You have signed the acte de vente, watched the payment calls land in stages, and waited eighteen months or more for concrete to become an apartment. Then the developer sends a letter by registered post: your livraison date is confirmed. Most buyers treat this as a celebration — and it should be — but it is also the single day on which every post-completion legal right you have is either secured or quietly let go. Getting the handover right takes preparation. Getting it wrong costs money and months of repairs you have to chase.
Livraison versus réception — why the distinction matters
French VEFA law draws a firm line between two events that are easy to confuse. La réception des travaux is when the developer formally accepts the construction from the building contractors — it is a legal act between professionals, and it is the date from which all statutory guarantees run. You are not present and not a party to it. La livraison is the separate moment when the developer hands the keys to you, the buyer. It happens later — typically a few weeks after réception — and it triggers a distinct set of rights that protect you as the owner of the finished unit. Service-Public confirms that the two events are legally separate and carry different consequences. Before your handover appointment, ask the developer for a copy of the procès-verbal de réception des travaux; it tells you exactly when the guarantee clock started and what snags the developer noted at contractor handover.
The week before: what to prepare
Livraison is not a passive event. The developer representative will walk you through the unit with a checklist, and you will be asked to sign a procès-verbal de livraison — the official delivery report — before leaving. Everything you do not note in that document is, in legal terms, accepted. A few steps taken in advance make the difference between a productive inspection and a rushed one.
First, obtain your contrat de vente définitif (the acte authentique signed at the notaire) and any technical addendum listing finishes, fixtures and specifications. These are the benchmark against which you check the unit room by room. Second, confirm whether you need to grant a procuration (power of attorney) to a trusted representative if you cannot attend in person. Arrange it several weeks in advance.
On handover day: the walkthrough
Bring your contract documents, a phone for photos and video, a notepad, a torch, and a phone charger to test sockets. Work through every room methodically. Floor to ceiling: check the floor finish for cracks, bubbles or misaligned tiles; check walls for paint coverage and cracks at junctions; check ceilings for plaster quality and any staining that might indicate a leak from above. Then move to fittings: every door and window should open, close, lock and seal correctly. Every socket and switch should be live. Every tap should run without air locks. The boiler, underfloor heating or heat pump should be demonstrated. Kitchen appliances specified in the contract should be present and operational.
In a ski property specifically, check the ski locker or storage room carefully — its precise dimensions, number of hanging points or boot racks, lighting and lock should all match what was contracted. Check the car park space dimensions and access. If your unit is at altitude, inspect insulation and glazing: gaps at window frames or glazing that does not meet RE2020 thermal standards are worth noting. Any divergence between what was delivered and what was specified is a défaut de conformité and must go in the procès-verbal.
Recording réserves: the legal tool you should not hesitate to use
A réserve is a written note in the procès-verbal identifying a defect, an incomplete work item, or a non-conformity with the contract. Under article R.261-14 of the Code de la construction et de l'habitation, defects noted in the PV become the developer legal obligation to remedy, free of charge, under the garantie de parfait achèvement. Defects you miss on the day can still be notified in the 30-day window after livraison — you have one calendar month to send a follow-up letter by registered post (lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception) listing any apparent defects not caught during the walkthrough. After that window, the one-year guarantee still covers defects that emerge, but you lose the ability to add items to the original PV.
Be specific in every réserve: "crack at junction of living room wall and ceiling, north-east corner, approximately 4 cm" is enforceable. "Finish not good" is not. Photograph each item and attach the images to your copy of the PV. If the developer representative attempts to dissuade you from noting something, note it anyway — the PV is your document, not theirs. Service-Public confirms that superficial marks such as paint smears do not prevent livraison from proceeding, but they can and should be recorded if they represent non-conformity with the specification.
The 5% final payment — and how to withhold it
The final instalment under a VEFA payment schedule is 5% of the purchase price, payable on the day of livraison. If there are no réserves and the unit is delivered in conformity with the contract, that 5% is due immediately. The funds are released to the developer only when all réserves are lifted (levée des réserves).
For a €450,000 apartment, the withheld 5% amounts to €22,500 in escrow — a direct financial incentive for the developer to complete remediation promptly rather than let snags drag. Mortgage borrowers should coordinate with their bank in advance: if the final drawdown funds the 5%, the bank needs to know that payment may be consigned rather than made directly to the developer on handover day. French banks are familiar with this mechanism and will accommodate it, but they need notice.
The four statutory guarantees that protect you after handover
Once livraison is complete, four separate guarantees run from the date of réception des travaux — which is why obtaining the PV de réception beforehand matters for tracking the precise start of each protection period.
The garantie de parfait achèvement covers all defects notified at livraison or within one year of réception: every item in your PV and anything that emerges during the first twelve months. The developer must remedy them at no cost. The garantie biennale (or garantie de bon fonctionnement) covers separable equipment — boilers, ventilation systems, roller shutters, radiators, built-in appliances — for two years from réception. The garantie décennale is the structural backstop, covering anything affecting the solidity of the building or rendering it uninhabitable for ten years: foundations, load-bearing elements, the roof envelope and major waterproofing. Finally, the assurance dommages-ouvrage, held by the developer, activates décennale cover without requiring you to prove contractor fault — designed to accelerate repair rather than litigation.
These protections, rooted in the Loi Spinetta of January 1978, make French off-plan property one of the most comprehensively guaranteed purchase frameworks in Europe. For an international buyer unable to monitor a property closely from abroad, the combination of parfait achèvement, biennale and décennale provides cover across the full early-ownership horizon — and is a material reason why new-build ski property in the French Alps commands a premium over comparable resale stock.
Exceptional weather events — significant snowfall, flooding — are accepted as force majeure under French construction law and do not give rise to compensation. Standard construction delays, labour shortages, and supply chain issues do not qualify. When building occupation and rental plans, budget a one-to-two-month buffer beyond the projected completion date rather than committing to a first-season rental programme before written confirmation of livraison.
From keys to first rental
For buyers letting through a résidence de tourisme or property management company, livraison triggers the rental management agreement and — critically for tax purposes — the start of the LMNP meublé fiscal framework. Most operators require a formal état des lieux at the beginning of the management contract, which is separate from the livraison inspection and should be completed before any guests arrive. Coordinate with your management company before your handover date: experienced operators often attend the inspection or arrange their own visit immediately after, to log inventory and confirm rental readiness.
If there are outstanding réserves at the point of management handover, agree in writing with the operator which items are cosmetic (does not affect guest use) and which are operational (must be resolved before check-in). A clear written record of this protects you if the developer is slow to lift réserves and the manager needs to justify accepting or deferring the first booking. For a broader picture of the off-plan purchase journey from reservation contract onwards, see our VEFA Process guide. To see what is currently available across French Alps resorts at varying stages of construction, browse our new-build ski property listings or speak with the Domosno team.
The livraison is the legal handshake at which ownership risk transfers from developer to buyer and at which your statutory protections are activated. Treat it as an inspection first, a celebration second.
Handover day checklist
- Signed acte de vente and technical specification addendum — your room-by-room benchmark
- Phone or tablet, fully charged — photos and video of every réserve, timestamped
- Torch, spirit level, phone charger — test every socket, check plumb on door frames
- Other person doing the livraison confirmed — if engaged, verify attendance 48 hours before
- Procuration documents — if attending by proxy from abroad
- Caisse des Dépôts consignation details — printed and ready if you anticipate withholding the 5%
- Notaire and mortgage bank contact details — for same-day coordination on the final payment
- Management company contact — if rental handover follows immediately
