Partner, Avocat à la Cour & Solicitor (England and Wales), Pinsent Masons LLP, Paris

Forty years is a milestone in the life of any law, particularly when that anniversary will be of a legislative enactment as significant as the French Law No 75-1334 of 31 December 1975 relating to sub-contracting (“the Law”)1. We are fast approaching the end of the Law’s fourth decade and it therefore seems an opportune moment to look back briefly at the way in which it has evolved and to consider certain aspects of its implementation.

Fuelled by the economic weight of the sub-contracting sector, the Law has had a significant influence on the regime for sub-contractors in French domestic construction law. This is reflected in a number of developments since its inception, the majority of which have resulted from judicial interpretation rather than legislative additions or reforms. In this section, having first briefly outlined the economic context (A), we will look more closely at how the Law has developed (B) before drawing some final observations as to the Law’s effectiveness (C).

Globally, France is one of the top 10 markets for construction. In 2012, France accounted for 4 per cent of global demand in construction2. An EU survey conducted in 2010 concluded that France was the EU-27’s