Stephenlemmon

If you change the colour, you'll need to fill in a "déclaration de travaux" - pretty straight forward document. This should enable to Mairie to check whether your proposed paint scheme corresponds to the urbanisation rules in force.

Also in the long term does anyone know what the job prospects would be like for a good reliable builder? Brilliant, I would have thought - considering how difficult it is to find *any* builder - especially a good one, and especially in the Creuse. Don't forget to get properly registered and insured before working for anyone in France as a builder / tradesman.

I believe that if everything has been properly declared then anyone having worked at least 4 months full time will be eligible for some unemployment benefit. It should be about 57% of the last (net) salary that was earned. It should last for about half the time that was worked. So, 7 months of work should give about 3.5 monhs of unemployment. All rough figures... subject to verification. The documents necessary can be found on this link: http://www.assedic.fr/unijuridis/travail/pdf/NtcA7.pdf Hope that helps. Once the unemployment runs out, then he'll have to see a social worker to get the RMI (minimum insertion revenu). I don't know much about that one. Hope that helps. Stephen.

Hehehehe. You are a funny, funny man Miki. This coming from the guy who picks a fight with almost every poster on the forum. Genius. You must be so bored. OK. You can't get the link to work. Of course you can't. "A titre dérogatoire, lorsque la carte grise existe mais est temporairement retenue par un tiers dans le cadre d'une procédure contractuelle, les contrôleurs peuvent, sous leur responsabilité et en prenant toutes précautions nécessaires, réaliser la visite technique au vu d'autres documents que ceux visés ci-dessus, dans la mesure où ces documents permettent l'identification du véhicule. La désignation du document présenté au lieu de la carte grise doit figurer sur le rapport de contrôle et dans les enregistrements informatiques relatifs à la visite. A l'issue de toute visite technique, le contrôleur, ou toute autre personne du centre de contrôle désignée par une procédure spécifique Réseau (ou spécifique Centre pour le cas d'un centre non rattaché), appose sur la carte grise ou la fiche de circulation provisoire, à l'exclusion des autres documents susvisés, à l'emplacement réservé à cet effet, un timbre dit timbre carte grise conforme aux dispositions de l'annexe II du présent arrêté. Ce timbre doit indiquer notamment la date limite de validité du visa, c'est-à-dire la date au-delà de laquelle le véhicule ne peut être maintenu en circulation sans avoir été soumis à une nouvelle visite, ainsi que la lettre A, S, ou R, selon, respectivement, que les défectuosités constatées, s'il y en a, ne justifient pas une contre-visite, justifient une contre-visite, ou que le véhicule est non roulant. Dans le cas dérogatoire visé ci-dessus, la carte grise doit être présentée dès que possible au contrôleur pour y porter les informations définies ci-dessus." I thought that someone like you would want it from the horse's mouth. Let me know if you need help with the translation, or if you are experiencing technical difficulties with your hygienic paper.

Come on - I'm getting bored. I've just read it all. And in French - not bad for someone who should be congratulated on getting his car MOT'd

Sorry, try this instead: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ Happy trawling!

This might help, Miki: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/RechercheSimpleArticleCode?commun=CROUTE&code=&art=&exp=controle%20technique I'll be here on the edge of my seat.

Don't worry about me having trouble importing cars, Miki, I get by. I'm sure you have no problems at all registering your Citröen C3 or similar generic kak from whichever neighbouring country you buy them in. Try importing a real car and see how easy it is when they've never even heard of the *make* It does sound like you are in love with your sticker and your CT guy / ex-scrapheap man who I am sure is the leading authority on automobile administration and little known legal trivia. I hope he's not laughing at you too much every time you leave after requesting another useless sticker. Hehehe. Or maybe the poor guy thinks that if he gives the crazy english guy whatever he's pointing at he'll go away without dribbling too much on the floor. If it's a law then you'll be able to find it if you try... Go on. This is the age of internet, after all, eh? But then, I'm sure you know so much more than I do - and probably everyone else, right Miki? Of course you do! People like you always do! Congratulations. I hope you and your stickers will be very happy together.

No, sorry, Miki, *you* are wrong. 1. You buy your car. 2. Do your paperwork - the prefecture will transfer the date on the sticker you are talking about (that the previous owner's CT station will have put on there) and they print the same date on the new carte grise. 3. You do *not* go back to the CT station where the car was inspected (or any other for that matter) and ask them to put a new sticker over the printed date on the carte grise and you do not collect 200 euros. Silly! It's not a conspiracy - it's a very simple procedure and, honestly, not designed to catch unsuspecting motorists out. Thousands of people do it everyday... Stephen.

So what happens when you change your address and you have to get a new carte grise?

In my experience importing cars into France, you get the Controle Technique, then you do the thing at the DRIRE, then you go to the prefecture who look at all the documents and print you up a new Carte Grise with the date of the next CT printed in the box on the Carte Grise where the infamous vignette should go. So no need to go back to the CT place and get them to rectify the CT. Unless, that is you want to hide the origin of the car. In case of dispute, the VIN can be used. However, for those who are as unfortunate as I always seem to be, the time that the DRIRE gets its backside in gear and does their thing, it'll be time to get a new CT anyway! Stephen.

