INIES is France's national database of environmental and health declarations. It holds the FDES (fiche de déclaration environnementale et sanitaire, the French declaration for construction products), the PEP for equipment and default environmental data. Every RE2020 calculation for a new building draws its data from it (RE2020 being the French environmental regulation for new buildings), which makes it a manufacturer's compulsory environmental shop window in France.
People come to it for two opposite reasons. Specifiers look for declarations for their calculations. Manufacturers want to appear in it, or to understand why their competitors do. This guide covers both uses.
What the INIES database contains
The database contains three types of data, which should not be confused.
| Data type | For which products | Who produces it |
|---|---|---|
| FDES (fiche de déclaration environnementale et sanitaire) | Construction products | A manufacturer or a group, with third-party verification |
| PEP (profil environnemental produit) | Electrical, electronic and HVAC equipment | A manufacturer, through the PEP ecopassport programme |
| Default environmental data (DED) | Any family with no suitable declaration | Developed for the ministry, inflated by a safety coefficient |
As of 2 November 2026, the counter on the INIES website showed 5,744 FDES and 1,907 PEP, representing 347,134 commercial references for construction products. An FDES can be individual (one manufacturer, one product) or collective (a trade association, a sector average). Configurators can also generate parameterised declarations for highly variable families.
Who has managed INIES since 2026
Governance changed this year. Since 15 June 2026, INIES has been managed by a dedicated association, created in September 2025. It brings together 13 founding members, including ADEME, AIMCC, CSTB and FFB, later joined by UNTEC and PEP ecopassport.
The association is chaired by Gérard Sénior and run by Jacques Chevalier. The agreement with the State was renewed in June 2026. Source: Génie Climatique.
For a manufacturer, this change does not alter the publication process. The programme rules were updated in June 2026 to include the association, and the pricing terms keep the same amounts.
How to find a declaration
Consulting the database is free and open. You can search by product name, manufacturer or family. Three habits avoid most mistakes.
Check the type of declaration. A collective FDES does not commit any specific manufacturer. If you are looking for the declaration of a given product, make sure it is individual and in the name of the right manufacturer.
Check the standard. Recent declarations are prepared under NF EN 15804+A2. A1 declarations are being archived and should no longer be used as a reference.
Check the functional unit. Two declarations in the same family may be expressed per 1 m², per 1 kg or per unit of product. Comparing two values without checking the unit is the most common mistake.
How to read an FDES
An FDES should be read in a set order. The impact figures only make sense once the framework is clear.
- The functional unit and the reference service life. They tell you what the figures correspond to and over how many years. A short service life leads to replacements in the building calculation.
- The life cycle modules. Manufacturing (A1 to A3), transport and installation (A4 and A5), use (B), end of life (C) and benefits beyond the life cycle (D). Module D is declared separately.
- The indicators. Climate change gets the most attention, but the A2 standard requires many others: resource depletion, water, acidification.
- The health section. Specific to France, it covers indoor air quality and comfort.
For details of the indicators and modules, our article What is the EN 15804 standard sets out the complete structure.
Why being absent from INIES is expensive
When the consultancy finds no declaration for a product, it uses the default data for its family. This data is inflated by 30% to 100%.
An example from the database: an aluminium window declared at 88 kg CO2e weighs 187 kg CO2e with the default data. The product with no declaration looks twice as heavy as its declared competitor. We go through this mechanism in Default data or FDES: the gap in figures.
How to publish an FDES on INIES
Publication follows four stages. None can be skipped.
| Stage | What happens | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. LCA | Study compliant with NF EN 15804+A2 and its national supplement | The manufacturer with a consultancy |
| 2. Drafting | Formatting of the declaration, with the health section | The consultancy |
| 3. Verification | Check by a verifier approved by the INIES programme | An independent verifier |
| 4. Publication | Submission of the verified declaration, with a token invoiced by INIES | The manufacturer or its consultancy |
The declarant account is created before verification, because the verifier needs the registration number generated by the INIES platform. The file then goes through an admission check before publication.
