Definition
The prefecture declaration is the whole administrative process that precedes a fireworks display subject to CERFA 14098: assembling the file, sending it to the prefect and the mayor at least one month ahead, exchanges with the services consulted and receipt of the acknowledgement. The French regime is declaratory rather than an authorisation: once the period has run, the administration's silence is not a formal consent, but the display may go ahead if no ban has been notified. Prefectures consult, as the case requires, the fire service, civil aviation, the gendarmerie or the maritime prefecture, and may impose conditions. Some require an online submission through a dedicated procedure, others paper mail; the one-month period is a minimum, and during droughts a prefectoral order may suspend displays even when properly declared.
In practice, for the display company
Every prefecture has its habits: address, online procedure, extra documents. PyroDesk knows all 101 departments, suggests the right channel and address for the job's venue, tracks the state of the declaration (to send, sent, acknowledged, conditions) and warns if the acknowledgement has not come back fifteen days before the show.