Buying a new-build ski property in the French Alps means handing over money in stages, against a building that does not yet exist. Under a VEFA contract, you will have paid up to 95% of the purchase price before you receive the keys. What makes that workable is not the developer's reputation but the statutory warranty framework sitting behind the transaction.
The system traces back to the Loi Spinetta of 4 January 1978, now codified in articles 1792 et seq. of the French Civil Code. It creates five distinct, mandatory guarantees: one that protects you before completion, and four that run for one, two, ten, and ten years respectively after handover. Each covers a different class of risk, each has its own activation procedure, and all of them transfer automatically to any subsequent buyer during the warranty period. If you are buying a VEFA ski property in the Tarentaise, the Oisans or the Portes du Soleil, the framework below is what your money is secured against.
Guarantee 1: The Garantie Financière d'Achèvement (GFA)
This is the guarantee that operates before you receive the keys. The GFA ensures your apartment is completed even if the developer becomes insolvent. It is not provided by the developer itself: since the 2015 reform, French law has required the GFA to be extrinsèque, meaning it must come from an independent third party, whether a bank, a licensed insurer or a credit institution. The developer pays for it, and the cost is typically embedded in the programme budget at around 1–2% of construction value.
Under a VEFA contract, staged payments follow a statutory schedule set by the Code de la Construction: up to 35% on foundation completion, 70% at hors d'eau (watertight shell), 95% on practical completion, and 100% on handover. If the developer defaults before delivery, the GFA guarantor steps in, either funding the original developer to finish or appointing a new contractor to complete the programme. You retain your right to delivery. The GFA does not reimburse you; it ensures the building gets built.
Your notaire is required to verify the GFA before signing the acte authentique. As confirmed by Efficience Notaires, if a valid extrinsèque GFA is not in place the notaire cannot proceed. This is a hard legal threshold rather than a formality. Check that the attestation is appended to your contract and note the identity of the guarantor institution.
Guarantee 2: Garantie de Parfait Achèvement (GPA) — Year 1
From the moment you accept the keys, the GPA gives you one year to report any defect and compel the developer to repair it. It is codified in article 1792-6 of the Civil Code and covers every defect without restriction, structural or cosmetic, major or minor, whether noted in the handover report (the procès-verbal de livraison) or discovered during the following twelve months.
This is why the handover inspection matters. Our guide to the keys-day process covers what to check room by room. Any fault noted in writing at handover, or notified by registered letter within the year, falls within the GPA. The developer must repair within a deadline you set. If they fail to comply, you can apply to the Tribunal Judiciaire, but only within the one-year window.
Normal wear and tear is excluded. The GPA covers defects that were present at or before handover, not those that develop through ordinary use.
Guarantee 3: Garantie Biennale — Years 1 to 2
The biennale, also called the garantie de bon fonctionnement, runs for two years from handover under article 1792-3 of the Civil Code. Where the GPA covers everything, the biennale has a specific scope: equipment that is dissociable from the building, meaning items that can be removed without damaging the structure.
In practice that means the heating system, hot water tank, kitchen appliances integrated into the fit-out, roller shutters, ventilation units and internal doors. If a heat pump fails in year two, the boiler malfunctions, or the VMC ventilation system stops working correctly, the biennale is the guarantee to invoke. The procedure is the same as for all construction warranties: written notification to the developer by registered letter, with a clear deadline for intervention.
Do not confuse the biennale with a standard manufacturer's warranty on individual appliances. The biennale is a statutory legal obligation on the developer, independent of whatever guarantee the equipment manufacturer provides separately.
Guarantee 4: Garantie Décennale — Years 1 to 10
The décennale is the cornerstone of the framework. It runs for ten years from handover and covers damage that compromises the structural integrity of the building or renders it unfit for its intended purpose. The legal test, set out in article 1792 of the Civil Code, is whether the damage affects the strength of the works or makes the property uninhabitable or unsuitable for use.
Within scope: foundation movement, structural cracking, roof failure, waterproofing failures causing infiltration, collapse of load-bearing elements, and failure of equipment that is inseparable from the structure, including embedded pipework, built-in electrical installation, floor slabs and ceiling structures. A hairline crack in plasterboard does not engage the décennale. A crack in a structural concrete element that continues to widen, or a roof that leaks through a defective membrane, does.
