What is a public service establishment (ERP)?
Verified 25 June 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Institutions receiving from the public (ERP) are buildings, premises or enclosures in which persons may be admitted free of charge or on payment. Access can be free, restricted or by invitation (town hall, shop, school, amusement park, place of worship, party room...). To ensure access and safety for this audience, the LES Manager must follow fire safety and accessibility rules.
Warning
Some business or accommodation spaces are not considered LES. The specific safety and accessibility regulations for LES do not apply to them, but they may have to comply with other regulations (fire safety regulations for residential buildings, labor code, environmental code, etc.):
- Company not open to the public, but only to company personnel, is not an ERP.
- A place which is used for family life and partly for working life is still considered to be a dwelling. For example, when a physiotherapist uses a room in his home to exercise his profession (treatments, massages...) and lives in the other spaces of the same home. If certain areas (entrance, certain paths...) are common to the residential and professional part, the upgrading is not mandatory.
- On the other hand, if the residential and professional parts are completely independent and have separate entrances and paths, the professional part is considered an LES and must meet accessibility and safety standards. For example, a regular doctor's office.
- Gîte with sleeping capacity from 0 to 15 places is not classified as an ERP, except in the case of the accommodation of 7 minors without their families (the calculation of sleeping capacity depends on the proximity with other gîtes). For example, when dividing a longhouse into several lodges.
During the construction and operation of an ERP, manufacturers, owners and operators must apply preventive and safeguard measures to ensuring the safety of persons and theaAccessibility for disabled peoples.
The safety rules provided for in fire safety regulations and accessibility rules for persons with disabilities depend on the classification of the LES by category and type.
Classification is proposed by the owner or operator of the establishment. It is validated by the Departmental Advisory Committee on Safety and Accessibility (CCDSA).
This commission, chaired by the prefect, monitors compliance with regulations on fire safety and panic and accessibility in LES.
An ERP is classified in 1 of the 5 categories according to its capacity.
The capacity corresponds to the number of persons authorized by the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS: titleContent) to be present at the same time in the establishment.
Eligible workforce | Category |
|---|---|
Over 1,500 people | 1 |
From 701 to 1,500 people | 2 |
From 301 to 700 people | 3 |
Up to 300 people | 4 |
Below the thresholds set for 5e category | 5 |
Example :
A library that accommodates less than 200 people is classified as 5e category.
A library that accommodates between 200 and 300 people is classified as 4e category.
An ERP is classified by type according to the nature of its operation. The type is designated by a letter.
L'effective of persons admitted is determined according to special provisions for each type of establishment.
For the first 4 categories, employees are counted with the public admitted to the ERP.
For the 5e category, employees are not counted with the public admitted to the ERP.
Nature of the holding | Type | Limit on the number of persons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
In the basement | In stages | All levels | ||
Reception structure for elderly people | J | / | / | Total population of less than 100 persons with less than 25 resident elderly persons |
Reception facilities for disabled people | J | / | / | Total staff of less than 100 persons with less than 20 resident disabled persons |
Hearing room, conference room, meeting room, betting room, room reserved for associations, neighborhood room, multimedia room, multi-purpose room, multi-purpose room with a sports-dominated unit area greater than or equal to 1,200 m² or with a ceiling height of less than 6,50 m Other multipurpose room not specified in Chapter 12 type X article X1 | L | 100 people | / | 200 people |
Show room, projection room (including non-fairground circuses), cabarets | L | 20 people | / | 50 people |
Retail stores | M | 100 people | 100 people | 200 people |
Restaurants or Beverage Outlets | N | 100 people | 200 people | 200 people |
Hotels or family pensions | O | / | / | 100 people |
Dance rooms or game rooms | P | 20 people | 100 people | 120 people |
Nursery schools, crèches, drop-in centers, kindergartens | R | Prohibited activity | 20 people (if the establishment has only 1 floor) | 100 people |
Nursery home | R | 16 people | ||
Other educational institutions | R | 100 people | 100 people | 200 people |
Establishments with sleeping quarters | R | / | / | 30 people |
Libraries or documentation centers | S | 100 people | 100 people | 200 people |
Exhibition rooms | T | 100 people | 100 people | 200 people |
Health care facilities | U | / | / |
|
Establishments of worship | V | 100 people | 200 people | 300 people |
Administrations, banks, offices | W | 100 people | 100 people | 200 people |
Sports establishments covered | X | 100 people | 100 people | 200 people |
Museums | Y | 100 people | 100 people | 200 people |
High-altitude hotels and restaurants | OA | 20 people | ||
Air Stations | GA | 200 people | ||
Outdoor Establishments | PA | 300 people | ||
Capitals and tents | STC | 50 people | ||
Floating establishment (parked boats) | EF | |||
Underground and mixed stations and floating establishments are never classified in 5, regardless of their sizee category.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Classification of establishments
Security obligations
Book I - Provisions applicable to all LES (classification, adaptations of security rules, special cases, control of LES)
Book II - Provisions applicable to establishments in the first four categories
Book III - Provisions for Category 5 LES
Provisions applicable to ERPs located within an existing built environment and to existing facilities open to the public
Fire protection regulations applicable to residential buildings
Ministry of the Environment
Paris Police Department