Appointing a property valuation expert in France: practical notes

A dispute over a partition, a court-ordered sale (licitation), a commercial lease, a compulsory purchase or a property loss calls for an investigative measure on value. The judge looks for an expert registered under the appropriate heading, available within the intended timeframe, and drafts the remit. These notes gather the factual points useful at that stage: the nomenclature, the texts governing appointment and the conduct of the expertise judiciaire (court-ordered expert appraisal), the usual heads of remit in valuation matters, how the deposit works, the timeframes observed, recourse to a sapiteur (specialist assisting the expert) and the area covered.

What French law says

Lists and nomenclature. Judges may appoint a person on the national list drawn up by the bureau of the Cour de cassation or on one of the lists drawn up by the courts of appeal; exceptionally, they may choose, by reasoned decision, a person on no list (article 1 of Law no. 71-498 of 29 June 1971). Initial registration on a court of appeal list is probationary, for three years, then re-registration is for five years (article 2). The registered expert takes an oath to carry out the remit, to make the report and to give an opinion on his honour and conscience (article 6). Decree no. 2004-1463 of 23 December 2004 sets the conditions for registration, including the absence of any activity incompatible with the necessary independence (article 2). The nomenclature of headings results from the ministerial order of 5 December 2022: property valuation falls under heading C.18, in four sub-headings.

Appointment. The judge may commission any person of his choice to inform him, by findings, a consultation or an expert appraisal, on a question of fact requiring the knowledge of a technician (article 232 of the French Code of Civil Procedure). An expert appraisal is ordered only if findings or a consultation are not sufficient (article 263). Only one expert is appointed, unless necessary (article 264). The decision sets out the circumstances that make the appraisal necessary, names the expert, states the heads of remit and sets the time limit for filing the report (article 265). The technician may be challenged on the same grounds as judges (article 234).

Conduct of the remit. The expert carries out the remit personally (article 233), with conscience, objectivity and impartiality (article 237), and gives an opinion only on the questions of fact asked, without any legal assessment (article 238). The expert states acceptance without delay (article 267), informs the judge of the progress of the operations (article 273), receives the parties’ documents (article 275), takes their observations into consideration and states what action was taken on them (article 276), may seek the opinion of a sapiteur in a speciality distinct from his own (article 278) and may be assisted under his supervision and responsibility (article 278-1). Difficulties are brought before the supervising judge (article 279). The report is filed with the court registry (article 282). Articles 232 to 284-1 form the whole.

Fees. The judge fixes an advance as close as possible to the foreseeable final fee and designates the party who deposits it with the registry within the period the judge sets (article 269). Failing deposit, the appointment lapses (article 271). An additional advance may be ordered (article 280). The fee is fixed by the judge (article 284); the expert may receive no direct payment from a party (article 248).

What happens in practice

On receipt of the decision, I check that I have no connection with the parties, their counsel or the property, then state my acceptance or refusal. The number of court remits in progress is deliberately limited so as to keep to the time limits set.

As soon as the deposit is made, the parties are summoned to a meeting on site, in the presence of their counsel. Documents are requested in writing with a deadline. The visit includes measurements, dated photographs and an interview with the occupiers. The analysis covers the title, planning, leases, surveys, then comparable sales drawn from DVF (the public register of property sale prices), notarial databases and my own databases. A preliminary report is sent to the parties with a deadline for their dires (a party’s written observations to the expert); the final report answers each dire and reproduces the written observations where the parties request it. The report, its separate appendices and the statement of costs are filed with the registry in digital and paper form, and sent to the parties.

The report gives the value as a narrow range and as a single figure, with each comparable identified, each assumption written down and each calculation reproducible. It distinguishes findings of fact from opinions, as required by the Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (the French property valuation charter, 6th edition, November 2025, Title II, chapter 10) and the European Valuation Standards 2025 (EVS 5).

What a valuation report changes

In valuation matters, the drafting of the remit determines the quality of the report. The following heads of remit recur in most cases and can be combined according to the dispute.

1. Visit the site, after summoning the parties, and describe the property: location, composition, floor areas, condition, fittings, occupation.
2. Examine the title, easements, applicable planning rules and current leases.
3. Give an opinion on the market value of the property at the date set by the remit: date closest to the partition, date of death, date of dissolution of the matrimonial regime, reference date in compulsory purchase matters.
4. Where relevant, give an opinion on the market rental value, by period, for the calculation of an occupation indemnity; on the rental value within the meaning of the commercial lease statute; on eviction compensation and its ancillary heads; on the value of company shares; on the loss of value resulting from a defect or a nuisance.
5. Propose, if the remit so requests, a composition of lots and the amount of the equalising payment (soulte), or a reserve price.
6. Provide all information enabling the court to rule on the parties’ claims.
7. Answer the dires and file the report within the time limit set.

The report does not decide the questions of law on which the value depends: valuation date, classification of a gift, applicable regime. Where those questions are in dispute, the remit may ask the expert to put a figure on each hypothesis; the Cour de cassation has accepted such alternative valuations for the expert under article 1843-4 of the French Civil Code (Cass. com., 7 May 2025, appeal no. 23-24.041).

A worked example

A court-ordered sale remit before a judicial court in the area: describe a house, give an opinion on its market value at the date closest to the partition and on its rental value since the death for the occupation indemnity, propose a reserve price.

The time observed on a remit of this kind is most often between 20 and 25 hours: summonses and on-site meeting, collection and verification of comparables, drafting of the preliminary report, answers to the dires, final report. At the rate of €65 per hour, 22 hours represent €1,430, plus travel, 2 hours at €65, that is €130, and copying and postage costs, about €40. The statement of costs comes to €1,600. An advance of €1,200 fixed on appointment, supplemented by €400 during the remit, covers that amount. These figures are given by way of illustration: the fee is fixed by the judge.

Common mistakes

Without passing any judgment on the drafting of decisions, here are the difficulties I encounter most often during a remit.

• A remit with no valuation date. The expert must then infer it from the dispute or put figures on several dates, which lengthens the remit.
• A remit asking the expert to “say whether the price is fair” or to “determine the parties’ rights”, questions of law that article 238 prohibits the expert from answering.
• A remit that confuses market rental value, used for an occupation indemnity, with rental value within the meaning of the commercial lease statute, which follows its own rules.
• An advance fixed without regard to the number of properties or questions, which forces a request for a supplement at the very start of the operations.
• A remit on the value of company shares that does not expressly cover the valuation of the properties held, which is its foundation.

What to gather

The documents that speed up the start of the operations, when the registry or the parties send them with the decision:

• The complete decision, with the heads of remit and the time limit.
• Contact details of the parties and their counsel.
• The procedural documents useful to understanding the dispute: writ of summons, latest pleadings, divorce judgment, deed of notoriety.
• The title deed, leases, co-ownership rules, surveys, if already on file.
• Earlier reports or valuations produced in the proceedings.

Timeframe and fee

On court appointment, the timeframe is that of the decision (article 265), and the fee is fixed by the judge on the statement of costs (article 284), after deposit (article 269). My hourly rate, €65 per hour, and travel, €65 per hour or part hour from PONT-L’ABBÉ, are those that appear in the statement of costs. VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the French General Tax Code.

The area covered without difficulty includes Finistère, Morbihan, Côtes-d’Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine and Loire-Atlantique, that is the area of the RENNES Court of Appeal. Remits outside that area and as sapiteur are accepted case by case. The remit formats are described on the Court expert, joint expert appraisal and litigation support page, the full notes on the Courts page, and the schedule on the Fees page.