Michael Gaisford

When trying to decide who to employ to change your home, you will have to decide on a number of criteria;

1. Competence for the job

2. Price

3. Ability to communicate

4. Quality of finish

5. Availability

and many more.

How can you know whether the builder is competent, trustworthy, and honest?

This remains a problem whether you are talking about English or French builders. There are some people who have employed numerous French Artisans and have only been impressed by their attitude and work. Others have had rather negative experiences.

There are plenty of stories of unreliable English builders, some of whom are not registered, which cause people heartache and less than satisfaction for their money.

The truth is that you are more likely to hear about bad building experiences than good ones. After all where is the story when you say to someone else, I asked the builder to do a job for me and he did it?

Wherever you turn there are good and bad experiences.

If you employ a registered builder there is the legal angle you can follow if you are not satisfied with the work. This option is not possible when employing workers ‘on the black’.

Some clients are not aware that if a they are caught employing black labour, they are the ones who will be heavily fined, much more so than the worker himself. The French way of thinking is that if you can afford to have work done, you can afford to pay a large fine. People who work on the black are often short of money and therefore unable to pay large fines.

There’s some logic there somewhere.

Builders who are registered have to give a ten year guarantee to their work. This is a legal obligation and their insurance will cover them for ten years after the work has been done. (Assurance de responsabilite civile et responsabilite decennale)

I have found living in a fairly rural part of France, that bad news travels fast. If you do a bad job for someone then it is not long before the neighbours know. Generally I would say that if the builder often works locally, you are more likely to find that the builder has a good reputation.

Normally if you are living in France it is much easier to spend time asking around before deciding who will do your work. If you live in England and are trying to renovate a house in France, the risks are obviously higher.

Look on the internet at the forums and other peoples’ experiences.
My advice is to gather as much information as possible before deciding who to employ. If it doesn’t ‘feel right’ don’t do it.