lostinfens

Many thanks all, there's much there to look into & consider. I was only joking about the newspeak terminology, (eurogood etc). I beleive that as both parties reside in UK & there is ample reference in  his defence to agreements made in UK, then there is litle doubt that a lawsuit over here is practical. As you mention Chancer a major part of his defence is that I left the job invoking an imaginary refund clause :) . The guy is a pathological liar, his defence is pure fiction and I expect to win the case given a fair hearing. However I am a fairly methodical person and approach most problems practically, prefering to leave as little to chance as possible- so I ended up posting here. Shame I wasn't as meticulous in my choice of jobs though innit ? Cheers all

Interesting stuff! - The reason why h&s came up was as follows:- When filling in a small claims form (which can be done online now) there is a requirement to give a brief description of the dispute and its origins etc. In this case the lack of scaffolding was the point of contention which led to my leaving the job, I duly mentioned this to support my claim, also noting on advice that there was a lack of health & safety provisions in general. This is in UK is unnaceptable whether you are a sub contractor or empolyee and as the contract as it were was made in UK it merits mention, but is only as I mentioned a part of the whole dispute. In his defence, the guy that I'm suing claims that the site was up to scratch in French h&s terms, which is a pile of steaming bovine by product, as is the rest of his defence. Is all that clear now?? Frankly I don't give a flying flip about the French safety attitude, I just wanted a downloadable overview of their h&s requirements if there is one. I hope this clears the h&s question up for you Chancer & Sunday Driver. Also, I use the term "mates rates" as a general reference to  favourable rates of pay which are below the norm and often applied to "mates" but not exclusively. Accomodation et al was part of the agreement, the free beer was a light hearted reference which I now regret as I can see that this is one of those humour free europegoodukbad  zones You've lost me a little in your last paragraph Chancer, of course we were not contractors, & seeing that we were not on the cards, then lets assume that we were sub contractors.

We did indeed get a bungalow to wall plate within 2 weeks, using "poteau"? This included a beam & block floor (imported from UK) & all the requisite faffing . Did I mention that it was August when the weather was in the high 30s?. I'm not quite sure what a planned pied (a terre praps) is but I'm sorry that you doubt me, I do have video proof of the job. It really wasn't that difficult, but I thought the design was a seriously flawed mix of French & UK materials. We arrived Mon 10th, started in earnest on Tues & I worked til Thur 20th. Another couple of days & the trusses (also brought from UK) wouldve been up. Ironically I did it at "mates rates" and for the crack - free digs beer & food. Sadly the guy turned into a nobhead wouldnt supply scaffolding for the roof & that was that. As to who employed whom-I think that we were employed by him & he now maitains that h&e was to French standards, which apparently involves the use of "Sky Hooks" when roofing, and said as much in his defence to my claim to the court. Frankly I'm not convinced & intend to make him explain this when the case is heard. This is the reason why I'm intersted in French h&s, he has made a wholly false claim in a plethora of false claims and each one which I can discredit with proof will obviously expose him for the liar that he is. If you still don't beleive me Chancer I'll post some vid on U Tube, but may have to wait until the legal stuff is over.  

I would've thought that H&S was relatively standard across the board, but it does seem that the French have a more easy going attitude. I have to say that I'm not at all a fan of the modern risk obsessiveness  ( Ireally hate hard hats) but do expect a basic degree of facilities on site. The thing is, a guy I'm in the process of suing for work done over there has made the startling claim that the job was up to French H&S standards. It's nonsense of course, he's just attempting to muddy things with his usual bull***t & I would like to expose this in court-hence the thread.  Tried the Chambre de Metiers -couldnt get to grips with it though. Thanks to all contributors -

Did you sat 35000 euros ---ARRRGGGHHH I say again ARGGHHHHHH!!! I am in dispute for about £750 (which is about half the money owed to me ) amd 2 of us threw up the shell of a bungalow in 2 weeks. WTF????? are you people paying for out there? ps the sum includes flight expenses. (jeez!)

There must be some basic standard to which even les cowboys must adhere to though - isn't there?

No replies so far --- What I am aiming to find out is, is there a basic H&S requirement on building sites in France ie first aid toilet facility & does this extend to high vis and hard tops as in UK. Or do the French take a more pragmatic approach "caveat actor" and all that?

Can anyone help me find out if there is anywhere to find a printable version of health & safety regs particularly pertaining to building work in France? Or does anyone have any experience in the minimum standards required, are they comparable with UK or not? I mean as regards employment & facilities required etc. Thx all

Hi All, Anyone know about scaffolding companies, are they as common as in UK, cost etc. Also do they have hire shops in France & are they also as accessible as in UK? Is it common practice to hire & scaffold yourself for smaller jobs, ie 1 or 2 self builds, or better to go with scaffolders? Any input would be helpful-thx.

The downside to monitoring a process of which you may be unfamiliar with is fairly obvious, hence the need for regulated standards. I love working for people who "know a bit"--not! The whole point of any profession or trade is long term knowledge and that small voice inside which pricks the conscience. Since my brush with French building, I am more inclined to the uk methods & yet to be persuaded otherwise. On a footnote, I did spend over 3 years in Germany & Holland & was impressed by the quality of work there.

Errrmmm-- lost me on a few of you terminologicueals (just made that up) in 1st 2 paragraphs, but got the gist of it. Basically the French regulation of buildings is a pile of merde.

I understand what you mean, but in France as over here the tools are only as good as the man using them. The lintols do seem a fair idea, but materials used wrongly -as I saw them being used-they are sub standard. My point is that there seems to be no regular checks on standards. In much the same way, materials used over here are man enough for most jobs if used properly. Add to that the regular and often annoying input of building control and there is less room for unsafe practices .

I am truly astonished at the apparent lack of regulation in France, do they experience an amount of building catastrophes or are they just lucky?

Is there any requirement then to use local or registered builders in France, (I've seen this mentioned on another forum). Or is it acceptable to import UK tradesmen and go to it regardless?

Thx for that. The job I was on corresponded somewhat to the "artists impression" as far as I could see but didn't sit as well on the hillside as it should have.  What is a paperasse etc? The construction was of "poteau ?" blocks if that makes sense, but few lintols were used and a form of U blocks used instead with about 6" sq of reinforced concrete poured inside. These seem an admirable way to form a ring beam, but a poor lintol particularly over an 8' garage opening. Also the wall blocks have specific corner blocks with a large void which locate to accept further reinf crete vertically, which I believe is intended to be attached to the ring beam forming a fairly stout framework. Of course that didn't happen on this job :). But I think you have answered my question regarding regs- but what happens if you sell on a bodge of this nature?

Hi all, I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this query-so let me know if you can. Are there any building controls in France in any way comparable to those in UK, or is it just a case of - if you're prepared to live in it, then build it as you like? I'm aware that there are some planning regulations, are these as lax as I'm led to believe? I've recently been involved in a new build in France & was concerned over the cavalier attitude adopted by the English plot owner/builder. After 2 weeks in which we built the shell of a bungalow, I decided that I couldn't in all conscience continue & left them to it. I say builder in the loosest of terms, he is in fact a Lorry Driver with delusions of grandeur.  What seriously worries me is that he plans to develop an adjoining plot and rent or sell it on. Is this acceptable under French Building laws? Please let me know if this is the wrong place to post this