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Ten-year warranty and photovoltaic panels: exclusion of equipment used exclusively for professional purposes in accordance with Article 1792-7 of the French Civil Code

Ten-year warranty and photovoltaic panels: exclusion of equipment used exclusively for professional purposes in accordance with Article 1792-7 of the French Civil Code

Published on : 08/04/2026 08 April Apr 04 2026
Actualités

The owner of agricultural buildings commissioned a contractor to install a solar power generation system on the roof, comprising photovoltaic panels supplied by a third party. The contractor was covered by a ten-year liability insurance policy.

Complaining that the system was underperforming, the client, following an expert assessment, sued the contractor and his insurer for compensation. The latter sought indemnity from the supplier of the panels.

As a reminder: Article 1792 of the Civil Code establishes a statutory ten-year liability for builders for damage compromising the structural integrity of the work or rendering it unfit for its intended purpose. However, Article 1792-7 excludes from this guarantee any equipment whose sole function is to enable the exercise of a professional activity within the work.

The Court of Appeal first upheld the contractor’s ten-year liability and ordered the contractor, together with its insurer, in solidum (each liable for the whole), to compensate the client.

In its view, the installation was not intended solely for energy production, but also provided a roof for the pre-existing building. It concluded that the photovoltaic panels did not constitute a component excluded from the ten-year warranty.
The Court of Cassation quashed and set aside the judgment.

It first referred to Articles 1792 and 1792-7 of the Civil Code mentioned earlier.

It stated that, in ruling as it did, without establishing that the photovoltaic panels were not merely items of equipment lacking a structural or roofing function and used exclusively for a professional activity, the Court of Appeal had deprived its decision of a legal basis.

This judgment calls on practitioners to exercise greater vigilance in classifying photovoltaic panels in accordance with Article 1792-7 of the Civil Code in order to determine whether or not the ten-year warranty should be excluded.
 

19 février 2026, Cour de cassation, Pourvoi n° 24-10.702
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