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Finding work and registering.


tired
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My partner and I have moved to France (79) and he would like to ask a question or two. He has been a kitchen fitter (self employed) in England for 10 years, covering all aspects, plumbing, tiling and wiring. Carpentry is his trade though, and through this has covered all aspects of the construction industry, from small jobs to entire refurbishments.

How difficult is it to register here, how would he go about registering, what sort of questions etc would be asked, or how would he go about finding work, maybe with a company.

Any help would be gratefully recieved.

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Hi Emma,

The major question is,,, is your man qualified? as you say that carpentry is his trade I am assuming the answer is yes, then he has to get his qualifications translated for the Chambre de metiers.

However if the answer is no, then carpentry is not his trade. & he will have to prove that he has been carrying out the job by way of references etc.

The registering process is the easy part, the following weeks were tough ones, I can understand why the french have such large post boxes!

 

[quote user="Emma"]

My partner and I have moved to France (79) and he would like to ask a question or two. He has been a kitchen fitter (self employed) in England for 10 years, covering all aspects, plumbing, tiling and wiring. Carpentry is his trade though, and through this has covered all aspects of the construction industry, from small jobs to entire refurbishments.

How difficult is it to register here, how would he go about registering, what sort of questions etc would be asked, or how would he go about finding work, maybe with a company.

Any help would be gratefully recieved.

[/quote]
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[quote user="beryl"]

Have you tried doing a search? I think that might be a good place to start.

There are lots of new members today with some very demanding questions - did you all meet up on the ferry?[:)]

 

[/quote]

The original poster has been a member as long as you have, was that comment necessary?

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[quote user="Dotty Trois"][quote user="beryl"]

Have you tried doing a search? I think that might be a good place to start.

There are lots of new members today with some very demanding questions - did you all meet up on the ferry?[:)]

 

[/quote]

The original poster has been a member as long as you have, was that comment necessary?

[/quote]

 

I didn't mean anything untoward, hence the smiley face. Rather that I was under the impression that the poster was undecided as whether her partner should go self employed or try and get a job. I thought doing a search would help her narrow down those options a little bit.

I know when I hadn't a clue about filling in my tax form this year, I could have listed a great many questions that I needed answers to. However, I found that by doing a search, I could find the answers quicker than waiting for my post to be answered . I then limited my questions to what was unclear or things that I couldn't find the answer to.

I apologise Dotty Trois  as you clearly have taken offence at something that didn't really concern you.

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No offence taken at all.

I think your reply was probably very helpful, its just why add the coment at the end.

Sure there are some new members asking lots of questions, but we were all new members once, asking lots of questions about moving/living/existing in France.

Lets not be too hard on them.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

If he has paper qualifications these will need to be translated. If not he will need to proof that he's run a business before - ie. at least 3 years worth of accounts, again these "might" have to be translated, or you might get away with a translated letter from your UK accountant stating the work he has undertaken in the past. You will need to go to the Chambre de Metiers to register and have an agonising wait to see whether all the paperwork is acceptable! It costs to register each activity you want to undertake - assuming you can proof you can do the different trades ..  

My husband registered as a carpenter & roofer this year. Fortunately we have an excellent accountant who sorted out all the paperwork for us and dealt with the Ch de Metiers. My advice would be to find a good accountant to help you. Just bear in mind that once you have registered the cotistations start regardless of whether you are earning. This can be expensive - social contribution, pension, health, public liability & 10 year guarantee, plus van costs etc .. You need to have some pennies in the bank to see you through the early stages.

The other alternative is to go to your local construction job agency .. in my area there is a lack of tradesman and there seems to be plenty of work, though not necessarily well paid.

If you want any more info, drop me a line.

Good luck

Steph

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Thank you Steph, firstly for your information, and secondly for actually keeping to the thread. As you may have seen above, it was hijacked, which is why I lost interest in it!

Thankfully my OH has got all of his accounts backdating to nearly 10 years, so that part won't be a problem, and he knows he can get written references for work etc undertaken previously.

Silly question..... how do we find the local construction agencies? I have trawled through online at all sorts of French agencies, but can't find anything specific. If it is any help, we are in 79! 

 

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If it's the carpentry part of his experience that he is looking to use, try searching Yellow Pages for "menuiserie".  I found over 400 listed in 79.  Including 10 who specialise in "installation de placards" which is not so very different from fitting kitchens, I guess.

Or use the English language version of Yellow Pages online and search for carpenters or whatever:

Yellow P

No good looking for "construction agencies" - you need to look for a specific trade like menuisier, plombier, etc.  I'm presuming communicating in French is not a problem for him?

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Glad I managed to get your post back on thread! As mentioned try searching for Menuiserie, Manpower exists here so might be worth doing a search for them - not sure if they have construction jobs - maybe try a search for "agence de placement construction". Also, buy you local paper and look under the job ads - our local paper often has ads from the agencies. Or just go to your nearest big town and look in agency windows, you'll soon find which ones are for construction. And, perhaps go and have a word with your Mairie - he/she will be able to advise on agencies etc.

The one advantage of being employed is that you don't have to worry about finding the money for cotistations etc, but if your OH has been self employed he might find it a bit restrictive being on the "9-5", but it would be a good experience - learn different techniques and improve French, plus get to meet other people in the trade and then maybe register self employed at a later date. We don't regret registering the business, this first year has been a bit of a struggle but it takes time to get your name around - 10 months later and things are going well, just have to be disciplined with money etc as there's always another bill to pay!

Steph

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