Publication of procedural deeds in the real estate register requires that the properties be identified in accordance with the rules governing land registration. The information that the deed must contain is detailed at paragraphs 1 and 3 of article 7 of decree no. 55-22 of 4 January 1955These concern single-family homes and condominiums respectively.
Identification of buildings
The first paragraph of Article 7 of Decree no. 55-22 of 4 January 1955 states that ".Any deed or court decision subject to publication in a land registry office must indicate, for each of the properties it concerns, the nature, location, surface area and cadastral designation (section, map number and locality). The locality is replaced by an indication of the street and number for properties located in the built-up areas of urban municipalities.
The type corresponds to the description: house, industrial building, building plot, etc.
The address is 55 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris.
The cadastral area is expressed in hectares, ares and centiares: 01 ha, 55 a, 21 ca. The conversion into square metres is simple: 15,521 m².
The cadastral designation is written in the text in the form of section, plan number and locality or street and number in built-up areas. This is an incomplete description because the section is sometimes preceded by a prefix, so the cadastral designation is generally summarised in the following table, which is usually found in notarial deeds, for example:
| Section | Plan number | Location or address | Surface |
| 987 Z | 501 | 55 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré 75008 Paris | 01 ha 55 a 21 ca |
In the section column, the number 987 corresponds to the prefix and the letter Z corresponds to the section itself.
Identifying co-owned buildings
The third paragraph of Article 7 of Decree no. 55-22 of 4 January 1955 states that ".Where a division of the ownership of the land involving a change of boundary is not carried out or recorded, but only concerns one or more fractions of an immovable, the deed or court decision must include both the description of the said fractions and that of the immovable as a whole. The fraction must be designated in accordance with a descriptive statement of division or, where applicable, an amending statement, drawn up in accordance with the conditions laid down by decree and published in advance; it must state the number of the lot in which the fraction is included and, subject to the exceptions provided for in the said decree, the share in the ownership of the land relating to that lot. The provisions of this paragraph do not apply when the deed or decision concerns an easement, a right of use or habitation, or a lease of more than twelve years. They also do not apply where the deed or decision results in the division of the building being abolished."
The creation of a co-ownership requires the publication of a descriptive statement of division in the property register. The descriptive statement of division describes the division of a building into co-ownership lots, specifies the size of each lot and determines the proportion of the common areas associated with each lot, expressed in tantièmes.
When the notary registers the sale of a co-ownership lot, unless the lot has been converted, the description given in the descriptive statement of division is maintained.
This is frequently the case in small co-ownerships, where the co-owners decide, for example, to change the description of lot no. 4 to include the attic space that the owner of lot no. 4 has taken over, so that he will bear the related maintenance costs and the tantièmes will be changed.
To put it another way, the deed of sale is a snapshot at a given moment of the state of a property, whereas the descriptive statement of division and its amendments are a film.
The description of a co-ownership lot adds three elements to the classic description of a building: the number of the co-ownership lot, its designation and the tantièmes.
And given the importance of the descriptive statement of division and its role in designating the lots, it should be mentioned along with any amendments, with their publication references.
Volumetric division
The decree does not require the volumetric division to be mentioned, although it is essential to include it where it exists.
Volumetric division is used to organise the vertical interlocking of buildings that do not need to be organised as co-ownerships.
The main purpose of co-ownership legislation is to organise the management of common areas. This is because, Article 1 of Law no. 65-557 of 10 July 1965 on the status of co-ownership of built propertythe first two paragraphs of which state that "This Act governs any built property or group of built properties, the ownership of which is divided into lots among several persons.
A co-ownership lot must include a private portion and a share of the common portions, which are inseparable.
For example, a volumetric division means that X's cellar, which extends under Y's floor, can be stored in different volumes without creating joint ownership.
A volume lot may contain a co-ownership. This is why, when it exists, the volume division number precedes the description of the building.
For example, the cellar at X is attached to a dwelling house and extends under a condominium at Y.
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