Seismic risk prevention legislation and regulations in France
Concepts and design standards for earthquake resistant buildings

France has had seismic regulations since 1967. They have been improved on several occasions. They are mainly governed by :

• Article L 563-1 of the French Environment Code;

• Article L 112-18 of the French Construction and Housing Code;

• law no. 2004-811 of August 13, 2004 on the modernization of civil protection.

A new seismic zoning and new earthquake-resistant rules, in force since May 1^er 2011, have been drawn up to take into account Eurocode 8 and the scientific progress made over the past 25 years in seismology and earthquake engineering.

• Decree no. 2010-1254 of October 22, 2010, which amends articles R 563-1 to 8 of the Environment Code, defines the main...