How can you find a reliable craftsman for your home improvement projects in France? Rosie Ellis shares her five top tips for success
Surrounding yourself with reliable professionals is essential to the success of your renovation project anywhere in the world, and each country has its own set of standards and regulations you would expect your artisan to adhere to.
When planning a project in France, however, ensuring you have not only found a tradesperson who can understand your vision, but is also well-versed and qualified in the requirements needed to complete the works can seem daunting. Invariably, many revert to the tried-and-tested word-of-mouth method that seems to work so well back home. However, this is not foolproof and you can end up being hoodwinked, should the builder, carpenter, electrician, plumber you were told was ‘great’, ‘cheap’ or ‘friendly’ turn out to have no registration or insurance coverage.
So, how can we in the expat community here in France, try and stick to the path of least risk when employing an artisan to carry out renovations on our French properties?
Here are our five top tips to help you with your search and guide you along the right route regarding the checks and precautions needed.
1 ARTISAN/COMPANY INFORMATION
The first step in finding the right tradesperson for your project is to check that they are registered with the Chambre de Métiers or CMA. To do this, you can simply check directly on the Infogreffe website (infogreffe.fr) using the name of the person or company.
This should provide you with their business address, SIRET number and also tell you the principal activity they are registered to carry out. The KBIS of the company may also be available for you to download for a small fee (€4.86). This is an official document and provides more detailed information.
Alternatively, if the tradesperson is a sole trader under the ‘micro-entreprise’ regime, then you can request a copy of their INSEE document, issued by the CMA, which confirms their registration as a tradesperson in France.
2 PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Next, check their professional qualifications. Firstly, there’s the RGE label. If you are having energy renovation work carried out in your home, the ideal situation is for your craftsman to be a Reconnu garant de l’environnement (RGE), as this makes you eligible for potential financial aid or a reduced TVA rate of 5.5% for those works. Created in 2011, the RGE label guarantees the level of qualification of a professional and the quality of their services in the energy renovation sector. The certification is valid for four years, with a mand
