NF DTU list for interior renovation: the references to cite, trade by trade

What is an NF DTU, and is it mandatory?

A DTU, document technique unifié or French unified technical document, brings together the rules of good practice for a family of standard works, such as glued ceramic tiling or sanitary plumbing. Published as a homologated standard, it carries the prefix "NF DTU". A few texts are still designated by the word "DTU" alone, homologated under an NF P standard number: the prefix is part of the reference.

An NF DTU is split into parts. Part 1-1 (P1-1) is the standard technical clauses (cahier des clauses techniques types). Part 1-2 (P1-2) sets the general criteria for choosing materials. Part 2 (P2), the standard special administrative clauses, has contractual content. Some DTU subdivide the technical part by type of work, like NF DTU 52.2 and its four parts 1-1. NF DTU 61.1 (gas) keeps a numbering from P1 to P7, in which P2 is technical. Each part has its own date: the version of a DTU is read part by part.

An NF DTU is a standard of voluntary application. As the FFB (the French building federation) points out, the client is free to choose which provisions to apply to their project, and those written into the contract documents become contractual. The DTU cited is then binding on the company, and the work will be judged compliant or not against that text. On the insurance side, works that comply with the NF DTU fall within the traditional domain, whereas the use of a non-standard technique must be declared to the insurer beforehand, as L'Auxiliaire, a construction insurer, explains. Citing the right DTU places the work in a framework that the company and its insurer read the same way.

DTU, Avis Technique, DTA: which one to ask for?

A DTU only covers the standard techniques of its field. For an innovative process, the reference is the Avis Technique (ATec): the opinion of a panel of experts, the Groupe spécialisé, on the fitness for use of the process. When the product carries a CE marking, this opinion is called a Document Technique d'Application (DTA), as the CSTB specifies. If the product you specify falls outside the scope of the package's DTU, ask for its Avis Technique or its DTA, and check its validity and its field of application.

Which NF DTU should you cite for each interior renovation package?

The tables follow the order of the trade packages in an interior project, not the numerical order of the list. For each text: reference, exact title (in French, as it must be cited) and version of part 1-1, amendments included, according to the CSTB list of 9 December 2025. When a DTU has several technical parts, the last column shows the one that matches the work.

Plastering, partitions, linings, ceilings and staff plasterwork

In an old apartment, the plastering package often cites several texts: 25.41 for plasterboard, 25.42 as soon as the lining is a board-and-insulation composite, 25.1 for render repairs. The stretch ceiling has its own text, NF DTU 58.2: do not file it under 58.1. Traditional staff cornices and mouldings fall under NF DTU 25.51, to be cited with its amendment.

Interior joinery and fit-out

NF DTU 36.2 changed its title and scope in the latest list: more on this below. For a timber staircase, NF DTU 36.3 covers the staircase and its associated guardrails. The dimensions of guardrails, for their part, fall under the NF P 01-012 standard, which is not a DTU.

Flooring: resilient, parquet, resin, raised floors, screeds

For parquet, each laying method has its own text, updated in 2023 or 2024. Write the laying method into the DPGF line item, then the matching DTU: an "engineered parquet, laying method at the company's choice" also lets the company choose the reference. If the package creates or replaces a timber floor, add DTU 51.3. For a floating screed on insulation, NF DTU 26.2 is cited together with NF DTU 52.10, which covers insulating underlays.

Tiling

NF DTU 52.2 is always cited with its part. A standard shower room uses three: P1-1-1 for the wall tiles, P1-1-3 for the floor, P1-1-4 for the waterproofing under the shower tiles. A waterproofing system outside the scope of P1-1-4 falls under an Avis Technique, to be required for the chosen product.

Painting and wall coverings

Plumbing, gas

For gas, the general technical part of NF DTU 61.1 is P2, with its two amendments.

Heating, ventilation

NF DTU 68.3 has several parts 1-1 depending on the ventilation system: cite P1-1-1 (general rules) and the part for the chosen system, with its own date.

Exterior joinery, insulation, masonry: if the project touches them

What has changed in the latest DTU lists?

The list of 9 December 2025 cancels and replaces the one of July 2025. Two texts relevant to your packages carry a November 2025 edition in it; three older points are worth checking in your CCTP templates.

• NF DTU 36.2, November 2025. The title becomes "Menuiserie intérieure et agencement, bois et autres matériaux" (the former one: "Menuiseries intérieures en bois", May 2016). According to the FFB, the new edition covers interior joinery and fit-out works. Remove the old title and the 2016 date from your specifications. The built-in furniture you design for the joiner now has a reference to cite.
• NF DTU 45.11, November 2025. Its three parts are dated November 2025 (CSTB edition). To update if you insulate unused lofts in a house.
• Resilient flooring: NF DTU 53.12. The former DTU 53.1 and 53.2 no longer appear in the list. Substrate preparation, textile coverings, glued PVC and linoleum fall under NF DTU 53.12 of December 2020, in four parts 1-1. A CCTP that still cites 53.1 or 53.2 refers to texts that are off the list.
• DTU 59.4 is not an NF DTU. Its technical part is the NF P74-204-1 standard of February 1998: write "DTU 59.4", never "NF DTU 59.4". Same logic for DTU 51.3 (NF P63-203-1-1).
• Amendments. An amendment is cited with the base edition it modifies. Five concern interior packages: NF DTU 20.13 P1-1 + A1 (July 2016), NF DTU 26.2 P1-1 + A1 (May 2015), NF DTU 25.51 P1-1 + A1 (March 2018), NF DTU 51.1 P1-1 + A1 (April 2023) and NF DTU 60.1 P1-1-1 + A1 (December 2019).