The décennale transfers automatically to any subsequent buyer during the ten-year period. If you purchase a three-year-old new-build in resale, you inherit seven years of décennale cover. That is a material advantage of buying recently delivered stock, and a point worth raising with any seller, since the residual warranty period affects the property's risk profile directly.
Guarantee 5: Assurance Dommages-Ouvrage — the Fast-Track Route
The dommages-ouvrage is an insurance policy rather than a warranty. The developer is legally required to take it out before construction begins, under article L.242-1 of the Insurance Code, and at handover the policy transfers to you. It covers the same structural risks as the décennale, running from the expiry of the GPA at year one to the end of the ten-year period.
The reason it matters is procedural. Enforcing the décennale directly requires identifying which contractor caused the defect, notifying them, and, if they dispute liability, pursuing litigation that can take years. The dommages-ouvrage sidesteps this: you notify your insurer, the insurer appoints an expert, and if the damage falls within the policy scope, the insurer pays for repairs within a statutory 90-day window without requiring you to establish fault first. The insurer then recovers from the liable parties itself.
For a ski property owner based outside France, that distinction is worth real money, because it removes any need to pursue French construction litigation in person. The French government's official guidance on construction guarantees confirms that the dommages-ouvrage policy must be handed to you at livraison as part of your completion pack. If it is missing, request it in writing immediately.
How to Activate Any Guarantee: The Procedure
All five guarantees follow the same basic activation sequence. Deviating from it, particularly by failing to put claims in writing, can forfeit your right to enforce.
- Document the defect immediately. Photographs with timestamps, a written description of location, nature, and date of first appearance.
- Send a lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception (LRAR) to the developer, or to your insurer for a dommages-ouvrage claim. Describe the defect precisely and set a clear deadline for repair or inspection. Retain proof of postage and the return acknowledgement.
- For dommages-ouvrage, notify the insurer directly, not the developer. The insurer must acknowledge within 10 days and appoint an expert within 60 days.
- If the developer fails to respond or repair within the GPA period, apply to the Tribunal Judiciaire before the year expires.
- Keep a complete paper trail. The date of your first written notification determines whether a claim is in time.
Mediation via an ADIL (Agence Départementale d'Information sur le Logement) can resolve disputes without litigation and is worth attempting before escalating to court. ADILs are present in every French département, including Savoie (Chambéry) and Haute-Savoie (Annecy), and provide free advice to property owners.
What the Guarantees Do Not Cover
The framework is strong but has defined limits. Normal wear and tear is excluded across all guarantees. Damage caused by the owner, through renovation work, improper maintenance or misuse of fittings, falls outside the scope of the biennale and décennale. Subcontractors engaged by the developer are outside the direct scope of the décennale from the buyer's perspective: your claim runs against the developer, who then pursues their subcontractors separately.
The GFA also does not protect you against a developer who simply delivers late. Delays trigger a separate mechanism, liquidated damages for late delivery, which should be specified in your VEFA contract. If your contract does not include a penalty clause for late delivery, one of several points covered in our guide to pre-signing checks, you are exposed on timing even while protected on completion.
The Resale Angle
The transferability of the décennale and dommages-ouvrage creates a secondary market benefit that is frequently overlooked. An apartment delivered in 2023 carries seven years of décennale cover as of 2026, and that cover passes to your buyer on resale, which materially reduces the risk premium they need to factor in.
The 20% VAT reclaim on a new-build is well understood, and our guide to VAT reclaim covers the mechanics in full, but the residual warranty value of recently delivered stock is underappreciated. In a market where new-build supply is structurally constrained, new-build and recently-delivered properties carry both a quality premium and a legal protection premium that older resale stock cannot match.
Using the Framework in Practice
Five mandatory guarantees cover a VEFA buyer from the day construction starts to a decade after the keys change hands, which is a depth of protection French resale purchases do not carry. Understanding the framework before you sign is straightforward; using it correctly if something goes wrong requires discipline. Put everything in writing, use registered post, keep precise dates, and do not attempt to resolve defects informally before creating a documented paper trail. Every one of these guarantees depends on the procedure you follow to invoke it.
If you are considering a new-build purchase in the French Alps and want to discuss specific programmes, developer track records, or how the warranty framework interacts with your ownership and tax structure, speak to our team.
