Size of the locker rooms, teeth of the police… An anthology of standards, from the craziest to the most picky

2024-02-04 22:45:35

Town planning code, Labor code, Municipalities code, Environmental code, Rural code… In France, 74 codes govern the daily lives of citizens, businesses or communities in all their aspects. Some of them would, through their excess, make even the most cautious people smile or grind their teeth. Overview.

For plums

According to article D.4 153-30 of the Labor Code, an employer is prohibited from making a young person aged 16 to 18 climb on a stepladder repeatedly without a “collective protection measure”. A rule probably little applied on farms, which nevertheless caused a wave of panic among the 2,500 young seasonal workers responsible for picking fruit and their employers in Drôme and Ardèche, when it was promulgated in October 2013.

Bulb authorization

Electrical authorization required to change a light bulb in a town hall! (Illustration) LP/Arnaud Dumontier

Change a light bulb yourself in a town hall? Impossible, according to standard NF C 18-510 of the Labor Code, which requires “electrical authorization” to handle them “if there is a proven risk of direct electrical contact”. That is to say if the electrical opening is more than 12.5 mm in diameter, a size below which a finger can a priori find it difficult to slip through. Above these few millimeters, no need for authorization… Only training in handling electrical installations.

A grudge against the police

Constable is a demanding profession. A 2003 decree of the Labor Code specifies that candidates for the officer competition must not, after the absence of drug addiction, present pronounced stuttering, nor even a “chewing coefficient” of less than 30%. The latter is calculated by assigning points to each type of tooth present in the candidate’s mouth. A way to check the good teeth of soldiers.

The canteen down to the gram

In the canteen, the quantity of each food is fixed according to the child’s age, but can be adapted “up to 10%”. (Illustration) LP/Olivier Corsan

In 2011, a decree and an order of September 30 signed jointly by the ministers of Defense, Local Authorities, Health and National Education, enriched the Rural Code by detailing with surgical precision the quantity of sausages , veal meatballs or eggs served in canteens depending on the age of the children.

In this case, one merguez for children in kindergarten, compared to two for primary classes. Or even a quarter of an egg for children in kindergarten, compared to one and a half for middle school adolescents. No excessive rigidity: the portions “can be adapted up to 10% more or less than the indicated value”, specifies the text.

Sizeable changing rooms

In accordance with articles R.131-32 to R.131-36 of the Sports Code, any indoor football facility hosting D 1 and D 2 matches (1st and 2nd Divisions) must have two changing rooms of at least 8 m2 to accommodate the referees, each equipped with “seats and coat racks for four people, a table, a sink equipped with a mirror, mirror and a shower”. In 2013, the former mayor of Le Mans, Jean-Claude Boulard, deplored having to ban matches in one of his rooms which was indeed equipped with two changing rooms: one of nine square meters and the other of… seven square meters.