The BPE database covers France. The geographic reference for the database is the "Code officiel géographique" (COG) for municipalities as of January 1, 2025; some products may be released with geographic data as of January 1, 2026.

In municipalities divided into arrondissements (Paris-Lyon-Marseille), the district has been chosen as the municipal level for locating facilities.

The services and facilities of the BPE are grouped into types of facilities. There are 235 in the 2025 BPE allocated in seven groups.

Additional features are provided for certain types of facilities, such as: the presence of a cafeteria, a dormitory, an indoor, well-lit sports facility, a multiplex movie theater, a healthcare professional’s specialty, the location of charging stations, etc. New variables have been incorporated into the BPE 2025: the availability of LPG at gas stations, the distinction between different types of cuisine offered in restaurants, and the status of certain schools with respect to the government.

Facility types are located at the municipal level, within sub-municipal areas known as IRIS, and by coordinates (x,y). Geolocation makes it possible to move beyond pre-existing zoning (municipalities or IRIS). It thus enables more detailed spatial or territorial studies, using data independent of predefined zones. As a result, geographic coordinates are available for the entire BPE 2025, with the exception of Mayotte and 1.8% of sports facilities.

The nomenclature of types of facilities :

TThe list of equipment types is updated annually to reflect changes related to energy sources, the addition of new equipment, and so on.

• The first level of the nomenclature contains 7 groups :

• personal services;

• businesses;
• education;
• health and social services;
• transport-travel;
• sports-leisure-culture;

• tourism.

• The second level contains 27 sub-groups which are subdivided into 235 types of facilities at the third level.

The constitution of facilities ranges :

The ranges bring together services and facilities that have a similar implantation logic, in the sense that they are often present at the same time in the municipalities.

The facilities ranges are based on the 2025 permanent database of facilities, facilities selected are divided into three ranges :

• the local range includes services that are present in the largest number of municipalities. It focuses on just 26 different services, but with many locations (1.89 million access points). It includes, for example, post offices, bakeries, general practitioners, playgrounds ;
• the intermediate range includes 48 types of facilities : for example, banks, medical analysis laboratories or public swimming pools ;
• The upper range (61 types of facilities) includes shops such as fishmongers or hypermakets, medical emergency services and cinemas. They are less common and more likely to be located in major cities than the services in the local range.

In addition, 71 types of facilities are not included in the categories. These include, on the one hand, services or facilities that are not primarily intended for the permanent residents of these areas (e.g., hotels, tourist information centers, etc.) and, on the other hand, facilities and services that are much less common.

Groupings

Equipment can be grouped together to meet specific needs:

• for BPE products that are undergoing changes. For example, equipment type E01G—Railway Stations—includes passenger stations of national (E107), regional (E108), and local (E109) significance.
• for equipment categories. For example, AR03 includes post offices (A206), postal service points (A207), and postal agencies (A208).

The coding of groupings is specific to each of the two cases, even if the groupings may be identical: the grouping for train stations is identified by the code E01G in the evolving BPE and by ER01 in the product lines.

The purpose of the BPE is to cover the maximum number of services and facilities avalaible to the population, whether commercial or not.

Concept: facility

A facility is a service, commercial or not, accessible to the public. It can be a layout (bathing zone, remarkable space, heritage), an infrastructure (gymnasium, swimming pool, station, etc.) or a service (shops, bank, court, etc.). It is listed in the Permanent database of facilities on January 1st of each year.

In most cases, the establishment is the unit identified as the facility, but the facility may also refer to the service provided within an establishment (for example, a maternity service may be provided in an autonomous establishment or in a multidisciplinary establishment).

Facilities are grouped into categories called types of facilities. The types of facilities are grouped into 7 groups.

Facility

More than 2.9 million facilities are listed in the 2025 BPE.

January 1, 2025

Starting in 2025, the BPE will be phased in over a 10-year period.