Working as electrician in france

[Flash]

Hi Everyone.

I have recently purchased a house in France and was thinking about offering my services as a Electrician when i'm in france but apparently it's not that easy. Has anyone done this and have any advice??

 

[Octopus]

What do you know / understand about the French regs?

 

[The Ghost]

My friends who live in france keep telling me I should come over there is loadsa expats who are frantic to get an English speaking electrician to do sparks work there. I am not too sure about that though I must say.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

if you have the right quals then you can get the reciprocal recognition of them to work and meet local rules. or you could just do what some eastern europeans do here and work regardless of any rules... just saying...

 

[snowhead]

My friends who live in france keep telling me I should come over there is loadsa expats who are frantic to get an English speaking electrician to do sparks work there. I am not too sure about that though I must say.

I suspect to be accepted as a Registered Electrician in France, speaking French would be compulsory.


Note the lack of English option for the page;
électricien installateur / électricienne installatrice - http://www.onisep.fr/Ressources/Univers-Metier/Metiers/electricien-installateur-electricienne-installatrice

How to obtain a comparability statement - http://www.ciep.fr/en/enic-naric-menu/how-to-obtain-a-comparability-statement

 

[Midwest]

I suspect to be accepted as a Registered Electrician in France, speaking French would be compulsory.
Forget all this Harmony rubbish, the French have always hated us and will do thier best to stop us infiltrating thier businesses.

Note the lack of English option for the page;
électricien installateur / électricienne installatrice - http://www.onisep.fr/Ressources/Univers-Metier/Metiers/electricien-installateur-electricienne-installatrice

How to obtain a comparability statement - http://www.ciep.fr/en/enic-naric-menu/how-to-obtain-a-comparability-statement

What if we got some French spark post on this forum; we would expect him/her to write in English and not bang on in French, not that any (well a few might) of us would understand them.

N'êtes-vous pas d'accord (I googled that!).

 

[khellafi]

Hi.
I`m a french electrician if you want to work in France you need to do:

• to obtain a comparability statement:How to obtain a comparability statement - http://www.ciep.fr/en/enic-naric-menu/how-to-obtain-a-comparability-statement
• get the credentials like the jib card here : Habilitation électrique BE - https://www.cnfce.com/formation-habilitation-electrique-be
• and get a social security number(NINO here)

 

[khellafi]

good luck

 

[elsparko]

didnt realise the french even had leccy

 

[Squid]

Sit around all day smoking Gauloises or Gitanes and drinking coffee or red wine thats the only test you need to pass.

 

[Midwest]

Sit around all day smoking Gauloises or Gitanes and drinking coffee or red wine thats the only test you need to pass.

They seem to have a hard life, our French colleagues then.

 

[Alexandre]

I suspect to be accepted as a Registered Electrician in France, speaking French would be compulsory.


Note the lack of English option for the page;
électricien installateur / électricienne installatrice - http://www.onisep.fr/Ressources/Univers-Metier/Metiers/electricien-installateur-electricienne-installatrice

How to obtain a comparability statement - http://www.ciep.fr/en/enic-naric-menu/how-to-obtain-a-comparability-statement

Anybody can do some Electrical work in France as long as he/she has a business registered with the tax and URSAAF (auto entrepreneur, artisan...) now, if you have a jack of all trades business but not registered as a professional Electrician (You have the knowledge but not the CAP diploma, you will not be able to give the "Garantie décennale" which will protect you and your client. Sene qua non condition for your customer to comply with his home insurance.
Garantie décennale en assurance construction - https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2034

Anyway, referring to your statement, French do not hate English more than English hate French ;-) We do not need English to display hate. Being French, I can state that half of France hates the other half, and as my English husband says: "half of France is always ready to con the other half"!!!
My husband and I )))have been looking for an electrician for the last year, some electricians asked to be paid just to give a quote, and if they see that an English person is around, they suppose that we are full of cash. Therefore my husband has been studying the online English book "electricity in your French house" by Thomas Malcolm www.editions-eyrolles.com and went through "l'installation électrique, 6ème Edition" GALLAUZIAUX & FEDULLO chez édition Eyrolles. He is going to do the job, but still needs a registered electrician to get this 'garantie décennale' at the end of the work. And whatever your level of knowledge or experience is in the UK, if you do not know about the French norms, I am not sure that the enic-naric can recognise your aptitudes, as the way it is done here is completely different : the English regulations, circuits... are not the same as the French ones.
Anyway, we intend to look for an English speaking registered electrician in France who can deliver this 'garantie décennale'!

 

[Mike Johnson]

Latest version of the best book of the two mentioned above: L'installation électrique - D.Fedullo, T.Gallauziaux - 6e édition - Éditions Eyrolles - https://www.editions-eyrolles.com/Livre/9782212674941/l-installation-electrique

 

[FatAlan]

didnt realise the french even had leccy

By all accounts well ahead of the curve than us. A few years back we were a net importer from our friends across the Channel. Not sure what the current situation is.

