The carte professionnelle T: aptitude, guarantee, insurance and training

France does not license each salesperson. It licenses the business that negotiates for clients, through one card, and lets that business authorise its staff and agents. You need this lesson in two cases: to understand the agency you join, and to plan the day you open your own.

Who needs the card

The loi Hoguet (law n° 70-9 of 2 January 1970) and its decree n° 72-678 of 20 July 1972 require a carte professionnelle for anyone who habitually negotiates, sells, lets or manages property for others. There are three activities:

Card mention	Activity
T (transaction)	Sales and lettings negotiation
G (gestion immobilière)	Property management
S (syndic de copropriété)	Managing apartment buildings

There is one card per company, with a mention for each activity it carries out. As a salaried négociateur or an agent commercial, you do not need a card: you work under your card holder’s, with an attestation d’habilitation (lesson 2).

Who issues it

The CCI (chambre de commerce et d’industrie) of the place where the company has its head office. The application is made online through the CCI’s professional register (fichier des professionnels de l’immobilier). Le Campus Immo2 names the form as Cerfa 15312*03.

The four conditions

CCI Bretagne lists four conditions for the card holder:

1. Professional aptitude: a diploma or proven experience (below).
2. Good character (moralité): no conviction that bars you from the profession.
3. Professional liability insurance (RCP).
4. A financial guarantee (garantie financière), when it applies.

Professional aptitude

Le Campus Immo2 summarises the decree’s routes as follows (verify the wording on Légifrance before you rely on it):

Route	What you need
Diploma	At least three years of higher education (bac+3) in law, economics or business, or a title of that level. A BTS Professions immobilières, an RNCP level 6 title or the ICH diploma also qualify.
Baccalauréat plus experience	Three years as an employee in a Hoguet activity with a card holder
No diploma	Ten years as an employee in a Hoguet activity, reduced to four years in an executive (cadre) role
VAE	Validation of experience leading to a recognised diploma

So the classic path for a newcomer without a relevant degree is to work several years as a salaried négociateur first. Time as an agent commercial is not salaried work, so check with the CCI how it counts before you plan around it.

The financial guarantee

The guarantee protects the money that clients hand to the agency.

• It is compulsory for the G and S activities.
• For T, it is required only if the agency holds client funds. If the holder declares on its honour that it holds no funds, effects or securities, it applies for the card with the mention “non-détention de fonds” and needs no guarantee (CCI Bretagne).

Whatever the agency chooses, an agent commercial may never receive or hold client funds (lesson 2). The decree also sets a minimum guarantee amount. Commonly quoted figures are €110,000, reduced to €30,000 in the first two years of activity, but we could not check them on Légifrance for this course, so confirm with your guarantor.

Insurance

The card holder must hold RCP professional liability insurance. Each agent commercial must hold their own RCP as well (CNACIM, CCI Bretagne).

What it costs at the CCI

CCI Bretagne publishes this schedule. Other CCIs may differ slightly, and we did not check the Paris Île-de-France CCI.

Item	Fee
First card application	€160
Renewal	€130
Update	€68 (€160 if you add a mention)
Receipt for a new establishment	€96
Attestation d’habilitation for a collaborator	€55

Add the insurance premium, any guarantee, your business set-up and your training.

Three years, then renew

The card is valid for three years. You must apply to renew it two months before it expires (CCI Bretagne). At renewal, the CCI asks for proof of continuing training for the holder and the people concerned. Every attestation d’habilitation is also redone when the card is renewed.

Continuing training: 42 hours

Under decree n° 2016-173 of 18 February 2016, adopted after the loi ALUR, professionals must train 14 hours a year, or 42 hours over the three years of the card. CCI Bretagne says this must include:

• At least 2 hours of ethics (déontologie).
• At least 2 hours on non-discrimination in access to housing.

The duty covers card holders, legal representatives, establishment directors and everyone who negotiates, including salaried staff and agents commerciaux with an attestation. Keep every training certificate: without them, the card holder cannot renew, and your attestation goes with it.

Step by step to your own card

1. Work first as a salaried négociateur or agent commercial, and learn the rules (lessons 2 and 4).
2. Check your aptitude: a bac+3 or equivalent, or enough salaried years with a card holder.
3. Set up the company and its head office.
4. Decide on client funds. No funds means the non-détention de fonds mention. Holding funds means a guarantee.
5. Buy RCP insurance.
6. Apply online to your CCI and pay €160.
7. Request attestations for each collaborator, at €55 each, before they start.
8. Track training hours for everyone, every year.
9. Diary the renewal two months before the third anniversary.

Rules and fees change, so check with your CCI before you act. Practise with sales training.

This lesson is general information, not legal advice. CloserPass is not affiliated with the CCI or any government body.