Electrical work, asbestos, fire safety: what to cite when there is no DTU?

Electrical work: NF C 15-100, not "DTU 70.1"

The CSTB list does contain a DTU 70.1, Installations électriques des bâtiments à usage d'habitation, but with a single part: Part 2, special clauses (NF P80-201-2, May 1998). Citing it for installation rules sends the electrician to a text that contains none.

The reference for workmanship is the NF C 15-100 standard, Installations électriques à basse tension, in its 2024 edition, published on 21 August 2024. According to Apave, it has been the only applicable edition since 1 September 2025. It covers new installations, modifications and renovations; an existing installation with no works is not affected.

Asbestos removal: the Code du travail and two standards

No DTU covers asbestos removal. The arrêté of 16 July 2019 sets the conditions for the pre-works asbestos survey in existing buildings, commissioned by the donneur d'ordre, in practice your client; it deems compliant the application of the NF X 46-020 standard of August 2017, save for a few articles. Article R. 4412-133 of the Code du travail requires the employer, that is the company carrying out the work, to draw up a demolition, removal or encapsulation plan on the DEMAT@MIANTE platform. Finally, the NF X 46-010 standard is the reference framework for certifying asbestos treatment companies.

In your file: a separate package, entrusted to a company whose certification you check, and the survey report attached to the tender documents.

ERP: the fire safety regulations

For a shop or a restaurant (an ERP, établissement recevant du public), the text to cite for interior fittings is the fire and panic safety regulation approved by the arrêté of 25 June 1980. Its chapter III, articles AM 1 to AM 20, deals with interior fittings, decoration and furniture. It comes on top of the DTU of the packages concerned, it does not replace them.

Demolition and guardrails

Demolition and strip-out have no NF DTU. A strip-out line item is described by its scope and what it includes (disposal, protection), with no normative reference rather than with an approximate DTU. Guardrails have a dimensional standard, NF P 01-012: cite it as a standard, in the edition in force on the day of the tender.

How do you cite a DTU in your CCTP and your DPGF?

The rule fits on one line: reference, part, title, version. For example: "Works carried out in accordance with NF DTU 25.41 P1-1 (February 2022), Ouvrages en plaques de plâtre – Plaques à faces cartonnées". The formula "in accordance with the DTU in force" says neither which ones nor as of which date. It lets the company choose the reference, and it deprives you of a precise basis on the day you need to record a reservation.

Three reflexes complete the rule.

1. Check the version at every tender. A CCTP (the project's technical specification) written during the PCG phase and sent out during the AMT phase can straddle a new list: reread the references on the day it goes out.
2. Require the Avis Technique outside the DTU. Outside the DTU's scope, write that the process must hold a valid Avis Technique or DTA, supplied with the bid. Also check that the company's ten-year liability certificate covers the activity, as in our checklist for vetting a contractor before hiring.
3. Cite, do not copy. DTU are protected publications; the CSTB list itself only allows analyses and short quotations. Your CCTP states what is specific to the project (chosen materials, location, finishes) and refers to the DTU for workmanship. Our interior designer's CCTP template details how the two fit together, package by package.

The reference also serves at the handover, during the AOR phase. A reservation is recorded against what was contractual: "shower room wall tiles, not compliant with NF DTU 52.2 P1-1-1 (June 2022) cited in article 4.2 of the tiling package". The full method is in our handover report template.

So, what about Nodal?

In Nodal, normative references live in the estimate. For each package of the DPGF, the tool proposes the applicable references, taken from the CSTB list of 9 December 2025 (checked on 27 September 2026). You tick, untick or add. The citation gives the reference, the title and the version, never the content of the DTU.

Two traps described above are handled at the source. A package with no normative reference, such as demolition, says so as it is instead of receiving an approximate DTU. Electrical work is proposed with NF C 15-100, never with "DTU 70.1" for installation rules. Each package also carries its technical description, alongside the DPGF, in the same estimate. That estimate then serves as the template for tendering to contractors, available depending on your plan.

Article published on September 27, 2026. List checked on September 27, 2026 against the CSTB list « DTU : Liste des textes publiés au 9 décembre 2025 »; the CSTB publishes a new list about twice a year. This professional summary is not legal advice: always check the version in force on the day of the tender.

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