A well and children: the only question that matters

What the law says

There is no “well regulation” in France the way there is a swimming pool act: the legislature has never specifically regulated private wells. But the silence of the standard does not protect the owner — quite the opposite. Article 1240 of the French Civil Code (formerly 1382, liability for things in one’s keeping) places the consequences of a fall on the keeper of the structure, and the case law is consistent: an unprotected well accessible to third parties, and to children in particular, engages civil liability — and criminal liability where negligence is established. Holiday lets, gîtes, gardens adjoining a school: insurers know this, and they require the well to be closed.

If you own a French property but live elsewhere, this applies to you exactly as it applies to a resident owner. Liability follows the property, not the postcode of the person who holds the keys — and a well in a garden let out over the summer is precisely the configuration insurers look at first.

What actually protects

Three criteria separate real protection from false reassurance. Bar spacing: 9 cm maximum between bars — beyond that a small child gets their head through. That is the figure in the guardrail standard, and the figure we build to throughout. Resistance to being opened: a lid that is simply laid on lifts off, and a swivelling latch can be worked; you need a cover anchored at four points and, if access must remain possible, a padlocked hasp on a proper hatch. Mass: our covers weigh 25 to 60 kg — nothing a child, even several of them, can shift.

The lightweight shop-bought lid fails all three: it lifts, it slides, and it degrades in full sun. It reassures the adult who put it there; it does not resist the child who wants to see the water.