TerreRouge

Many thanks for your responses Eurotrash, Woolybanana and youself Cathar Tours. I realise that my ignorance is no excuse for the situation I'm in. I didn't understand the significance of the siret or siren. The importance of the devis and these numbers hasn't been highlighted to me by anyone, in all the dealings I've had so far with French agencies including my insurers, in all the books I've read about 'renovating a french house' and even french friends and colleagues, which is why I'm in the dark and asking you good people for advice. But I now get the importance of the siret at least and I'm won't make that mistake again. I think as you say, I will have to ask for the Siret and proof of insurance and go from there. With the amount of trouble and time it's taken me to get this far in this house I have no intention of using any unoffical anything. I need everything up front and transparent. I don't want there to be any excuses not to be allowed to stay after next March for a start...

Dear Forum, I'm a home owner in south France trying (!) to get a house renovated to be able to take guests to generate an income. I apologise upfront for being longwinded... I'm told I talk too much :) So, I have a electrician who has started work on my house but who has stopped because we need other trades to be able to proceed. He has done less than 5% of the overall project so far (agreed and itemised on Devis) but I paid a 29% deposit on signing the devis. The last few times he came (he only seems to work in 2 or 3 hour increments) he told me I need to pay extra money to make the deposit up to 30 or 35% I can't remember exactly. I couldn't understand why even though he kept giving me reasons, I just couldn't make sense of them. I had paid him exactly what he asked me for as a deposit and he certainly hasn't worked or supplied materials to the value of that deposit yet. The last time he visited he became quite agitated and aggressive because I would not give him a cheque for the extra. Up until that point he had worked intermittently for short periods, either turning up without notice and not turning up when he said he would. He always smells very strongly of spirits, first thing in the morning or otherwise. I have already had work related issues and he often becomes bullish and says I cannot have what I want to have done or in the way I want to have it done (I am no trades person myself but have worked with building trades for the last 20 years and think I pretty realistic and adaptable). I have often felt that I am here to please him rather than the other way round. I have been told (since starting work with him) to 'be careful', that he does not finish jobs, that he 'disappears' and now that he went bankrupt a few years ago. Overall, my experience with trades so far has been challenging. At this point I feel quite strongly that the relationship with the electrician has the potential to sour quite severely (or already has) and there is a serious risk that, for the 3rd year running, we will not be able to use our house for guests (to generate much needed income) next spring/summer. I would like to be able to cut my losses and dismiss him or cancel the devis or whatever the term is so I have begun to look into how to do this, with the understanding that the signed devis is legally binding. In this process I am beginning to study the documents I have on file and I cannot see a Siret on any of the devis or factures he has supplied. Immediately I'm concerned that that this means he has no insurance, that he is not paying taxes and that the devis/factures would not be valid (if we wanted to sell the house for example) but does that also mean that the devis I signed is not the legally binding document (regarding dismissal / cancellation) that I thought it was? I'd be very grateful for your collective wisdom and input on the subject.