Training rooms and premises: what are a training organisation's obligations in France (ERP rules, safety, accessibility)?

“Do I need premises to create my training organisation?” Almost every founder asks this, often with some anxiety attached: commercial lease, safety commission, accessibility works… Good news: none of that is a prerequisite in France. But as soon as premises actually host trainees, a specific set of rules applies — the regulations on public-access buildings, known in France as ERP (établissements recevant du public). Here is what you need to know before signing a lease or booking a room.

No premises are required to create a training organisation

Let’s clear up the most common misunderstanding first: the activity declaration filed with the DREETS (the regional labour authority) does not require any dedicated premises. You can obtain your training activity declaration number (NDA) while registered at your home address, in an incubator or through a domiciliation company — the topic is covered in detail in our guide to registering the address of a training organisation.

In practice, a training organisation can operate long-term without any premises of its own:

• in-company (intra-entreprise): you train on your clients’ premises, and they remain responsible for their own buildings;
• online: virtual classrooms and e-learning raise no ERP questions at all;
• in rented rooms: hotels, business centres and coworking spaces offer rooms already operated as ERP;
• in dedicated premises: this is the only case where the obligations described below fall directly on you.

The choice of model is therefore economic and pedagogical, not regulatory. Many organisations start with no premises and only take some on when their volume of open-enrolment courses justifies it.

As soon as premises host trainees, they are an ERP

The switch happens the moment your premises receive members of the public — and your trainees count as such. The building then falls under the French ERP regulations, with a classification by type of activity and by headcount category.

Type R and 5th category: how training premises are classified

Teaching and training premises are classified as type R (establishments for early learning, education and training). The category depends on the total number of people the building can accommodate: large structures fall into categories 1 to 4, while most small training organisations — one or two rooms, a few dozen people at most — fall into the 5th category, whose regime is lighter but by no means symbolic.

The exact headcount thresholds depend on the type of establishment and the layout of the building (upper floors, basement, ground floor). Before committing to anything, ask the owner or the property manager for the building’s existing ERP classification: changing the use of premises (turning an office into a training room, for instance) may require authorisation and works. When in doubt, the town hall’s planning department and the local fire and rescue service (SDIS) are your contacts.

Fire safety: the concrete obligations

A type R ERP, even in the 5th category, must allow occupants to evacuate quickly and safely. In practice this means:

• an alarm system suited to the size of the establishment;
• enough fire extinguishers, periodically inspected;
• exits and escape routes sized for the headcount, permanently unobstructed and signposted;
• emergency lighting marking the evacuation route;
• a safety logbook (registre de sécurité) recording inspections, drills and maintenance work;
• posted safety instructions and an evacuation plan.

This safety logbook is the document the safety commission will ask for if it visits — keep it up to date from day one.

Accessibility for people with disabilities

Every ERP must be accessible to people with disabilities, whatever the disability (motor, sensory, cognitive, psychological): access path, door widths, adapted toilets, signage. Where the building’s layout makes certain works impossible, exemptions can be granted, but they must be formally requested — they are never presumed.

You must also keep a public accessibility register (registre public d’accessibilité) available to visitors, describing which services are accessible and what arrangements are in place. This register connects directly with your quality system: your disability referent will rely on it to organise reception and adaptations, and the Qualiopi auditor will be pleased to find it.

Mandatory notices in the training room

Beyond safety instructions, an organisation hosting trainees must display or hand out several documents: the internal rules applicable to trainees, evacuation instructions, useful contact details. Our article on the mandatory notices for a training organisation lists them all, and the one on the internal rules (règlement intérieur) explains how to draft them — an obligation from the very first trainee, whatever the venue.

Renting a room occasionally: who is responsible for what?

This is the most common situation for organisations starting out: renting a room by the day in a hotel, a business centre or a coworking space.

Obligation	Venue operator	Training organisation
ERP compliance of the building (classification, safety commission)	Yes	No
Alarm, extinguishers, exits, safety logbook	Yes	No
Building accessibility and public accessibility register	Yes	No
Checking the room suits the course (capacity, equipment)	No	Yes
Checking accessibility for the trainees concerned	No	Yes
Internal rules and instructions communicated to trainees	No	Yes

In other words: the operator bears most of the ERP obligations, but you remain responsible for the choice of room. A compliant room that is too small, poorly equipped or inaccessible to a wheelchair user is still your problem — contractually towards your clients, and under the Qualiopi framework.

What Qualiopi actually checks: indicators 17 and 26

The Qualiopi auditor is not the safety commission: they will not test your fire alarm. Two indicators of the framework, however, deal directly with your premises.

Indicator 17 (adapted human and technical resources) requires you to provide material resources suited to your services: rooms sized for the group, teaching equipment in working order, an environment conducive to learning. If you rent, the auditor may ask how you select and check your rooms: rental contract, visit checklist, photos, selection criteria.

Indicator 26 (hosting people with disabilities) expects you to know how to host, adapt or refer. The accessibility of the training venue is a central part of this: for a rented room, the evidence can be as simple as a written question to the operator about wheelchair accessibility, kept in the session file.

And this is not just a compliance matter: a study by Peter Barrett, Yufan Zhang, Joanne Moffat and Khairy Kobbacy published in 2013 in the journal Building and Environment (“A holistic, multi-level analysis identifying the impact of classroom design on pupils’ learning”) shows that the physical characteristics of rooms — natural light, temperature, air quality, layout flexibility — explain a significant share of learners’ progress. Choosing a room is also a pedagogical choice, which is exactly the spirit of indicator 17.

If you have employees: workplace rules and the DUERP

One last aspect, often overlooked: as soon as your organisation employs staff (trainers, an administrative assistant), your premises also become a workplace under the French Labour Code. Employer obligations then apply: ventilation, lighting, temperature, sanitary facilities, and above all the formal risk assessment recorded in the DUERP (document unique d’évaluation des risques professionnels, the single occupational risk assessment document), mandatory from the first employee. Our guide to the single risk assessment document explains how to build it for a training organisation.

Checklist before choosing premises or a room

Before signing a lease or booking a room, systematically check:

1. ERP classification: is the building already classified to receive the public? Do the type and category match a training use?
2. Capacity: is the maximum authorised headcount compatible with your groups?
3. Fire safety: alarm, extinguishers, signposted exits, up-to-date safety logbook (ask to see it);
4. Accessibility: wheelchair access, adapted toilets, public accessibility register;
5. Teaching equipment: projector or screen, internet connection, whiteboard, movable furniture;
6. Learning comfort: natural light, acoustics, heating/air conditioning, ventilation;
7. Audit evidence: contract or room-hire agreement, dated check form, written exchanges about accessibility;
8. If you employ staff: workplace compliance and DUERP update.

A one-page check form per room, filled in ten minutes and filed with the session records, covers both your responsibility as a provider and your Qualiopi evidence.

Take action

Premises, rented rooms, accessibility: all of this is far easier with ready-made templates than last-minute improvisation. The Complete Kit Certif (€297, 14-day guarantee) includes ready-to-use procedures and evidence for indicators 17 and 26, the ebook “Create your training organisation in 30 days” (€67) guides you from the activity declaration to your first trainee, and the full pack (€347) combines both so you start on solid ground.