BAT-TH-116 is a standardised operation in France's certificats d'économies d'énergie (CEE) scheme. It provides a defined route for certificates when a qualifying tertiary building installs a new gestion technique du bâtiment (GTB) or improves an existing one.
It is easy to confuse that funding route with the French Decret BACS. They can support the same project, but they answer different questions. Decret BACS determines whether a building has a legal automation duty. BAT-TH-116 determines whether an operation can use a standardised CEE calculation and what evidence that claim needs.
What the current operation sheet covers
Version A62-6 applies from 1 January 2025 and covers existing tertiary buildings. The operation must be engaged before 1 January 2030. It covers either:
- buying and installing a new GTB; or
- improving an existing GTB that was no better than class C under NF EN ISO 52120-1:2022 before the operation.
The acquired or improved system must use centralised automation to provide class A or B control functions under that standard. In metropolitan France, heating is the principal use. The same system may also cover domestic hot water, cooling or air conditioning, lighting and auxiliary systems. In overseas France, cooling or air conditioning is the principal use, with the other named uses added where applicable.
The operation sheet is explicit that simply connecting a building to an existing GTB is not eligible. Adding a gateway, meter or network link may be useful engineering work, but it does not by itself meet the operation's requirement for a new system or an eligible improvement with class A or B functions.
Keep each claimed use separate
The certificate calculation uses the managed floor area for each use, the activity sector, climate zone and class A or B result. Define the boundary before ordering hardware.
| Claimed use | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Heating | Managed areas, plant and zones; schedules; temperature and mode control; energy input; occupied conditions |
| Cooling or air conditioning | Managed areas and equipment; set points; operating state; electrical or thermal input; indoor conditions |
| Domestic hot water | Heated floor area used by the operation sheet; production and distribution state; energy input and temperature |
| Lighting | Managed areas and zones; occupancy or schedule logic; command and output state; lighting energy where measured |
| Auxiliaries | Exact pumps, fans and other auxiliary loads; control function; electrical input and operating state |
The sheet excludes managed surfaces for logistics warehouses, reserves, refrigerated or unrefrigerated warehouses and storage rooms from the commerce-sector calculation. Keep the floor-area schedule at room or zone level so excluded space is visible rather than removed from an unexplained total.
The current sheet also lists non-cumulative operation combinations by use. A CEE specialist should check the live operation sheets and engagement date before the commercial offer is final. Do not add certificate values from two sheets that say they cannot be combined for the same use.
The evidence is more than a product invoice
The installation must be carried out by a professional. The proof of completion needs to state that the GTB provides centralised class A or B control functions under NF EN ISO 52120-1:2022. If the main proof does not say that directly, it must identify the system's manufacturer and reference and be supported by a document from the professional carrying out the work that establishes the class and functions.
A useful project file links four layers:
- Eligibility boundary. Building use, age, activity sector, climate zone, managed areas, excluded areas and engagement date.
- Before state. Existing GTB class and functions, point list, controllers, meters, networks and known gaps.
- After state. Class A or B functions by claimed use, system manufacturer and reference, drawings, point schedule and commissioned sequences.
- Operational proof. Trends showing command, state, set point, occupied condition and energy response during representative operation.
The operation sheet establishes the documentary minimum. Operational trends make the technical result reviewable. They can show, for example, that an occupancy schedule actually stops plant, a set-point reset reaches the controller, a valve or fan responds and energy falls without moving occupied conditions outside the agreed range.
BAT-TH-116, BACS and OPERAT are different records
| Framework | Main trigger | Main record |
|---|---|---|
| BAT-TH-116 CEE | Eligible new or improved GTB operation in an existing tertiary building | Funding eligibility, class A or B functions, managed areas and professional proof |
| Decret BACS | Covered heating or cooling plant above the statutory capacity threshold, with dates and exemptions | Required automation functions, inspection and any exemption evidence |
| Eco Energie Tertiaire and OPERAT | Covered tertiary floor area of at least 1,000 m² | Annual energy reporting, reference data and progress toward reduction targets |
One building can be subject to all three. Reuse reliable measurements, drawings and asset identities, while preserving the purpose of each record. A certificate calculation does not prove compliance with Decret BACS. A BACS inspection does not replace an OPERAT declaration. An OPERAT total does not establish that class A or B functions were commissioned.
Plan the monitoring architecture around the GTB
Start from the class functions and sequences, then identify the evidence each one needs. The GTB should remain responsible for building control. Meters and integration gateways provide missing observations and exchange approved data with the system.
For each measurement, record the physical boundary, source device, unit, update interval, timestamp, quality state and retention period. For each writable point, record the authorised writer, priority, range, interlock, timeout, feedback and safe fallback. A monitoring project should not gain write access merely because the underlying protocol permits it.
Reconcile energy from the building boundary to the managed uses. Keep differences such as tenant loads, catering, lifts and unmetered distribution visible. Missing data should be marked missing, rather than stored as zero and counted as a saving.
Where EpiSensor fits
EpiSensor can add owner-side operational measurements to an existing GTB project. Electricity monitors can separate HVAC, lighting and auxiliary feeders. Pulse and M-Bus interfaces can collect gas, water and heat-meter totals. Modbus and analogue interfaces can collect supported plant states and process values. Edge can retain the interval record on site and serve approved data to the GTB, an energy platform or a reporting workflow.
That can fill measurement gaps and preserve evidence of operation. It does not assign an ISO 52120-1 class, establish CEE eligibility, calculate certificates or replace the professional documentation and controls required by the scheme.
Use the HVAC energy monitoring application to define the plant and meter boundaries, and the BMS and SCADA integration application to plan the supported interface without displacing the GTB's control role.
Common questions
What does BAT-TH-116 fund?
It is a standardised CEE operation for buying a new GTB or improving an existing GTB in a tertiary building. The resulting centralised automation must provide class A or B control functions under NF EN ISO 52120-1:2022 for heating and any other use claimed in the operation.
Is connecting another building to an existing GTB eligible?
No. The current operation sheet states that simply connecting a building to an existing building technical management system is not eligible. The project must meet the conditions for a new system or an eligible improvement to an existing system.
Is BAT-TH-116 the same as the Decret BACS requirement?
No. BAT-TH-116 is a CEE funding operation with its own eligibility and evidence rules. Decret BACS is a legal building-automation requirement triggered by covered heating or cooling system capacity and dates. Assess them separately, then coordinate one technical project where both apply.
Which existing GTB can be improved under BAT-TH-116?
For an improvement project, the system before the operation must be no better than class C under NF EN ISO 52120-1:2022. The improved system must provide centralised class A or B functions for the claimed uses.
Does installing meters alone qualify as a class A or B GTB?
No. Metering supplies evidence, but the operation sheet requires centralised automation with class A or B control functions. The complete project must assign those functions, prove them and retain the required professional documentation.