Regulation of the activity of property trader : Sovereign Order no. 10.745 of 5 August 2024 implementing Law no. 1.560 of 2 July 2024

SUMMARY

Sovereign Order no. 10.745 of 5 August 2024 (JDM n° 8708 of 16 August 2024) implements Law no. 1.560 of 2 July 2024 relating to the regulation of the activity of property traders, concerning:

• the financial guarantee allocated to the payment of all or part of the registration fee, in the event of default, which must be obtained from a bank or financial institution authorised to give guarantees and having its registered office or branch in the Principality;
• the professional indemnity insurance policy must be taken out with a general insurance agent or insurance broker approved to practice in the Principality;
• the property's compliance with current electrical and energy standards.

REMINDER:

• Application of the provisions relating to registration duties to all acquisitions made by property dealers from 1 September 2024.
• Practising property dealers must comply with the provisions relating to financial guarantees and professional indemnity insurance.

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IN DETAIL

¤ Financial guarantee

• Taken in the form of a first demand guarantee (Treasury), for a period of 2 years; renewal at least 2 months before expiry;
• Amount: €50,000;
• Transmission to the Direction du Développement Économique (DDE) of a document issued by the guarantor certifying that the financial guarantee has been set up (amount, period of validity, name of the establishment that issued it and address of its registered office) when the property trader is registered in the Répertoire du Commerce et de l'Industrie (RCI) and at least 1 month before the expiry date of the financial guarantee;
• The Direction des Services Fiscaux will call up and implement the financial guarantee in the event of default resulting from a summons to pay followed by a refusal or remaining without effect for a period of 1 month from the date of service of the summons on the property trader. When the financial guarantee is called and implemented, the property trader must set up a new financial guarantee for the remaining period.

¤ Professional indemnity insurance policy

• A copy of the professional indemnity insurance policy must be sent to the Economic Development Department (DDE) when the property trader is registered with the Trade and Industry Register (RCI).

¤ Compliance with current electrical and energy standards

• At the time of signing the deed of sale, the property developer must submit to the notary a certificate relating to electrical standards and a certificate relating to energy standards dated less than 1 year ago, drawn up by an inspection body approved in the Principality (standards defined in application of chapters 2, 7 and 9 of Title III of Ministerial Order no. 2018-613 of 26 June 2018 on the thermal characteristics of new buildings, renovations of existing buildings and extensions, as amended, and also chapters 3, 4 and 5 in the case of individual production of heating, domestic hot water and/or cooling ; where the property constitutes a single property unit, the certificate must state that the property complies with the energy standards defined in application of Title III of Ministerial Order no. 2018-613) ;
• The certificate relating to energy standards must be accompanied by form E in Annex III (Consolidated version following amendments made by Ministerial Orders no. 2020-870 of 15 December 2020 and no. 2022-433 of 2 August 2022, p. 19) of Ministerial Order no. 2018-613) duly completed with the current energy performance of the walls, whether or not the property is a single property unit.

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