lenny2000

Has anyone got any info on Ground heat systems and air systems?  I understand that the air systems, which have the advantage of retrofit can produce about 80% of warmth needed for heating using low emission Rads or under floor heating.  Is the ground system any better and can it be changed to cooling in the summer? I am very keen to use an eco system on my next project. If you have any info on wind turbines that also would be great.  I know that in the UK the REC must connect you and if say for example you build a 6 or 10kw turbine you can import and export.  Also if you have some sort of comparison tables between Turnine and battery as opposed to turbine and REC, stand alone etc this would be most useful. I know there are lots of Brit electric experts over here coz i heard them talking in the pub. Wooof PS I know it is unlikely that someone will know about water as well as lectric but I want to fit a water purifier in my house.  Anyone know where I could get one and what type is best. I like the look of the salt ones but will that make my water salty?

Does anyone know the difference between OPC and High Allumina when it comes to prestressed situations.  I understand that in Chlorine rich environments OPC is safer as there are cases of HA reacting with airbourne  chlorine. That question to all the Builing experts. Thanks for your help. Also, I am considering building on some soft soil, would you recommend a raft foundation or piles and what would be your reasons? Ta

Hi,  Sorry if this is not the best place to put this post, no offence is intended. I have 3 pigs which I have had for about 16 weeks.  They are reedy for slaughter but I have a little problem. I know that in the UK if the beast is killed on your land (bringing in a butcher) you may not sell the produce to anyone off your land.  If on the other hand you take them to an abattoir you can distribute the meat elsewhere. I really don’t want to move the pigs as this will upset them and potentially damage the meat. I kill our chickens, geese and lambs but I have a real problem killing a pig.  They are very nice creatures and remind me very much of humans in their behaviour…. More some humans than others. Can anyone tell me the rules for killing pigs on one’s own land please? Woof

I was going to put pools in but the cost per pool went from 23k to 30k.  Does that help?. Post edited by the moderators: off topic

NO 6 do not have pools silly billy.

I would like some help reporting a moderator who keeps deleting my posts to do with pool laws.  They will not tell me who they are and will not give reasons.  Is this correct behavior? Ta

Please can anyone tell me the organisation to which I can report violations of the Swimming Pool Safety Laws?

