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Funerary monument: regulations and legal obligations?
Funeral regulations in France
Installing a funeral monument on a grave is not mandatory. Whether the family wishes to install a simple monument (such as a landscaped monument or a lone stele) or something more elaborate (like a chapel), they must adhere to the current regulations.
Authority is granted to local authorities, specifically the municipality. The municipality will establish an internal cemetery regulation.. These regulations typically date back to the cemetery's establishment and are often quite old.
What does this regulation contain ? This regulation governs different areas of the cemetery : burial plots, military sections, Muslim sections, columbariums, memorial gardens, etc. Each family can acquire a burial plot; they have usage rights to the space but not ownership of the land itself. Burial plots can be granted for periods of 5 to 15 years (temporary concession), 30 years, or even 50 years. Older concessions may have had an unlimited duration (perpetual), though this option is becoming less common.
After this initial step of acquiring a burial plot through a request to the town hall. After acquiring a burial plot (if you did not already have a family plot), the next step is to define the project for the funeral monument while adhering to the cemetery's rules. The municipality may set limits on the height of the monument and may require the use of Comblanchien stone, as is the case in certain historic cemeteries in central Paris (such as Père-Lachaise and Montparnasse). They may also mandate that the footings be made of stone (not concrete) and specify their shape as "revers d'eau" (waterfall shape). The footprint of the monument is typically defined in these regulations: a burial plot often measures 2 x 1 meters, but the monument may have a larger footprint (thus a larger dimension), for example, 2.20 x 1.20 meters.
Additionally, the rules differ between earth burial plots and vaults. For earth burial plots, reinforcement is often necessary to support a monument. This reinforcement, called a false case, is an underground foundation typically 50 cm deep to strengthen the burial plot. Learn more through this article on the difference between earth burial and vault.
How can I access all this information? The main source is, of course, to obtain a copy of the cemetery regulations from the town hall (urban planning department or for larger municipalities, directly from the cemetery service). The cemetery conservator or caretaker also has the responsibility to inform concession holders about the specific requirements to be followed. It is the conservator who verifies the compliance of monuments upon delivery by the professional. If the requirements are not met, the monument cannot be installed.
Funeral Services : Seek Professional Assistance
These procedures may seem tedious and require a certain level of expertise (knowledge of regulations, terminology in the funeral industry, etc.). The most important thing is to be aware of these steps from the outset. Professionals in the sector who will install the monument have knowledge of the specific requirements of each cemetery where they operate. They will prepare the work order for you, which is the application to be submitted to the town hall. ; the concession holder will need to sign. Often in families, the challenge lies in determining who the concession holder is—if there are multiple holders, all will need to sign. Once again, the municipality will be able to provide you with information on this matter.
The work order details the contact information of the concession holder(s), the description of the funeral monument (components, dimensions, materials), and the scope of work (removal of an old monument, breaking of concrete footings, etc.). It specifies who is authorized to perform the work, the installation date, and the duration of the project.
At Le Comptoir des Pierres, we are manufacturers and cannot provide precise information about the cemetery regulations in your municipality. However, we can explain the steps involved and recommend competent installers who, in some regions, will ensure the monument dimensions are correct and comply with the current rules. We have longstanding partnerships with Rebillon in Île-de-France and Boucon Marble in Burgundy. For more details on installation, Read our article on who installs funeral monuments.
