Chronology of Heritage Sites - Key Dates

25 February 1943

An Act to amend the Law of 31 December 1913 on Historical Monuments, establishing the automatically generated protection perimeters around historic monuments to preserve their surroundings: the perimeter is bounded by a distance of 500 metres from any point of the monument.

21 July 1962

Law 62-824 supplementing the law on historical monuments, establishing the perimeters of the widened approaches. This law, which foreshadows the modified perimeters of protection (PPA) and the modified perimeters of protection (PPM), will only be used once: delimitation, by a decree of 1964, of the widened approaches of the Palace of Versailles, including a 5 km radius circle around the king’s chamber, and a rectangle around the Grand Canal (hence the nickname “keyhole” given to this perimeter).

4 August 1962

Law no. 62-903 supplementing the legislation on the protection of the historical and aesthetic heritage of France called the “Malraux law”, establishing the sectors safeguarded. The aim was to preserve urban centres and avoid the massive destruction of old centres through radical urban renewal operations. Indeed, at the time considered unsanitary, the old centres were threatened with destruction for the sake of hygiene and modernity. The areas safeguarded correspond to the most remarkable urban complexes and historic districts, in particular from the point of view of architectural, urban and historical heritage, and are intended to guarantee their preservation and development.

30 December 1966

Act No. 66-1042 (Article 4) amending the Act of 31 December 1913 on historic monuments, replacing the concept of “immovable” with the concept of “building” for the purposes of the approaches

31 December 1976

Law No. 76-1285 on the reform of urban planning, reconciling the protection and development plans of the protected areas and their instruction with the land use plans (POS)

7 January 1983

Law no. 83-8 on the division of powers between municipalities, departments, regions and the State, establishing the “Architectural and Urban Heritage Protection Zones” (ZPPAU) regime. This regime was implemented around historical monuments and in neighbourhoods, sites and spaces to be protected or enhanced for aesthetic, historical or cultural reasons. As a result of a first desire to improve the system of approaches to historic monuments, it has become an instrument dedicated to the management of urban and landscape complexes for their own heritage qualities. Its main particularity is the search for a consensual local approach between the State and the territorial collectivity in order to arrive at a tailor-made perimeter with regard to the economic interests in presence and a prior framework of shared prescriptions.

8 January 1993

Act No. 93-24 on the Protection and Enhancement of Landscapes, confirming a similar role for “architectural, urban and landscape heritage protection zones” (ZPPAUP).

28 February 1997

Law no. 97-179 relating to the instruction of work authorizations in the field of visibility of classified or registered buildings, introducing the procedures of recourse in surroundings and in the sectors safeguarded.

13 December 2000

Law No. 2000-1208 (Article 40) on urban solidarity and renewal (known as the SRU Law), introducing the “modified protection perimeter” (PPM). A perimeter adapted to the characteristics of the protected building and its environment may be established to replace the "standard" perimeter determined by the distance of 500 m.

27 February 2002

Act No. 2002-276 (Article 112) on local democracy, creating an “appeal” section within the Regional Heritage and Sites Commission (CRPS) and setting out the procedures for investigating appeals.

20 February 2004

Ordinance 2004-178 instituting the Heritage Code – legislative part, grouping in its book VI the texts relating to historical monuments, their surroundings and the ZPPAUP, and repealing the previous laws, including the law of 31 December 1913.

8 September 2005

Ordinance No. 2005-1128 on Historic Monuments and Protected Areas, introducing at the time of the protection procedure for the classification or inscription of a building, the "adapted protection areas" (PPA) and broadening the modalities of creation of the MPCs (all procedures for the appraisal of urban planning documents and state procedure), at the initiative of the architect of the Buildings of France, on the occasion of the preparation or revision of a planning document or at the initiative of the State. These two devices make it possible to adjust each perimeter to the characteristics of the monument and its environment. Once approved, this “reasoned perimeter” replaces the automatic perimeter known as “500 metres”. In addition, the ordinance reinforces the deconcentration of the saved sectors and the procedure of instruction of the backup and enhancement plan (PSMV).

8 September 2005

Order no. 2005-1128 on historical monuments and protected areas, and Decree no. 2007-487 of 30 March 2007 on the procedure for the investigation of the ZPPAUP.

3 August 2009

Law no. 2009-967 on the implementation of the Grenelle environmental law known as the “Grenelle I Law”, amending the scope of the opinion of the architect of the Bâtiments de France.

12 July 2010

Law No. 2010-788 on a National Commitment for the Environment known as the Grenelle II Law, establishing the new regime for “architectural and heritage development areas” (AVAP).

The purpose of the scheme, which was intended to replace that of the ZPPAUP, was to guarantee the quality of the living environment and more precisely the sustainability and enhancement of the heritage on one or more territories of cultural, architectural, urban interest, landscape, historical or archaeological in respect of sustainable development. On local initiative, the study is decided by deliberation of the local authority concerned which creates a local commission. The AVAP project was subject to the opinion of the Regional Heritage and Sites Commission and to consultation with interested public persons. The amended draft was subject to public inquiry by decree of the competent decentralised authority, then to agreement of the prefect.

22 March 2012

Act No. 2012-387 (section 106) on the simplification of the law and the reduction of administrative procedures, merging the application of applications for work authorizations in respect of buildings attached to a listed historic monument and applications for work authorizations in the field of visibility of a building protected under historic monuments.

12 July 2012

Law no. 2010-788 (Article 29) on the national commitment for the environment known as the “Grenelle II Law”, setting up the appeal procedure in approaches.

24 March 2014

Law no. 2014-366 for access to housing and a renovated town planning called “ALUR law” extending for one year the initial period of 5 years of transformation of ZPPAUP into AVAP, that is to say until 14 July 2016.

7 July 2016

Law no. 2016-925 of 7 July 2016 on freedom of creation, architecture and heritage (said law CASL) establishing the Notable Heritage Sites (RPS) “a city, village or neighbourhood whose conservation, restoration, rehabilitation or development is of historical, architectural, archaeological, artistic or landscape interest”. SPRs automatically replace safeguarded areas, protected areas for architectural, urban and landscape heritage (ZPPAUP) and areas for architectural and heritage development (AVAP).

Heritage sites are an instrument of preservation different but sometimes complementary to classified and inscribed sites, natural monuments whose conservation or preservation is of general interest from the artistic, historical, scientific, legendary or picturesque. The system of classified and registered sites appears at the beginning of XX^e century (Acts of 21 April 1906 and 2 May 1930, now the Environment Code). Over the decades, the protection of sites has shifted from the classification of one-off sites to large landscaped areas, and from a pure conservation policy to dynamic site management, a public policy carried out by the Ministry of Ecology.