Essential Guides & Advice Flooding In The Languedoc Region

Date Published:

05/06/2009

Buying

Unfortunately, when being shown around a house, not all estate agents and vendors are honest enough to tell you that the house is in a flood zone.

It pays to make your own checks at the local Mairie (Town Hall), where they'll be able to show you maps of flood zones, and will check with the Prefecture (Regional Government Office) for any other information.

The Prefect of each département (region) must produce a risks document "available for consultation". To do this, he must draw up the DDRM (Department Report of Major Risks), which describes the risks town by town and their predictable consequences, as well as the prevention protection and safeguard measures planned in the Département to reduce their effects. The Prefect is responsible for sending the Mayor the DDRM, with the maps of the existing risk as well as the flood prevention plan.

You could also check in the village itself with local neighbours and check maps of flood zones on line (the French Ministry of Ecology provides detailed, region-specific facts and figures on flood risks and maps of flooding zones). You are entitled to ask the vendor and estate agent directly whether the property has suffered from flood damage in the past. The owner and estate agent are legally obliged to tell you if the house is subject to flooding and can be sued if they fail to inform you. It is also obligatory under French Law in this region for the Acte de Vente (Contract of Sale) to include details of previous flood or storm damage. (Article R 125-23 and R 125-27 of the Code de l'Environnement (Environment Code))

People living along rivers are solely responsible for their protection against floods. They cannot demand that the State or local authorities erect protective dykes or works. However, this law has been the subject of a number of exceptions, in particular on the Loire, Rhine and Rhone rivers, where the State has assumed the responsibility for the building of protective structures. Moreover, regional authorities can undertake flood protection work when this is in the public interest or represents an emergency. Their intervention is not, however, obligatory.