Crit'Air Sticker

The Crit'Air sticker is the French clean air certificate (certificat qualité de l'air) displayed on a vehicle's windscreen. It places the vehicle in an environmental class, from Crit'Air 0 for electric and hydrogen vehicles to Crit'Air 5 for the most polluting, and tells local authorities whether it may enter a low-emission zone.

How the class is determined

The class is not chosen by the owner and does not depend on the vehicle's condition. It is derived from information on the registration certificate:

• Vehicle category: passenger car, light commercial vehicle, heavy goods vehicle, bus or coach, two-wheeler.
• Energy: electric, hydrogen, gas, plug-in hybrid, petrol or diesel.
• Euro standard: the European emission standard the vehicle was approved under, or failing that its date of first registration.

Two vehicles of the same age can therefore receive different classes: a petrol car is generally better classified than a diesel car approved under the same Euro standard. The oldest vehicles cannot receive a sticker at all and are treated as unclassified.

Where it is required

The sticker is used in two situations. In permanent low-emission zones (ZFE-m), each city decides which classes may circulate and on which timetable restrictions tighten. During pollution episodes, prefects can also impose temporary differentiated traffic, allowing only the cleaner classes on the road. Rules apply to French and foreign vehicles alike, so a carrier or a company sending vehicles into France needs one too. The sticker is only sold through the official government website; other sites charge for the same document.

What it means for a company fleet

For a fleet manager, the Crit'Air class is an operational constraint as much as a regulatory one. A van that loses access to a city centre can no longer serve the customers located there. Good practice includes:

• Inventory: record the class of every vehicle alongside its registration document.
• Mapping: compare classes with the zones the fleet actually enters and the restriction calendar of each city.
• Renewal planning: replace first the vehicles whose routes cross a zone that will soon exclude their class.
• Compliance checks: make sure every vehicle, including pool and replacement vehicles, carries its sticker.

How Dadycar helps

Dadycar is a French fleet management software that keeps each vehicle's registration data and documents in one place through documents management, so the information that sets each vehicle's Crit'Air class is easy to find. Geofencing can draw a low-emission zone and flag vehicles that enter it, while the trip history shows which vehicles drive there. These data feed renewal decisions. A free account covers up to 50 vehicles, and data is hosted in France with OVHcloud.

FAQ

Is the Crit'Air sticker mandatory everywhere in France?
No. It is required to drive in low-emission zones and in areas where differentiated traffic is activated during pollution episodes. Elsewhere it is optional.

Does a company vehicle need its own sticker?
Yes. The sticker is linked to a registration number, so each vehicle needs its own, whoever drives it.

Can a vehicle's Crit'Air class change?
Not with use or mileage. It only changes if the vehicle's technical characteristics on the registration certificate change, for example after an approved energy conversion.