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Corporate Domiciliation

Verified 20 August 2018 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice

The company's domicile corresponds to its administrative address (head office) and must be declared at the company's formalities center. Registration at RCS: titleContent or in the business directory (RM) requires to have a domicile. The use of the premises declared as registered office must be justifiable. Without domiciliation, registration is refused. The address of the business premises must appear on the commercial documents (quotes, invoices, etc.).

Individual company

The company's domicile may be in the creator's personal dwelling-place and does not always require a commercial premises.

The individual entrepreneur (trader, craftsman, self-entrepreneur...) can live in his home address.

In principle, even if the premises are used for a specific purpose (residential or professional activity), the contractors may carry out their activities at home, but only if the lease or the condominium regulation does not prevent them. This includes checking the planning rules, the clauses of the housing lease or the condominium rules.

The creator must also notify the lessor or the condominium trustee that he will use his home to house his business before its registration.

The only restrictions are in cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants and in the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, where the premises must be the main residence of the entrepreneur and the activity must be carried out exclusively by its occupants, without receiving customers or goods.

In case of professional activity at home, it is recommended to subscribe to an extension of the "home" insurance contract or a new professional contract. Indeed, customers can get injured, professional equipment can be destroyed or stolen, stock can be deteriorated...

Company

For a company, it is also possible to establish the domicile at the home of its legal representative, but only at the home of the director (CEO or manager for example), and in no case at that of a partner.

If a contractual or legislative provision precludes the domiciliation of the head office of a legal person at the home of its director, such domiciliation shall remain possible for a maximum period of 5 years.

The officer shall:

  • notify the lessor or condominium syndicate of his intention in writing prior to the application for registration with the company's RCS;
  • declare to the Registry his new address before the expiry of the 5 years, under penalty of automatic cancelation of the RCS.

Warning  

home ownership does not, however, allow the exercise of the activity, the receipt of goods or customers, and does not entail any change in the allocation of premises or the application of the status of commercial leases.

There is no particular formalism of the model of certification of the domicile of a company to be complied with.

The certificate must contain certain mandatory particulars:

  • Names, forenames and address of the director
  • Name and legal form of the company
  • Company address
  • Owner Contact Information

The entrepreneur (company or individual entrepreneur) has the possibility to use the services of a specialized company of domiciliation, approved by the prefect of the department (or the prefect of police in Paris) and registered to the RCS.

When applying for registration with the RCS, the business creator (the domiciled), who installs the head office of his business in premises which he will occupy in common with one or more enterprises, must present the contract of domicile concluded with the owner or the holder of the lease of these premises (the domiciled).

This contract is obligatorily written, of a minimum duration of 3 months, renewable by tacit extension, unless notice of termination.

The contract of domiciliation must be mentioned in the RCS of the domiciled, with the name or the corporate name and the references of the registration of the domiciled undertaking.

The activity of domiciliation may not be carried out in a room for main residential use or for mixed professional use.

A company may also be domiciled on the premises of another company (if it is a company and its subsidiaries, a domiciliation contract is not mandatory). However, if it does not own the premises, it must obtain the written consent of the lessor before registration.

The domiciliary must make available to the domiciliary premises equipped with a room allowing the necessary confidentiality and the regular meeting of the management, administration or supervisory bodies of the undertaking, as well as the preservation and consultation of the administrative documents.

Joining a company nursery, in premises occupied jointly by several companies, allows the creator to be accompanied by specialists, to enjoy shared facilities and services, for example, secretarial services, meeting and reception areas.

The space provided is generally adapted to the size of an emerging company and the cost is moderate.

A company can be domiciled in a space dedicated to its activity, whether it is owner or tenant.

However, in order to be able to carry out an activity there, it must be verified that there are no legislative or contractual provisions against it (for example, planning rules or lease clauses).

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