French statutory indices

French durability vs repairability: not the same score.

France’s durability index adds a reliability family of criteria to repairability evidence. Both are statutory information tools scored on a ten-point scale, but they have different scope and must not be presented as interchangeable product reviews.

Repairability asks whether repair is supported

France introduced the repairability index to inform consumers about how repairable covered products are. Its criteria include access to technical documentation, ease of disassembly, tools and fasteners, spare-part availability and the relationship between spare-part and product prices. The result is a structured statutory score, not a count of real-world repairs.

The repairability index remains relevant for covered categories including dishwashers, laptops, lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners and pressure washers. For washing machines and televisions, the French government moved to a durability index in 2025. That transition matters when reading older product material or comparing records calculated under different regimes.

Durability adds a reliability family

The durability index combines two groups of criteria: repairability and reliability. The official durability guidance says reliability can include resistance to stress and wear, maintenance and servicing, commercial guarantees and the manufacturer’s quality process. Repairability continues to cover documentation, disassembly and spare-part factors.

The overall durability value is calculated from those two component families and expressed from zero to ten. A higher total therefore does not mean simply ‘easier to repair’. Two models can reach similar totals through different combinations of repairability and reliability evidence. When component scores are available, they are essential context.

Dates, producers and versions belong with the number

The score is model-specific and calculated under published regulatory instruments and calculation grids. The manufacturer must retain supporting evidence for competent authorities. Open-data files can be produced by different identified organisations and later consolidated by data.gouv.fr when they conform to the national washing-machine durability schema.

Lasting Index therefore retains the producer or source record, calculation date, observation date and methodology version beside each assertion. If two valid records disagree, both remain visible. A newer calculation is not silently substituted for an older one, and a value from a similar model is never used to complete a gap.

What the score cannot establish

A statutory durability index is useful evidence, but it is not a guarantee of service life for one household. It does not predict the exact year of failure, local repair price, technician availability or whether a particular used appliance has been maintained. Lasting Index has not repeated the manufacturer calculations or physically endurance-tested every listed model.

Compare exact French-market identities calculated under the same regime. Open the source record, inspect the components and treat missing components as unknown. Do not transfer a French score to an Australian variant sharing a brand and marketing name; market-specific specifications and legal evidence can differ.

Primary evidence

Official sources reviewed

These official pages support the definitions and boundaries above. Lasting Index links to them rather than republishing protected manuals or treating a search snippet as evidence.

French Ministry for Ecological Transition

Indice de durabilité

Legal scope, two component families, calculation materials and consumer display.

Open official source
French Ministry for Ecological Transition

Indice de réparabilité

Repairability scope, criteria and 2025 transition for washing machines and televisions.

Open official source
data.gouv.fr

Consolidated washing-machine durability data

Schema-conforming producer data and consolidated files.

Open official source
Apply the method

Inspect exact records, then compare.

Search the catalogue using the full model code. Keep the market fixed, open the source record and leave missing evidence missing.

Search appliance records Open exact-model comparison