Decree no. 2015-235 of February 27, 2015

Public concerned: departmental prefects, mayors, presidents of public inter-communal cooperation establishments, fire and rescue service managers and other fire-fighting stakeholders.
Subject: rules and procedures for the creation, development, maintenance and verification of water points used to supply fire-fighting resources.
Entry into force: the text comes into force the day after its publication, but the departmental regulations for external fire defense must be adopted within two years of publication.
Notice: the rules governing the siting and management of fire-fighting water points in communes are proving difficult to implement. Until now, their legal framework was based solely on the general police powers of mayors and on old circulars. The present text clarifies these rules. Communal external fire defense is no longer defined on the basis of national prescriptions: the rules are set, by prefectoral decree, at departmental level after local consultation. They are then applied at municipal or inter-municipal level. This system specifies the responsibilities of the various parties involved (mayor, president of the public inter-municipal cooperation body in particular) and the conditions for third-party participation in this service. It establishes a realistic approach, taking into account identified risks and local constraints. It does not determine the water capacities to be mobilized in a homogeneous way throughout the territory, but sets a range of water resources to be available according to the risks. It defines the notion of fire water points and the control operations to which they are subject.
Lastly, an interministerial reference document will provide additional methodological and technical information. 

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