From Reporter Issue 82 

MEN ABOUT THE HOUSE

Getting the builders in? Jill Penton-Browne offers some advice 

EWell, I say builders — in fact, I'm thinking of any occasion when you need to get help from professionals for work in your home. If you're like me, this is pretty often. I can't drive a nail in straight and my husband is much the same. So if we've got a dripping tap or a window that stubbornly refuses to shut we have to find someone to do the necessary. When you move, of course, there can be really big jobs to do. However much you like your new place, there's always a strong compulsion to make changes.

After a couple of decades of living here I've heard many a tale of woe from those who've had bad experiences with ouvriers and artisans — although sometimes their problems have been self-inflicted. To start with you've got to deal with possible administrative aspects of any work you have done. Obviously, that doesn't apply to dripping taps and wonky windows but in many cases you need permission. For example, any work that changes the external appearance of a building requires to be approved by the mairie. This involves making a dιclaration de travaux and that means a dossier containing a plan of the house, a sketch or photograph of the existing section to be modified and a diagram illustrating the proposed change.

Be careful, too, with internal reshaping of your home. Imagine, for example, you decide to turn your garage into an extra room or a studio flat. This needs permission from the mairie since it entails an increase in living space — and thus of local tax liability. According to Phil Heinlein in our last issue, if the local authorities don't reply within a month you can just go ahead. Maybe that's the letter of the law but I'd say you'd do better to persist with your demand rather than taking their agreement for granted. Another point: for some kinds of larger work requiring a permis de construire you are obliged to use an architect. Check this out. Also don't forget that if you live in an apartment block you have to get leave of the syndic for any external modifications — from erecting a satellite dish to putting in new balcony railings

You've decided what needs doing — from dealing with a wonky window through a total interior paint job to adding on a new room at the back of the house. So who do you get to do the work? I took the opinion of a British builder who's been in business here for over 25 years: "First check that your man is set up legally — that he's got Chamber of Commerce registration and that he has proper professional insurance. These details should be on his headed paper. If you've got any sort of doubt call up the Chamber — we've had one or two sharp operators here using bogus numbers. Remember: if he's not legal you've got no claim against him. On the other hand, if he's straight you're covered by the insurance even if he later goes bust — and that for up to ten years." "Most have been honest"

How can you check a man's competence? "Ask how long he's been around. Ask for references and — if it's a sizable job — try to go and look at samples of his work." And what about the choice between local and English-speaking builders and artisans? "Well, if anyone's going to do a runner it'll be a foreigner but that's rare and if you've done your checks you wouldn't be using such a guy. Obviously, the big advantage of dealing with Peter rather than Pierre or Ole rather than Olivier is that communication is much easier. Even if your French is good, you can have trouble discussing things like tiling, wiring and roofing. In my own years here, by the way, I've come across very few French artisans in the Mayle mould — sly, dishonest, incompetent, ever ready to rip off the foreigner. With anyone you don't know be wary, do your checks, but most builders and artisans I've dealt with, local or foreign, have been honest."

What about cost? Work doesn't come cheap — you've got to factor in time, transport, materials and tax. Always get two or three estimates for a bigger job, and watch out for any quoted price which seems oddly modest — perhaps the man's not up to it and doesn't get much work. Also sort out the likelihood of overruns beforehand and what will be done about them. Anyone doing surgery on a house may turn up nasty surprises which may lead to higher costs. As you may have read in these pages, many jobs have become cheaper since the rules relating to VAT were changed some time ago. Briefly, normal repairs now attract the lower rate of X while new construction — like that extra room out the back — get the rate.

Talking of VAT, it's sometimes suggested that this element in the overall bill for work can be cut by buying your own materials. True — since professionals effectively pay a higher rate of tax on such purchases than the ordinary customer. But there's a snag: if something goes wrong, the builder or artisan can blame the materials while disclaiming responsibility for their defects; at the same time the supplier will offload liability on to the man who used them. A neighbour of mine had exactly this problem.

And what if you decide to take courage and do it yourself? Well, successful bricolage needs more than just enthusiasm. It requires skills that don't come by inspiration. As my local British builder put it, "For those who really know how, let them do, but as for the rest they often make a mess and people like me get called in to clear it up."

© Jill Penton-Browne 

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