Obtain the RGE label (“Recognized Guarantor of the Environment”)
Verified 09 December 2025 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Building professionals specializing in energy renovation work or installation of equipment using renewable energies can obtain one or more labels RGE: titleContent. They make it possible to value their know-how, offer a guarantee of quality and competence to its customers and be referenced. The labels also allow its customers to benefit from financial aid (tax credit, MaPrimeRénov', eco loan at zero interest, etc.). We explain the information to know.
Step-by-step approach
The choice of the RGE label (quality sign) depends on the company's activity. The labels are distributed according to the fields of work or studies.
RGE Labels jobs
Labels RGE: titleContent existing works concern the installation or laying of:
- Boilers with high or very high energy performance or micro-cogeneration gas, including temperature regulators
- Solar-powered domestic hot water heating or supply equipment with solar collectors
- Hydraulic appliances for heating or producing domestic hot water using wood or other biomass
- Independent appliances for heating or producing domestic hot water using wood or other biomass
- Heat pumps for heating production
- Heat pumps dedicated to the production of domestic hot water
- Electrical transmitters, including temperature regulators
- Mechanical ventilation equipment
- Thermal insulation materials for vertical glass walls, insulating shutters and exterior entrance doors
- Thermal insulation materials of roof glass walls
- Thermal insulation materials, through the interior, walls, roof crawlers and attic ceilings
- Materials for thermal insulation of walls from the outside
- Thermal insulation materials of roof terraces and roofs from the outside
- Thermal insulation materials of lost attic floors
- Thermal insulation materials of floors on unheated premises
- Underground heat exchanger for geothermal heat pumps, except for horizontal sensors
- Equipment and materials for carrying out a range of works to limit the energy consumption of the home.
This work of supplying and installing insulation equipment, materials and appliances must comply with high standard levels of energy performance.
What qualifications and certifications for which jobs since 2022?
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)
Pour en savoir plus
RGE Labels studies
Labels RGE: titleContent existing studies concern the provision of studies on the following topics:
- Biomass energy
- Geothermal energy
- Solar thermal
- Photovoltaic
- Regulatory Thermal Study
- Building life cycle analysis
- Building envelope
- Heating ventilation air conditioning
- Lighting
- Architectural programming
- Commissioning of technical installations
- Energy audit of the building.
These services can be of different types:
- Assistance and/or advice to project owners (for decision-making, verification of the integration of energy performance objectives into the program and monitoring compliance with these objectives)
- Thermal diagnosis, thermal study and energy audit
- Project management general, total or partial (studies and/or direction of the execution of the works contract)
- Operations and maintenance engineering.
Learn more about RGE Education qualifications
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)
Pour en savoir plus
A designated technical manager of the establishment must have successful completion of training initial or continuing training with an approved training organization.
This training complies with specifications. Depending on the RGE label chosen, the technical manager learns in particular to:
- Understanding the energy functioning of a building in the context of PREH: titleContent
- Know the main key technologies, the different solutions for improving the energy performance of a building, their interfaces
- Understand and explain the energy renovation project, interpreting an assessment as part of a global approach
- Advising clients on technical, financial and other matters
- Design and size an installation
- Organize the key points of implementation and commissioning, and explain them to his interlocutor
- Plan the maintenance of the operation.
Please note
THEAdeme: titleContent offers online and open courses on the platform MOOC Sustainable Building. It aims to increase the skills of all players in the building sector in the field of energy performance. These courses do not qualify for a diploma and are not recognized for obtaining the label RGE: titleContent.
General
Obtaining one or more labels is open to professionals carrying out work or studies contributing to the energy performance of buildings and renewable energy installations.
RGE labels respond to a reference system of requirements of means and skills derived from standards, and additional requirements defined in charters:
- Standard NF X50-091 or equivalent: RGE labels corresponding to this standard are called qualifications. They concern the technical capacity, means and skills of a company to carry out quality work in a given activity.
- Standard NF EN ISO/IEC 17065 or equivalent: RGE labels corresponding to this standard are called certifications. They concern the competence to design and carry out energy renovation work on a company. This work must be part of an overall offer to improve energy performance. The certification also covers the ability to provide support to the contracting authority throughout the project.
- RGE Works Charter of 4 November 2013
- Charter RGE Studies of 27 May 2016
To obtain one or more RGE labels, the company must meet certain criteria and justify them by providing documents.
Please note
If the company has several distinct establishments, the organization issuing the RGE label must request that all requirements be met at the level of each establishment (head office and secondary establishments).
Administrative criteria
In order to apply for a label, the company must meet regularity of administrative and social situation falling within its activity.
The file to be provided shall contain the following documents:
- As a justification of legal existence: registration Insee: titleContent : Mermaid: titleContent, Siret: titleContent applicant establishments where applicable, and code NACE: titleContent
- For the justification of compliance with social obligations: Attestation of theUrssaf: titleContent dated less than 3 months from the date of filing of the application file
- For compliance with legal obligations: certificates of insurance in civil liability and construction liability valid on the date of filing of the file.