I have 12 cottages in various areas of SW France, 6 of them have pools and as soon as the new Pool safety laws came in I changed my already fenced pools to compliant fenced pools at a very considerable cost (over 45,000 euros!!)  I think the law has its faults in conception and implementation but it is the law and it is there for a good reason. I was planning to put pools in my remaining 6 places but frankly the fence costs make this impossible.  These Gites are now for sale through an agent in SW France. I am staggered to see so many gite owners and gite rental companies still advertising gites without fences.  I have spoken to one company and they completely ignore the issue, they seem to think that they will escape all liability if (when) a death occurs….  Oh how they do not know the French Legal system!!!!!  Basically because I have told them about the issue they have knowledge of it… they make absolutely no effort to even ask advertisers if the pool is compliant……  It is akin to me selling a loaded gun to a teenager and claiming no liability when he shots someone. Many pools have alarms of course and we all know that without 24/7 attendance by an adult within earshot these are non compliant. Many also have floating covers and these to are non compliant if left back when the adults disappear to the kitchen or shops etc (as they so often do). Cheap half solutions to a problem with only one real solution….. a compliant fence. My French neighbour saw my fences (I have two at my main home)  and asked my advise when he built his pool.  I told him about alarms and covers and that they can have problems if the property is not always occupied.  What did he do?  He put up a simple chain fence on three sides and on one side he uses a fir tree hedge!!!  He has an alarm in his 11m pool and it is designed only to work in a pool of less than 10m x 5m!!  He regularly goes away for weekends and the pool basically is a death trap....  I showed him the alarm instructions and read out to him the limits of the alarm but he steadfastly refuses to believe this.  He proves his point by placing the alarm half way down the pool edge and jumping in with a huge splash…. Of course the alarm goes off….    What can I say to him?  “You are a 15 stone lump of lard and a child of 5 is not…”  Is there any point?  There are none so blind as they who will not see!! What strikes me as remarkable is that he knows for certain he is not compliant but thinks he will get away with it if something happens.  He thinks by pleading ignorance of the law he will escape liability....  Incredible!! Look…  No one ever fitted a pool alarm or pool cover because they felt it was the safest option…  They are fitted because they are the cheap options.  This law is about safety of children not economics.  I cannot think of a single situation where a pool alarm would be better than a fence on an out door pool. Of course I see all the hand-to-mouth-ex-pat brigade complaining… “But a fence is too expensive” and “not all of us have loads of money”…  I don’t have loads of money, well not what I would call loads…. .  I wish I did.   I have a few bob and had to borrow money on one of my Gites to pay for the fencing… It is partly why I am selling it and 5 others…  This law took me from a mortgage free individual with a growing property portfolio to an in-debt individual so believe me I dislike it as much as anyone.  Sure I will get past it but I will do this legally.  Think if one of my pools killed a child…  I would lose the lot, along with my liberty. Anyway, you can erect a fence for an 11 x 5m pool for less than 7k now if you DIY.  That means if you go out to dinner one night a week less you could pay for it in just over one year.  If you don't dine out at least three times a week why the buggger did you come live in France?  So you could enjoy the climate whilst eating beans on toast? God poor people annoy me!  They are everywhere, in the supermarkets in their cheap clothing ... in the streets, in the bars.... Brit number plates on cars falling apart and exported years ago to France...   At least one rarely sees them in the good restaurants... When they are there mind they eat the cheapest food and order the cheapest wine... yuk.... One recently tried to have a conversation with myself and my wife....  Can you believe the cheek of the man? Actually though we had something in common because we speak the same language?  He was wearing a short sleeve shirt in mid winter....  Foul little chap with a cheap jewellery laden wife whose expression would turn milk sour....   My poor wife did not know where to look.  Nice accents but no class...  Sorry... I am digressing..... Back to the point People cannot keep ignoring this Law or deliberately misinterpreting it.  The exchanges on this site show that there is a large contingent of Brits who steadfastly refuse to see the facts.  Every day that goes by you risk all.  Open your eyes and your minds..  Get rid of that Alarm or that Cover (unless you have both which of course is pretty safe) and buy a fence, or a ticket.  I plan to start investigating ALL gites and cottages and shall be reporting all non-compliances that I suspect.  Why should an attractive chap such as I have to pay for all this work and the awful hand-to-mouth-brigade not?  Can anyone help?  If anyone has an address or email or telephone number which I could use to report violations of pool safety laws that would be useful. I invite your comment but shall not engage in discussion about this.  What I have said is a matter of fact, not opinion and I never argue a matter of Fact as it is pointless.  Besides I anticipate several of the grubby contingent will have issue with some of my accurate observations and will feel obliged to insult me personally and I never argue with such people, it is as tiresime and as likely to bear fruit as debate with a mentally degenerate monkey.  Bear in mind not a single remark has been made to anyone personally, if you feel some of this applies to you by all means get upset but don't break any rules with personal insults....  These are likely to affect me and make me sad. Argument can not change fact.  Probably best that those with no fence and no money to buy one just stick to personal insults and not address the fence thing. Me..? at Cruffs..? with my reputation??!! Woof Woof! PS For pool fences at discount prices call me on 555 ……..  Just a joke, they are not discounted! For those too stupid (and poor) to realise, much of the text here is serious, that is the stuff about pools...  The other stuff is meant in good fun and it shows how we Brits can laugh at ourselves.  So take the stick from your thingy and lighten up..... Hey, lets ban poor people from this site. 

