grants (CEE energy-saving certificates, MaPrimeRénov', ANAH housing grants) require the company to be insured and often RGE-qualified
Lead-generation platforms check insurance before accepting a registration

Loss of RGE qualification

The RGE label (Reconnu Garant de l'Environnement — a recognised environmental quality mark), essential for working on projects eligible for energy-renovation grants, requires up-to-date décennale insurance. Losing it deprives you of a huge share of today's market.

Real examples of recent proceedings

There is no shortage of case law. A few typical examples:

A plumber sentenced to a €30,000 fine and 4 months' suspended imprisonment for trading without décennale insurance on 3 projects
An auto-entrepreneur bricklayer ordered to personally reimburse €65,000 of repair works to a private couple
A roofing company that was wound up, whose director was sentenced to 3 months' suspended imprisonment and a €20,000 fine, on top of his personal assets being put on the line

These decisions show that the courts have no leniency for the lack of insurance, which is seen as a deliberate endangerment of the consumer.

The cost compared: insurance vs no insurance

Do the simple maths. For an auto-entrepreneur painter:

Décennale premium: €1,000 to €1,500 / year
Cost of an uninsured claim: potentially €20,000 to €100,000
Cost of a criminal conviction: a fine of up to €75,000

The cost/benefit ratio is beyond dispute. And décennale insurance is a deductible expense under most business tax regimes.

If you started without décennale insurance out of ignorance

If you are reading this article and realise that you are trading without insurance, here are the right steps:

Stop opening new projects immediately
Engage a broker for a quick application
Check whether retroactive cover is possible for projects already handed over
Document your past projects (photos, handover reports, client sign-off certificates)
Do not lie to your future insurer: a false declaration can void the contract

See also our article on the décennale obligation for auto-entrepreneurs.

In summary

Trading without décennale insurance = a criminal offence: 6 months in prison and a €75,000 fine
Unlimited civil liability against your personal assets
Being struck off, a ban on trading, loss of the RGE label
Immediate loss of contracts (subcontracting, public tenders, well-informed private clients)
Regularisation is quick and far less costly than a claim

Need some guidance?

Are you starting up, looking to regularise a past situation, or comparing offers to optimise your premium? Our team of brokers will support you with a quick application tailored to your profile. Request a personalised quote or get in touch with an adviser.