Criteria of technical and human resources
The company must complete financial criteria, professional skills, technical and human resources for the category of work concerned.
The company shall provide the following justifications:
- Proof of mastery of the knowledge of one or more technical site managers designated by establishment
- Compliance with requirements relating to human resources resources (managers, executives, technicians, executives) identified for example by the number of staff, initial or continuing training, positioning in collective agreements, professional experience and, possibly, qualifications
- Skills in study, site coordination and consulting within a global offer of energy renovation of buildings
- Financial information on at least the last 2 accounting years closed for the body issuing the label RGE: titleContent checks the consistency and adequacy of its resources, and possibly assesses its financial health
- Compliance with the requirements of the material means to carry out the services concerned (means of studies, advice, implementation and control for example): these requirements are defined according to the particularities of the sector of activity and the label concerned.
Quality criteria for the work
The company must provide at least 2 references representative of realization projects completed in the last 4 years in the designated EGR activity.
The body issuing the RGE label directly asks customers about the conditions for one or more of the references provided. They shall include at least the following:
- Quote
- Invoice
- Energy Assessment Report
- Certificate of customer satisfaction.
Criteria for company claims
The company must provide a statement of claims over the last 4 years. She can get it from her insurance company.
The body issuing the EGR label shall evaluate the statement and take it into account when making its award decision.
Warning
The RGE label may not be obtained if the company manager or one of his authorized representatives has been the subject of a judgment for less than 5 years stating his participation in a criminal organization, corruption, fraud, money laundering or an offense affecting his morality in the exercise of his profession.
The company must apply for an RGE label from a French qualification or certification body. It must provide documents justifying requirements equivalent to those of the French system, issued by the competent authorities and services of the country of origin. It can also be qualified or certified by an organization in its country.
Neutrality criterion
The company must ensure its neutrality : it must be independent of any supplier of energy and/or equipment.
Rules concerning subcontracting
The labeled company assumes full responsibility for the work given in outsourcing.
The body issuing the RGE label shall inform it of its customers' obligations to inform them and to comply with the laws and regulations on subcontracting.
Subcontracted companies must also hold the RGE label. The labeled company must keep a list of subcontractors performing energy renovation services on its behalf and the certificates associated with their labels at the disposal of the certifying body.
As part of the qualification, a maximum threshold for subcontracting the installation is defined by the organization issuing the RGE label in order to ensure that the know-how of its company is maintained. This threshold is thus studied by qualification, within a range of 30% à 50% turnover relating to the installation.
The RGE labels are issued by bodies which have concluded an agreement with the Stateconcluded for a renewable period of 4 years.
These organizations undertake the following actions:
- Respect common requirements to issue their labels through a charter
- Frame the criteria for managing labels through an agreement with the State.
The bodies issuing the RGE labels include (this list is not exhaustive):
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Organizations involved in renewable energy works and/or installations
Organizations | Work or services concerned |
|---|---|
Qualifications for electrical and power engineering companies | |
Qualifications for installation companies of equipment using or producing renewable energy | |
Qualifications for building companies in all fields | |
The label developed by CAPEB | |
The label developed by the FFB |
Organizations involved in the field of project management or in other fields connected to construction
Organizations | Services concerned |
|---|---|
Energy efficiency and renewable energy studies | |
Studies on the environmental context of operations, the energy performance of the building envelope, the resulting works and equipment | |
Specific qualification for the installation and maintenance of professional kitchen equipment | |
Qualifications specific to landscape companies (creation and maintenance of green spaces) |
Please note
THEAdeme: titleContent has published a booklet containing a list of the RGE qualifications and certifications by field of work, as well as the labels and certifying bodies linked to them.
What qualifications and certifications for which jobs since 2022?
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)
Pour en savoir plus
To obtain its proof, the labeled company must apply to a body issuing the selected RGE label.
The document attesting to obtaining the RGE label varies according to whether it is a certification or a qualification.
A certificate shall be issued if the company fulfills all the conditions for obtaining. It shall be signed by an identified official of the body issuing the EGR label.
Its period of validity, provided for by the body issuing the RGE label, is 4 years maximum.
The certificate must identify the certified person and each of his establishments covered by the label.
The document mentions the following information:
- Name of the organization issuing the RGE label
- Name, address, legal form and name of the legal head of the certified
- Reference to the qualification or certification reference and other applicable documents on which the qualification or certification is based
- Domain(s) of the label(s) assigned
- Insurance companies with which the certified person has declared to be insured
- Effective date and period of validity of the qualification or certification
- The expiry date of the certificate.
The certificate must be registered by the body issuing the RGE labels.
The contact details of the company and its qualification or certification shall be published by means of any medium permitting public information.
For any request for renewal, the company must undergo a new on-site inspection, either in progress or completed.
