In order to obtain a registered address for your company by making use of the services of a business centre, you’ll need to sign a domiciliation agreement.
A domiciliation agreement is a contract by which the provider of a domiciliation service (a business centre) allows a company to use the address of the centre as the registered address of their head office or secondary establishment. The premises of the centre can be used by the domiciled enterprise upon reservation and subject to the conditions established in the contract.
INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THE AGREEMENT
A domiciliation agreement normally lasts for three months. It is automatically renewed at the end of the period unless one of the parties has expressed a wish to terminate it. Such a contract should generally include the following sections:
- Information from both of the domiciliation service provider and the enterprise to be domiciled. This information consists of the corporate name of the centre and the company, their legal form, the addresses of the centre and the personal address of the director of the company, their number in the registry of commerce and companies, and the amount of company constitution capital of both parties. In case of a secondary establishment, the address of the heard office of the company instead of the personal address of the director must be provided.
- The number of the “agrément préfectoral” (prefecture authorisation number), which is compulsory for a business centre to provide a domiciliation service.
- The services included in the domiciliation agreement, as well as the total price of the plan chosen. If there are some optional services that aren’t generally included in the plan, the rates may be specified in the contract, although it’s not mandatory as long as the information is available.
- Precise the amount of the security deposit if the business centre requires such deposit.
- The duration of the contract together with the breach conditions and the resolution clauses in such case.
- The obligations of the company when making use of the domiciliation service or the premises of the centre.
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE DOMICILIATION CENTRE
The domiciliation service provider must, first and foremost, be in possession of a number of “agrément préfectoral”, which must be stated in the contract. This authorisation must be renewed every 6 years. Without it, the domiciliation service isn’t legal.
In addition, the provider must inform the Registry of Commerce and Companies (known as RCS in France) about any change concerning the company, from its main activity to the name. Every year, before the 15th of January, a list with the companies that are still domiciled in the centre must be provided to the registry of commerce and, in case of breach of contract, the centre has to report it to the RCS Immediately. They must also warn the RCS in case that no representative of a certain company has picked up neither showed any interest for their mail in a three months period, as it may be an indication of abandonment of the enterprise.
The director of the business centre himself must stick to a series of honorability terms to be enabled to provide such a service. These conditions are:
- Not having been to prison for more than three months for counts like money laundry, robbery, fraud, etc.
- Not having been revoked the right to provide a domiciliation service in the last five years.
- The activity is forbidden for a director that is in a situation of personal bankruptcy or has had a management prohibition.
With regards to the requisites of the premises of the business centre to be optimal for the companies contracting a domiciliation service, we can highlight the following ones:
- The centre cannot be the personal residence of its owner, or be subject to a rental agreement that states the type of establishment as a residence aimed at inhabitation.
- To be allowed to provide a domiciliation service, the owner must provide a proof that the premises of the business centre are at his disposal. This can be proven either by means of an ownership statement or a rental agreement entitling him to carry out a professional activity in the place in question.
- The business centre must be provided with at least one equipped room that ensures the confidentiality of the companies that want to use it. It must also have enough space to host a general assembly or to receive clients.
- A space created for the maintenance of the legal accountancy archives, granting the access to them to the company concerned should also be part of any business centre.
THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE DOMICILED COMPANIES
The director of a company, when requesting a domiciliation service, has four main obligations.
First of all, they must inform their business centre of any change in their company, for example, if they decide to change the main activity of the company. This is because the business centre must notify the RCS about any modification made in the enterprises domiciled there.
Secondly, they should make a proper use of the service and the premises. In other words, a domiciliation service cannot be used to carry out an illicit activity.
Thirdly, at the time of registering the company in the Commercial Court, the director must make reference to the domiciliation contract, indicating the details of the business centre (name, number of “agrément prefectoral”, and address) as well as the details of the company itself.
Lastly, the domiciled company must give permission to the business centre to receive their mail and notifications in their name.
THE DOCUMENTS TO PROVIDE FOR A DOMICILIATION AGREEMENT
The companies that wish to establish a domiciliation contract with a business centre must provide the following documents:
- Copy of the ID card or passport, or an identifying document of the director of the company.
- A proof of the personal residence of the director (not in the case of foreign people). It can be a gas or light bill, a rent receipt, etc. It cannot be older than three months.
- A bank account number to cover the services. The payments by cash are forbidden.
- A form including the company details mentioned above (name, activity, legal form, etc.).
- A K-bis (registration) extract. In the case of creating a new company, the domiciliation agreement is normally necessary to register the company, so it can be provided up to three weeks after the signature of the contract. For foreign companies opening a secondary establishment in France, they should provide the registration number of the head office in their countries of origin.
Once the domiciliation agreement is signed by both parties, it must be submitted to the pertinent registry of enterprises together with the rest of documents to create a company or a secondary establishment.