Work for plumbers/electritions in france

[nankie]

Hi, i'm new to the forum. Myself, my husband & 3 children are hoping to move to france if we can find the home of our dreams & of course work for my husband. I am a full time mum/house wife but, my husband is a plumber & an electican. Is there much work for this trade in France & if so is it easy to find & pay well? Are there any other French qualifycations he may need to have. We will be bringing my horse & my sons pony. Are there many good equestrian centers in the south? We are looking around Carcassonne or Beziers.

[nankie]

I'm guessing nobody knows the state of play of pumbers & electritions then? I thought i saw some where on the web sight that said plumbes were in demand in France but didnt mention where abouts though. If any one has any info i'd be greatful.

[Bevdeforges]

Can't say that I know what qualifications there are for plumbers and electricians in France. There was the big "thing" a couple years about about the "Polish plumbers" invading France with their low fees but it was more a good laugh than a real problem. I suspect the biggest problem is knowing what the local standards are - because I do know of a few situations where people selling their homes wound up having to have work done because the house wasn't up to standards and thus the sale couldn't be completed.

Not sure exactly what you mean by "equestrian centers" but there are lots of places where you can board your beasties - not only in the south. Horses are a popular recreation here and lots of people have horses. You will have to register your horses with the national Haras in Pompidour (I think it is). We've got donkeys and they've recently made registration and chipping mandatory for them, too, so I suspect it's a requirement for horses.
Cheers,
Bev

[nankie]

An 'Equesrtian center' is basicly a big stable yard where they keep horses & hold competitions. My horse is chipped & has a passport which is now needed for all horses/ponies & i think donkys now in the uk. I show jump & cant wait to get to france to compete as i did in italy for 2 years.

My hubby is also an electrition. He has all the qualifications & certificates which the French like (?). But i'm not sure if he'll need to take any other exams (as they do in australia - some sort of safty exam). Any info would be great!!

[giantpanda]

Hi!

There is a lot of work for qualified plumbers and electricians.

However foreignors have great problems in settling, all the more so if they do not master the language;

First you will have to learn the French standards.

And if you register your own firm, you have to be aware that in France that little work does not mean little siciual contributions.

So if you do not want to start getting to know the ropes as an employee ( also difficult to get someone to employ you, not because of your qualifications, but simply because in France getting rid of an employee is costly ), you need to contact the local "Chambre des Métiers," who have usually sime short times courses, which are really a minimum.

So important that when you come, you have Health Insurance coverage for all ( are your entitled to a E106, which would give you 2 year coverage ) other you would be required to show up a private equivalent insurance ( before working ) which can cost of Euro 4000 per person/year.

Yopurs,

giantpanda

[nankie]

Thanks giantpanda, thats been really helpful. I think alot of people turn up to a country expecting it to be easy, just because we are in the EU, but i thought there would be alot of things that would need to be done or redone.

My husband is self employed so i guess he would have to register his own firm then & learn the French way of doing things? Is the sime short times course the only thing he would have to do or is there other courses he could take (apart from the French lessons)?

[giantpanda]

Hi!

The short time course ( I think it is only 3 days ) is as far as I gather no even a must, but I would recommend it - unfortunately ( it may locally be an exception ) these are held in French. Otherwise if your husband is a recognized election, there is always a procedure of " reconnaissance des acquis "
( confirmation of your experience ) for the qualification. But here I have no direct experience.
For other professions ( especially for Health ) then is can really be a difficult hurdle.

Because especially electric matters are part of the general diagnostic required for buying and selling estate, and since French have naturally a different approach to electricity, you can not really afford to make mistakes. Although a real check of electrical circuits are only compulsory for new houses, or when a counter is fitted ( on old house, people tend to have the counter dismounted if it is not rented, to avoid the standing charge ), you can possibly expect some few checkers to be biased if the work is done by a foreignor, even if he is registered - unfortunately this is human reaction.

Yours,

giantpanda

Yours,

giantpanda

In France as a tradesman you are also concerned with a 10 year guarantee for the customers, which means a necessary insurance. If course if there are claims, then the premiums increase, and I think these are already relatively high.