As an RGE-certified company, it is listed in the directory of qualified professionals on the France Rénov' website.
This directory can be consulted at the following link. This also makes it possible to check that the labeled company is properly referenced there:
Search for a recognized environmental guarantor (RGE) or architect
Annual monitoring
The RGE label is the subject of a annual monitoring.
The annual monitoring makes it possible to monitor compliance with legal, administrative, legal and financial criteria as well as the maintenance of human resources.
In the event of a change that could call into question the qualification or certification obtained, the organization shall maintain it or initiate a review procedure.
Reminder
The RGE label is issued for a period of 4 years.
Control of realization
Within 2 years of the granting or renewal of the RGE label, the worksites are monitored in the context of performance audits by the body issuing the RGE label.
The control shall be carried out as follows:
- The holder of the label declares between 2 and 5 worksites per category of work from which the organization randomly chooses the worksite(s) to be audited. These projects must have been in progress or completed for less than 2 years or, if there are none, for less than 4 years.
- The body issuing the EGR label shall define the follow-up to that check as part of the investigation or monitoring procedure.
Transmission of company data
For the maintenance or issuance of the RGE label, the labeled company accepts that the following data of its worksites can be transmitted:
- No. of Mermaid: titleContent and Siret: titleContent of the labeled company
- Type of work
- Location of the realization of the works
- Completion date of work
- The body that issued the label.
These data are transmitted by the State administrations, theAnah: titleContent, and the SGFGAS: titleContent.
THEAdeme: titleContent and the bodies issuing the EGR label shall be the recipients of such data.
The body issuing the labels may also randomly select the site or sites to be audited on the basis of this information.
Please note
It is possible to refuse the transmission of this data. In this case, the label is suspended.
Customer Information
RGE Label
Some contracts are for the supply of services, the sale of equipment or the carrying out of works relating to housing with a view to achieving energy savings or the production of renewable energy. Certain financial aid may be granted if the professional carrying out the work holds an RGE label.
Before signing the contract, the trader must indicate to the consumer in a legible and comprehensible manner, on a durable support, whether or not it holds an RGE label for the categories of work concerned.
If the trader holds the label, the trader shall also provide the customer with a supporting document issued by the recognized organization from which it obtained its RGE label.
If the trader does not hold the label, he must inform the consumer of the consequences of not holding the label on obtaining the financial aid to which he is entitled. This information must be included in the contract provided by the trader to the consumer.
Warning
Any breach of this rule may be punished by an administrative fine of up to €15,000 for a natural person and €75,000 for a legal person. Any contract concluded with a consumer in violation of this rule is void.
Rules in case of subcontracting
When subcontracting is used to ensure partial or complete performance of the contract, the trader must also inform the consumer. It shall provide the consumer with the identity of the subcontractors contributing to the performance of the contract and indicate whether or not those subcontractors hold an RGE label required for the granting of financial aid for the categories of work concerned.
If the subcontractor holds the label, the trader must provide the customer with a supporting document issued by the recognized organization from which the subcontractor obtained its RGE label, before the contract was signed.
If the subcontractor does not hold the RGE label, the trader must inform the consumer of the consequences of not holding the label on obtaining the financial aid to which he is entitled. This information must be included in the contract provided by the trader to the consumer.
Warning
Any contract concluded with a consumer in violation of this rule is void.
Suspension or withdrawal of the RGE label
The body issuing the RGE label may issue sanctions against the company, whether it holds or applies for an RGE label. The company can be sanctioned in following situations :
- Failure to comply with the rules applicable to its label
- Carrying out work that does not comply with the rules of the art
- Prohibited business practices or failure to communicate general terms and conditions of sale (GTC)
- Use of a false RGE label
- Failure to comply with the rules applicable to subcontracting
- Use of the identity of a public authority or presentation as belonging, directly or indirectly, to one of its departments.
Third parties (customers, associations, etc.) may make reports or complaints the body issuing the RGE label. This may, for example, concern the performance of poor quality works, deceptive marketing practices or non-compliance with the terms of subcontracting.
In the case of one or more non-conformances, the body issuing the RGE label may incorporate the following procedures:
- Checks on the completion of additional work sites
- Company hearings
- Requests for justification and supporting documents
- Further training.
Before the application of a sanction, the labeled company may submit its observations.
Sanctions following a non-compliance, found during an additional performance check, are the suspension or the removal.
Sanctions for a other reason can be:
- Suspension (temporary withdrawal) from the label for a maximum period of 2 years
- Withdrawal one or more labels
- Prohibition of access to one or more labels for a maximum of 2 years.
In the event of the departure of the technical manager(s) and his/her non-replacement within 6 months, a qualification may be suspended.
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Categories of work, continuing education, COFRAC accreditation, sanctions
Qualification criteria, agreement, issuance of the RGE certificate, performance check and annual monitoring
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)
Ministry of Economy
National Housing Agency (Anah)
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)