The geographical reference of the BPE base in evolution 2016-2021 is the Official Geographic Code (COG) of the "active" municipalities on January 1, 2021, both for the 2021 data and for those of 2016.

Thus, the BPE in evolution 2016-2021 is in geography 2021.

The data is disseminated throughout France, excluding Mayotte.

In communes with arrondissements (Paris, Lyon and Marseille), the data is disseminated at the level of the arrondissement. The district is then considered as a commune.

For different reasons, two vintages of BPE are not immediately comparable. The analysis of the morphological evolutions of the territories and their potentialities of accessibility from the BPE has therefore long been strongly discouraged. Indeed, to estimate in the temporal comparisons what concerns a change of nomenclature, a change of source, a change of quality in the source or finally a real evolution of the services and equipment accessible in the ground is particularly complex.

However, in order to meet the needs of users of BPE, assessments are carried out each year to determine the conditions under which it is possible to use the BPE in evolution.

Each year, the distribution of BPE in evolution:

• covers two years spaced at a five-year interval;

• concerns a limited number of types of equipment considered, over the period concerned, to be the most stable from the point of view of their definition, outline, construction, etc. ;

• excludes types of equipment relating to National Education (in the field of education, only equipment relating to agricultural education is disseminated in evolution);

• is carried out in the geography of the most recent year.

Thus, the BPE in evolution 2016-2021 is in geography 2021.

The BPE in evolution 2016-2021 covers 119 types of equipment and just over one million items of equipment.

Following the expertise carried out by the BPE team, each type of equipment is characterized by the status "without reservation" or "with reservation", relating to its evolving use.

In accordance with the results of these expert appraisals, metering is to be avoided on the finest geographical levels for certain types of equipment. The distribution of a presence/absence indicator on the zone considered is to be preferred.

The impact of the replacement of the SIRENE source by the SIRUS source in the evolving BPE 2016-2021

From BPE 2021, facilities previously from SIRENE are extracted from SIRUS, with the same identifier, the Siret number. Production of the evolving BPE 2016-2021 required to redress the bases of past vintages with SIRUS data.

The user having individual data from the BPE 2016 (published in 2017) will not be able to compare or reconcile the contents of the two bases: the BPE 2016 contains data from the SIRENE source and the evolving BPE 2016-2021, data of SIRUS.