Does registration = insurance?

[Coco]

We were due to have our French macon start work on our barn conversion in the next couple of weeks and then he went and broke his leg!!  So I've been searching for someone who can start before next summer!!!

I've now found three British builders who are all registered (I've checked them out on that website you can use).  However, even though they're all registered, there seems to be degrees of professionalism in the way they present themselves.  Unfortunately, the one who seems to be the most knowledgeable about his trade also outwardly appears the least professional.  He drives a battered old Ford van, still UK registered after 3 years of living here and has so far only offered a verbal devis.  I know that I must get a written one from him before we go ahead but what I also want to know is, just because you are registered, with a siret number, does that also mean that you have full insurance?  I know I could go back and ask him myself but I'd like to get things underway asap and because I have already double-checked that he's defnitely registered I don't want to get off on the wrong foot by making it sound as though I don't trust him if registration also means mandatory insurance.

[Val_2]

Absolutely not. Insurance is a personal thing and obligatory to all who work in the building trades to protect themselves and their clients and of course,to finish the work if an accident occurs and the artisan can no longer work. Once you have done the registration course at the CdM,you are then contacted by insurance companies direct and there are not that many who offer this insurance. The premiums are very expensive and the more trades you carry out and declare to the insurers,the more cover you need. Because of this high insurance,there are many who refuse to buy it and are breaking the law. All artisans should produce a copy of their policy if the client demands to see it and usually on large projects a copy is forwarded anyway with the original devis. If an artisan refuses to disclose and insurance details, I wouldn't use him no matter how professional or registered he is with a SIRET etc, that means nothing to protect you.

[French Novice]

Just to second what Val has already said. Our SIRET registered project manager does not have insurance as we have found out to our cost. Althoug he told us he had insurance, our renovation project has gone badly wrong and we are now left to battle it out in court and hope that he has the money to complete our build for the price on the original devis.

Also don't just check on the website to see if artisans are registered it's worth giving the Chambre de Metier a call to check them out individually.

Make sure you see and take a copy of all paperwork and get it checked out if you need to (language) before he starts.

Bonne Chance!

[Coco]

Thanks both of you.  That will make a big difference to who we choose.  My husband and his friend of quite capable of laying the concrete floor themselves and doing the small amount of stonework that would be necessary.  The reason we "wanted" to pay more for a proper company was to make sure that we had the insurance cover for any structural work that we have done.  So although my husband is doing a lot of the work himself, for digging out and laying the concrete floor (without damaging the integrity of the property) and for putting first floor joists and veluxes in, we wanted proper tradesmen with full insurance. 

The couple who came to see us yesterday have been running their business in France for over ten years and were talking about the high cost of insurance and cotisations and the sad fact that they can't even afford to take on their own son who has just completed his stone-mason's apprenticeship because of the high costs of employers cotisations.  So it looks like we will probably to using them as they seem to be doing everything by the book.

[Jc]

If his vehicle is not insured,then what do you think?

[Russethouse]

I'm playing devils advocate here to a certain extent but isn't there a problem that in any claim your builder is going to blame the work done by your husband, their insurance surely will not cover that or have I read this 'wrong' ?

[Coco]

You could be right Gay but I hope not.  We are getting professional artisans to do all the structural work, my husband will be doing things like dry-lining the walls, laying floorboards on the first floor joists, fitting the shower room, painting, fitting the kitchen etc.  What I am concerned about is that the concrete floor is level, that the soil removed from the barn floor has not been taken down so far that it affects the building's footings, that the drainage works correctly, that the doors and windows all fit correctly without leaking.  I can't see how my husband's (mostly cosmetic) work is going to affect that or the guarantees that go with it all.  In fact our roofer, who is putting in the first floor joists and replacing a couple of beams, was the one that suggested that it would be cheaper for us if my husband then proceeded to  plasterboard the kitchen ceiling and lay the floorboards on the room above himself, and I definitely know that he has ten year insurance.