This is a facinating point.  I have spoken to the RICS at length and they tell me that they can only discipline Members so ironically they have no power to stop others using the title Chartered Surveyor. I am dealing with this mater myself in another way.  The person(s) of whom I may not speak for fear of identifying them are not RICS but claim to be.  The RICS has agreed to send me a headed letter stating this person(s) is not registered.  I shall send that letter to the local authority (which thanks to Will I now know is the Prefecture).  I shall ask why he is allowing this misrepresentation to go on.  I shall also send a copy to all the local French Agents (who are competitors) and a copy with explanation to the French News. Why do I take this trouble.....   Well is is enough for evil to proseper if good men do nowt! Also, I am a Chartered Engineer and know how hard it was to become such.  Also...  I have told these people of my concerns, they have admitted they are not Chartered and they still continue to say they are on their website and literature..... I warned them I would report them and they used a nice accent at me.....  They need to be taught a little humility.....  Let's face it, this is a bloomin lie and it is wrong.... I wonder if they will be changing their website any time soon....  I shall let you know.  Not everyone with a nice accent is that bright and trustworthy.... and not all with a rough one is or arm stupid...... Be careful who you under estimate for they may be betterer than yew.... . Woof Woof.

Thanks Will. Woof Woof

Katie, Unusual to see someone who knowswhat RICS and CIOB is and what the difference is. I was surprised you mention RICS is recognised here in France.  I recently contacted them to report an Estate Agent in France using the reference 'UK Chartered Surveyor' and they told me they could not touch someone in France.  They also told me that even in the Uk it would be Trading Standards who could do something, not the RICS.  I was very surprised at this.  Do you know different? I am keen to get this person to stop using the reference.  I am a member of several Professional Bodies and worked bloomin hard to get there and I really resnt others so easily using professional references. Woof Woof

Hello, If you are trying to find a person who deals in property and is descent and moral then good luck to you.  It's like the Devil said to Saint Paul when God Threatened to sue him..... "Where is he going to get a Lawyer??!!!" Your question concerns the behaviour of an Estate Agent in France.  Many will mention 'Buyer Beware' and so on.  The fact is in UK and France if there is a substantial misrepresentation and you depend upon that misrepresentation to purchase you do have recourse...    See  a Lawyer.  Concealing facts YOU consider relevant is not enough...  It must be a false statement (a lie or so careless as to constitute a lie) upon which you rely. But what about the Estate Agent who does not just lie about the property but lies about himself?  Is there such a thing? One that would lie about their qualifications? …. Surely no one is so stupid. I know a very well 'respected' Agency in Bordeaux which claims to be founded and run by a 'UK Chartered Surveyor'  In fact they are not.  This has been confirmed by the RICS and by the Estate Agent’s husband when I asked.  They admit only ever having been an associate to the RICS (which one may be even as a student).  A Chartered Surveyor is a very different beast to an associate of the RICS.   It is akin to a hospital porter calling himself a brain surgeon…..  I have told them about this but the refuse to remove the reference from their website, this in spite of the fact that they admit to never having been chartered.  This amounts to a deliberate misrepresentation.  They may smugly continue now just as the lamb quietly eats grass whilst the wolves are closing in deliberately oblivious to the fact that for all ill deeds one must, eventually account......  Now if one (vendor or purchaser) were to depend on the person in question to give advise, one might reasonably expect a certain level of expertise, as suggested by the Chartership......  One might then base their decisions on that expertise..... but as that expertise is lacking, a mistake might easily be made. In the Uk if that advise is wrong one may sue the person and that person’s professional indemnity would cover them..... But you can't be insured as a Chartered Surveyor unless you is one.... Would you deal with a person who based their very business upon a blatant, relevant, substantial, misleading lie, who even after being told of the problem refuses to remove the reference.  I would not. The irony is, or seems to be that the RICS cannot stop someone pretending to be Chartered...... Only Trading Standards can do this.... and as the business is based in France the Trading Standards have no teeth here....... or do they? Check out this site...... http://www.euroconsumer.org.uk/ Does anyone know of the organisation which gives estate agent licences in France?  Surely they would take a dim view of this. have to go now to check if they have NOW removed the lie. Woof Woof.....