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A circular proposing to issue an interpretation of the rules and laws in order to facilitate projects in the field of housing, urban planning and environment was poorly received by some executives of French state administration. If managers are likely to develop and promote tools that inform and accompany the project leaders (guides, advice), they reject the idea of a variation in the application of law, even if, in practice, some of them, like all street level bureaucrats, interpret and adjust the rules. The article aims to understand this reaction. It appears that managers and instruction agents are more likely to accept the search for an adjusted implementation of rules or standards in situations where they have capacity for action and where formal enforcement is not the only mean of action