Dick, I knew I recognised you!

CD's too, frequently.

As far as I'm aware, a private individual doesn't pay road tax on their vehicule(s) in France. If you register the truck (or other) in the name of a company, though, you'll have to tax it. Registering vehicules here is always fun :-) Enjoy!

La Poste is a nightmare - and this is generally recognised by most French people who wouldn't dream of opening an account there. They are utterly inflexible and unforgiving and the only advantage with using them as far as I can see is their appealing mortgage interest rates. The only bank I have come across that does not charge for receiving foreign transfers is Barclays. Indeed, I like most things about their current accounts with the exception of the limited number of branches. I receive money with my Barclays account then transfer it to another French account. Total cost = 0.00 which is just the way I like it. Consider changing banks?

We were really pleased with our architect when we got permission for our barn. No problem with communication, reasonably priced and really fast. Try contacting [email protected] I'm pretty sure she works in your area, but check first. Please do mention me if you contact her Stephen.  

And I thought I had a lot of work to do on my barn in the 17! Lots of architectural challenges there - what are you going to do about that huge opening? Whereabouts are you in the 17? Stephen.

If your car / bike has black and white plates then you are not required to change them. If you acquire a vehicule that has them and you subsequently change the registration number (changing department for example) then you have to put the yellow / white plates on. The only exception to this is if you have on your carte grise the mention that your vehicle is a collector item or, it can be inferred, if it is over 25 years old. A lot of places still make and sell the old style plates, a long with all sorts of different style plates, which are not homologated for road use. This should be clearly stated by them as you could be in for a fine if you get stopped by the police.  

I'm pretty sure all gas water heaters have to be vented now. If you buy one it will almost certainly have natural gas injectors and you'd better specifiy that you want the butane / propane injectors too. Make sure you get both sets as they are a real pain to find afterwards. Stephen.

The cheapest mini-digger I have ever seen advertised in France was 5000€ - these things seem to cost a fortune. I guess I'll just keep renting them... You might find a Bobcat for less, though. Stephen.

I don't think fascal stamps exist anymore. Not for registering your car at least. YOu should be able to pay by cheque or cash. Here's a checklist of what you *will* need (presuming it's a French registered car): 1. certificat de cession filled in by the vendor (if you don't have it then fill one in yourself - like I said, no one looks at them) 2. old carte grise 3. the demande d'immatriculation 4. ID (preferably French - carte de séjour or ID card, not sure if driving licence is acceptable) 5. If you don't have N° 4 then take a passport and some proof of address. They like utility bills to proove address. Attestation from the notaire should work, too. 6. The ''certificat de non-gage" that the previous owner will have given you. If he hasn't he's naughty but you can get one off the internet or at the prefecture. You should be OK with all that. Your controle technique needs to have been done at most 6 months previously. If not the vendor is very, very naughty and you'll have to get the car inspected before you can register it. Good luck!

As far as I'm aware, no translated version exists. it's a pretty straightforward document though. Here's a rough and ready translation that should help you fill it in: Tick "Certificat" if you're registering a car that you bought, "Duplicata" if you're replacing a lost carte grise, "Changement de domicile" if you're changing the carte grise after moving house, "Rectificiaton" if you're correcting an error on the carte grise. Demandeur (you) : Mr, Mrs, Miss, Company, Garage, Mr & Mrs, etc. SUrname (or company name) First name(s) Used name: ignore this Alias: Ignore this and the boxes underneath unless it's a long term rental SIREN number if you're registering in the name of a company Tick a box that corresonds to your living (i find this irrelevant so I choose one at random - no one ever looks at these forms anyway) Place and date of Birth: date - town - department (leave blank if born outside france) - country Address: Street N° - type of street (rue/avenue etc.) - Street name - Post code - TOwn Ignore the bit that says "cadre reservé..." Choose the colour of your car: clear / dark - black / brown / Red, etc. Other information: The Control Technique (inspection) date (see carte grise) Result of the inspection: leave this blank - they'll sort it out Current reg. N°: Date of acquisition: Fait à: Your town le: date Sign. And you're done. Any problems let me know. Stephen. Surname, first name(s), address etc (as above) of the

It was 800 euros after buying all the accessories too - adjustable feet, stabilisers, etc. We're pretty happy with it. It quite happily held 2 of us while we ran around throwing tiles at each other.

You need to tell your DVD, video and digibox that the TV is 16/9 so that it send the appropriate signal to the TV. I found that if you pass your DVD / digibox via the video this signal sometimes gets lost. Try plugging them directly into the TV to test this. Presumeably you are using SCART, right?

You should be able to get some 6m stuff at Bricodepot for not much. We bought our direct from the manufacturer, FEM, who have a truck that roams all over France. They bring it to your front door and if you don't like it you don't have to pay anything. Our 8m high by 4m wide scaffolding was cheaper than Bricodepot. If you call them on 04.77.59.60.41 they'll fax you a catalogue. Stephen.