 

[Ian Mills]

Anybody can do some Electrical work in France as long as he/she has a business registered with the tax and URSAAF (auto entrepreneur, artisan...) now, if you have a jack of all trades business but not registered as a professional Electrician (You have the knowledge but not the CAP diploma, you will not be able to give the "Garantie décennale" which will protect you and your client. Sene qua non condition for your customer to comply with his home insurance.
Garantie décennale en assurance construction - https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2034

Anyway, referring to your statement, French do not hate English more than English hate French ;-) We do not need English to display hate. Being French, I can state that half of France hates the other half, and as my English husband says: "half of France is always ready to con the other half"!!!
My husband and I )))have been looking for an electrician for the last year, some electricians asked to be paid just to give a quote, and if they see that an English person is around, they suppose that we are full of cash. Therefore my husband has been studying the online English book "electricity in your French house" by Thomas Malcolm www.editions-eyrolles.com and went through "l'installation électrique, 6ème Edition" GALLAUZIAUX & FEDULLO chez édition Eyrolles. He is going to do the job, but still needs a registered electrician to get this 'garantie décennale' at the end of the work. And whatever your level of knowledge or experience is in the UK, if you do not know about the French norms, I am not sure that the enic-naric can recognise your aptitudes, as the way it is done here is completely different : the English regulations, circuits... are not the same as the French ones.
Anyway, we intend to look for an English speaking registered electrician in France who can deliver this 'garantie décennale'!

Hi I am registered to work here in France I have been for over 10 years have the décennale insurance and siren no. I do not charge for quotes and am in department 47 but have work for most of this year lined up. I tend to do 4,or 5 rewires a year, lots of smaller jobs, extra socket new circuits swimming pool electrical repairs, and fault finding and repairs. Most important you need décennale insurance and the company will want to see you are a electrician and have the correct paper work ,before you could use your English qualifications as you could work anywhere in the EU, I do not know if you can now might be a bit harder

 

[Mike Johnson]

UK national grid status: G. B. National Grid status - https://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/ the UK government has just signed up for China to build us two nuclear power stations at a cost twice that Norway are getting the same MW stations for, also from China, does it make you think there is something else going on.

 

[Alexandre]

Hi I am registered to work here in France I have been for over 10 years have the décennale insurance and siren no. I do not charge for quotes and am in department 47 but have work for most of this year lined up. I tend to do 4,or 5 rewires a year, lots of smaller jobs, extra socket new circuits swimming pool electrical repairs, and fault finding and repairs. Most important you need décennale insurance and the company will want to see you are a electrician and have the correct paper work ,before you could use your English qualifications as you could work anywhere in the EU, I do not know if you can now might be a bit harder

Hi I am registered to work here in France I have been for over 10 years have the décennale insurance and siren no. I do not charge for quotes and am in department 47 but have work for most of this year lined up. I tend to do 4,or 5 rewires a year, lots of smaller jobs, extra socket new circuits swimming pool electrical repairs, and fault finding and repairs. Most important you need décennale insurance and the company will want to see you are a electrician and have the correct paper work ,before you could use your English qualifications as you could work anywhere in the EU, I do not know if you can now might be a bit harder

Hello Ian,
Thank you for your reply. It is a shame you are so far away. We are based in the 17 (La Rochelle), can you recommend anyone in this area?

 

[Ian Mills]

Hello Ian,
Thank you for your reply. It is a shame you are so far away. We are based in the 17 (La Rochelle), can you recommend anyone in this area?

Hi sorry so far away I do not know anyone around there, you could try face book or something like that, you might find someone local but check them out first, I have never used it but I do some work for a builder that gets a lot of work that way but some of the customers he has found are a bit "special"

 

[richardhince]

Just to clarify this a little (speaking as an English électricien in France): a decennale insurance policy is a requirement for operating as an electrician here, as is public liability insurance. If you do your own electrical work, no sensible artisan would subsequently assign his insurance to your work and indeed I don't see how that would be possible. A decennale is an insurance that protects you, the artisan, against claims made against you after the fact, for defects or faults that you caused in the execution of the work.

You could however request a consuel inspection which is an examination of the acceptability of the work done. This is a government service that costs (2021) about 130 euros and would allow home insurance to be validated.

Anybody can do some Electrical work in France as long as he/she has a business registered with the tax and URSAAF (auto entrepreneur, artisan...) now, if you have a jack of all trades business but not registered as a professional Electrician (You have the knowledge but not the CAP diploma, you will not be able to give the "Garantie décennale" which will protect you and your client. Sene qua non condition for your customer to comply with his home insurance.
Garantie décennale en assurance construction - https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2034

Anyway, referring to your statement, French do not hate English more than English hate French ;-) We do not need English to display hate. Being French, I can state that half of France hates the other half, and as my English husband says: "half of France is always ready to con the other half"!!!
My husband and I )))have been looking for an electrician for the last year, some electricians asked to be paid just to give a quote, and if they see that an English person is around, they suppose that we are full of cash. Therefore my husband has been studying the online English book "electricity in your French house" by Thomas Malcolm www.editions-eyrolles.com and went through "l'installation électrique, 6ème Edition" GALLAUZIAUX & FEDULLO chez édition Eyrolles. He is going to do the job, but still needs a registered electrician to get this 'garantie décennale' at the end of the work. And whatever your level of knowledge or experience is in the UK, if you do not know about the French norms, I am not sure that the enic-naric can recognise your aptitudes, as the way it is done here is completely different : the English regulations, circuits... are not the same as the French ones.
Anyway, we intend to look for an English speaking registered electrician in France who can deliver this 'garantie décennale'!

 

[Mike Johnson]

There is a lot of nonsense concerning validation of insurance on most web sites, including this one, you have a contract with your insurance company, they can not invalidate your insurance at any time unless the contract conditions have been breached, either at the time of application for the insurance or during the contract term, what they can do is reduce the amount of any claim due to contributory negligence, but not invalidate it.