The token costs €220 excl. VAT per declaration, or €190 excl. VAT from 20 tokens purchased, according to the INIES pricing terms. It provides the registration number and the right to request publication, and remains usable for one year. The price list mentions no membership or subscription fee.
Verification costs about €2,000 to €2,500 excl. VAT per declaration. The complete budget is in EPD and FDES cost in 2026, and the step-by-step process in how to obtain an FDES.
Common mistakes at publication
The problems we see most often on declarations that fail, or that succeed badly, come down to a few points.
A badly chosen functional unit. If it does not match the way the product is specified, the consultancy cannot use the declaration in its software. It then falls back on default data, as if the declaration did not exist.
An over-cautious reference service life. A short service life multiplies replacements in the building calculation and makes the product heavier. It must be justified, not chosen by default.
A declaration that covers too much. Grouping very different products under one declaration simplifies the study but means declaring the worst case. The best products in the range pay for the others.
A forgotten declaration. An FDES has an expiry date. Nobody will warn you when it is archived: you have to track the dates yourself.
Default data is on INIES too
Default environmental data is published in the database, with its family and unit. This is useful information for a manufacturer: it tells you exactly which value your product is calculated with as long as it has no declaration.
DEDs are developed under a public procedure, whose version 6 dates from January 2026, with a safety coefficient of +30% to +100%. The Rivaton report of July 2025 recommends recalculating these values. Their level may therefore change in the coming years.
You have a foreign EPD: can it go on INIES?
Not directly. An EPD published by another programme does not contain the French national supplement, in particular the health section. It has to be converted into an FDES, then verified under the rules of the INIES programme.
Automatic recognition between programmes remains limited. The link between Germany's IBU and INIES, for example, has been suspended since the move to A2 (IBU). Conversion generally remains far cheaper than a declaration built from scratch, since the LCA already exists.
A1 declarations are being archived
This is the most visible change to the database in 2026. According to the INIES notice of 7 January 2026, A1 declarations verified in 2020 were withdrawn on 1 January 2026, or on 1 April in the event of an extension. Those verified in 2021 and 2022 have been withdrawn since 1 July 2026, with no further postponement possible.
If you published your declarations when RE2020 was launched, check their status now. An archived declaration counts as no declaration in the building calculation. Renewal is explained in FDES verification and validity.
INIES for monitoring competitors
The database is also a market-watch tool. With a few searches, a manufacturer can see which competitors have published declarations, on which products, under which standard and on what date.
This survey answers direct commercial questions. Is my main competitor declared on the range where I meet them in tenders? Are its declarations about to expire? Are its values better or worse than the family's default data?
Review your presence in INIES
We have developed an explorer that queries the INIES database and the major international EPD programmes. In a few minutes, it shows which declarations exist for a family, their standard, their expiry date and their gap with the default data.
For the general framework, read our guide EPD: definition, framework and the FDES in France. For a review of your products and your competitors in the database, contact us or see our environmental declarations offer.
Frequently asked questions
INIES is the French reference database for environmental and health declarations: FDES for construction products, PEP for equipment, and default environmental data. It is the source used to calculate the LCA of buildings subject to RE2020.
Since 15 June 2026, the INIES database has been managed by a dedicated association, created in September 2025 by 13 founding members including ADEME, AIMCC, CSTB and FFB. The agreement with the State was renewed in June 2026.
You need an LCA compliant with NF EN 15804+A2 and its national supplement, verification by a verifier approved by the INIES programme, and then submission of the verified declaration to the database. Publication requires an INIES token at €220 excl. VAT per declaration, or €190 excl. VAT from 20 tokens.
Look at the reference standard and the verification date shown on the declaration. An FDES is valid for 5 years, and declarations prepared under the old EN 15804+A1 standard have been progressively archived since 2026.