France

At a glanceRequirements at a glance

Registration Required

Yes

Yes, where the mover operates its own vehicles. Any company transporting goods for hire and reward must register in the Registre électronique national des entreprises de transport par route, held regionally by DREAL, DRIEAT, or DEAL. Where a mover hires another company to carry the goods, that carrier’s own registration covers the transport it performs.

Professional Competence Attestation Required

Yes, for registered transport companies. An attestation de capacité professionnelle is required for the person managing transport operations (gestionnaire de transport), earned by exam, equivalent diploma, or verified senior industry experience.

Four Qualifying Conditions

Required for registration: honorabilité (good repute), capacité financière (financial standing), capacité professionnelle (the attestation above), and établissement stable en France (a fixed establishment in France).

Financial Standing Threshold

Yes. Confirm the current threshold directly with DREAL/DRIEAT/DEAL for the fleet in question, since this scales with fleet size and composition.

Licence Type

Domestic vs. EU-wide. Registration leads to a licence de transport intérieur (domestic only) or a licence communautaire (EU Community Licence, covering France, the EU/EEA, and Switzerland). A mover operating its own vehicles across borders needs the Community Licence.

Required Move Documents

Yes. A devis (written quote), a lettre de voiture (waybill, which establishes the mover’s liability for the goods from loading), a bulletin de livraison (delivery note), and a déclaration de valeur (value declaration, with individual declarations required for items valued over roughly €5,000).

Consumer Mediation Contact Required

Yes. Under general French consumer law, contracts must name a consumer mediator (médiateur de la consommation) the client can contact if a dispute isn’t resolved directly. This applies broadly to French consumer contracts, not only to moving, but movers must comply with it.

Liability Framework: An Open Legal Question

Unsettled. Unlike Germany’s specific statutory liability cap for moving contracts, French case law has not fully settled whether a moving contract is legally a “contrat de transport” (carriage contract) or a “contrat d’entreprise” (general services contract), a distinction that affects which limitation period and liability rules apply. Customers should read the contract’s liability and limitation terms carefully rather than assume a single settled statutory answer.

Industry Association

Yes. The Chambre Syndicale du Déménagement (Chambre syndicale des entreprises de déménagement et garde-meubles de France) is a moving-industry association that publishes a model contract and terms. Other bodies (Fédération française des déménageurs; OTRE, for road transport generally) also exist. Membership of an industry association is not a government licence and does not replace the registration described on this page.

OverviewOverview & Scope

France does not license movers region-by-region. Registration requires four underlying conditions (good repute, financial standing, professional competence, and a fixed French establishment), administered regionally by DREAL, DRIEAT, or DEAL depending on where the company is based. Cross-border transport requires a Community Licence rather than the domestic-only version. These transport requirements attach to the company operating the vehicles; where a mover subcontracts road transport, the carrier’s own registration and licence cover the transport it performs.

On the contract side, France requires specific documents (quote, waybill, delivery note, value declaration) and a named consumer mediator, but does not have a single, settled statutory liability framework purpose-built for moving contracts the way Germany does. The legal characterization of a moving contract is itself an open question in French case law, so the liability and limitation terms in each contract matter.

RegistrationRegistration & Compliance Essentials

Company licensing (where the mover operates its own vehicles)

1. Obtain the professional competence attestation through exam, equivalent diploma, or verified senior experience, for the person managing transport operations (gestionnaire de transport).
2. Demonstrate honorabilité, capacité financière, and établissement stable en France as part of the registration application, confirming the current financial standing threshold directly for the fleet in question.
3. Register in the Registre électronique national des entreprises de transport through the DREAL, DRIEAT, or DEAL office covering the company’s location.
4. Obtain the appropriate licence: licence de transport intérieur for domestic-only operation, or licence communautaire for cross-border work into the EU/EEA or Switzerland.

Subcontracted transport

5. Where transport is subcontracted, use carriers that hold the licences required for the transport they perform.

Customer practices

6. Provide the required move documents for every job: a written quote, a lettre de voiture establishing liability from loading, a delivery note, and a value declaration (with individual declarations for items over roughly €5,000).
7. Name a consumer mediator in the contract, consistent with general French consumer-contract requirements.

ChecklistCompliance checklist

Company licensing

• Registered in the Registre électronique national des entreprises de transport, with the registration conditions (honorabilité, capacité financière, établissement stable) metWhere applicable (mover operates its own vehicles)Verified by DocumentRequired
• Attestation de capacité professionnelle held by the transport managerWhere applicable (mover operates its own vehicles)Verified by DocumentRequired
• Licence de transport intérieur or licence communautaire held, as applicable to the operations performedWhere applicable (mover operates its own vehicles)Verified by DocumentRequired

Subcontracted transport

• Where transport is subcontracted, the mover uses carriers that hold the licences required for the transport they performWhere applicableVerified by AffirmationRequired

Customer practices

• Written quote (devis) provided for each moveVerified by AffirmationRequired
• Lettre de voiture issued for each moveVerified by AffirmationRequired
• Bulletin de livraison (delivery note) issued for each moveVerified by AffirmationRequired
• Déclaration de valeur completed, with individual declarations for items over roughly €5,000Verified by AffirmationRequired
• Consumer mediator (médiateur de la consommation) named in the contractVerified by AffirmationRequired