Will we receive a bill for the devis from a French artisan?

[R&R]

We requested a devis from a Qualisol French artisan for installing central heating.  He called around today with an impressively presented devis for an aerothermic system (his idea initially) but not a comparison for the poele system (our initial request).  The cost is far too expensive for us to accept his devis.  Are we likely to be charged for his work in the devis he has presented?  Any devis we have received to date for different work has been casual in comparison and without charges.

[Gluestick]

If he plans to charge you (normally on the basis that if you accept the Devis there is no charge) the Devis ought normally have the cost stated.

Alternatively, he should have warned you that he was going to charge and the basis for his charge.

 

[R&R]

Thank you for that.

[Anton Redman]

I am pretty sure that if he or she wants to charge you for the production of the devis he or she needs you to sign a devis for the production of the devis.

Mind you the number of people who think it is OK to collect three quotes for less than a day's work I am suprised people have not started charging for them

[Benjamin]

He is probably like a lot of heating engineers at the moment who are

very keen to build up a "knowledge bank" on these type of installations

as they are still relatively rare to find. This probably explains why

he gave such a detailed devis to show you that he knows what he's

talking about.

My son in the UK and his partner have just got

their first really big geothermal system to install. They've done all

the courses, got all the qualifications but there's nothing like on the

job experience.

[La Guerriere]

I've found that French devis are much more detailed than you'll ever get in the UK, and they will identify exactly what they are going to provide etc. And generally, provided you don't change your mind, they will stick with it.

[Will]

I would agree that you shouldn't be charged unless this was agreed beforehand.

Estimates, and invoices, tend to be very detailed in France. It's partly for tax reasons - you can often reclaim various taxes against detailed bills - and partly to do with the decennial assurance, where it has to be absolutely clear what work was both agreed and carried out.