France Crit’air Certificate – Air Quality Certificate Service
Author Steve Moxey
France has recently introduced additional traffic control measures to limit pollution from vehicles. If you wish to drive freely across France and within towns and cities, all vehicles (including foreign registered vehicles – cars and motorcycles) must display a Crit’air certificate. The certificate is a presentation of your vehicle environmental credentials according to the French government classification of grading for the vehicle CO2 emissions (see attached).
The application process is undertaken on-line and once completed, will classify your vehicle to a grading system 1 to 5. The lower the Crit’air grading the lower the CO2 and the cleaner the vehicle.
The classification of grading will restrict or allow which Cities or areas of France you are legally allowed to travel within according to the published traffic control measures.
The more polluting vehicles will receive a higher grading restricting these from entering or travelling within certain cities such as Paris or at certain times. In some cases, for older or high polluting vehicles, these may be prohibited from entering the city at all. The French government are extending Crit’air restrictions to all parts of France, so to avoid falling victim to the new traffic control measures and attracting a fine, the recommendation is to purchase and display a Crit’air certificate now.
Once issued, the Certificate remains valid for as long as all the information featured on it remain legible and accurate. It is the applicant’s responsibility to order a new Certificate when these conditions are no longer met.
Before you commence the on-line application process, you’ll need the following items:-
- Original V5C vehicle registration document.
- A scanned pdf or jpeg copy of page 1 & 2 of your vehicle registration document. Note, the maximum file size is 400KB otherwise the file will not upload.
- Credit card for on-line payment.
To start the application process, enter the website https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/en/ and go to the top of web page and check that English is selected by clicking on Union Jack. You should now be on the page “Obtaining the air quality certificate”.
Watch the short video on the Crit’air application website to understand how the system works. Once the application is made, you will receive your vehicle Crit’air sticker in the post.
For shipment abroad to UK, the price is €3.11 plus the cost of postage regardless of vehicle type.
Cars display a sticker in windscreen, motorcycles display sticker on fork leg or other visible location.
Click on “Applying for your certificate” and following the on-screen application procedures.
There are six stages in the application process. All stages are self-explanatory and straightforward to follow. All details can be obtained from V5C document with some exceptions.
Some points to note.
- Petrol is entered as Gasoline.
- Commercial description is as printed on V5C Vehicle details 4. D.3
- Environmental category is usually Euro 4 for newer motorcycles (check with dealer)
- For motorcycles, leave CO2 box blank.
Enter personal details and continue to payment and receipt.
Once application process is complete, you will receive an email confirmation of order and the Crit’air sticker will arrive in the post within a few days.
Once received, remember to fix the Crit’air sticker to the vehicle.
Originally posted 2018-03-18 22:25:47.
