Getting a qualified relative from UK to work on your French property? Yes or No?

[le rouge]

All the work on my house up until now has been done either by myself or by French artisans. I have employed roofers, electricians, builders (macons) and plumbers. I may be lucky but I have been pretty happy with all the work that has been done so far.

I am now embarking on a separate building in the grounds of the main house. This is an outhouse, washroom and garage that I wish to convert into living accomodation. The first job will be to re-roof it.

My brother-in-law has his own building firm in UK specialising in carpentry (this includes roofing, windows, doors, staircases etc). He has expressed a desire to do the roof on my outbuilding during 2008. He would bring with him his 2 partners from the same company.

Reading the posts on this forum I am concerned as to how I, and indeed they,stand legally to do this work. I would pay them and everything would be undertaken in the same way as if they were doing work for me in the UK. No cash deals! I know there is the problem with TVA as they would not benefit from the reduced rate when buying materials.

Can anyone give me advice as to whether or not to pursue this? I could get my last roofer to do the job but I would also like to give my brother in law the work (as well as a bit of a holiday).

Can we form a French company and register to do this work and thus benefit from the reduced TVA? Will we be accused of robbing the French workers of their due? In the meantime I will be employing more French workers to complete the renovations on the actual house.

I dont want to upset anyone or do anything illegal I just want the work done in the best possible way and in as short a timescale as possible.

[Nick Trollope]

It can be done, but it would be very expensive;

Building is a regulated trade and your BIL would need to be registered here (and insured) - either in his own right, or as a "branch" of his UK business. This registration takes time and money.

There is no reduced-rate TVA on materials purchases - only on the sale by (registered) Artisans, so you would lose out by 14%.

If you don't do this, he/they will be working illegally.

TBH, you best bet is to get him to do the work (he is more-or-less entitled, as a family member) and leave his blokes at home. You would still need to arrange insurance, lest he fall off the roof, or drops some of it on a passer-by - speak to your household insurance broker.

 

[Val_2]

Nick is right.The other problem is that should the neighbours decide to report your relative or someone you unwittingly upset,then the gendarmes and authorities will descend on you and you will be fined and possibly face prison,no joke as it is taken very seriously here regarding employment,insurances,cotisations and medical cover. You ask any french person who wants to pay a worker cash,they will not have them working where they can be seen.

[Boiling a frog]

For starters it would not matter a jot who you employ you would pay TVA at 19.6% as it is not an existing house.

It is perfectly legal for a buisness in the UK to work in France without registering as long as they follow a few rules

The contract must be made in the UK and payment made in the UK  

The enterprise cannot employ any french resident

The enterprise cannot have a base in France

The work carried out is incidental to the main work in the UK ie you cannot start up a coy in the UK and then do all your work in France

It seems that you would qualify on all counts

Just make sure that they all have public liability insurance and personal insurance in case they injure themselves.

 

[le rouge]

Thanks 'Boiling a Frog' (interesting name but I digress....)

Good point about the TVA. Yes it will go from a non-habitable building to habitable so yes you are correct. Obviously the Taxe d'hab will change and I would need to inform the Mairie and get planning permission anyway.

Sounds like good news. Will investigate further.

Cheers.

[Nick Trollope]

BaF

This is not the first time you have suggested this, but you haven't given (or at least I haven't seen) the legalities behind it. I can't see how this approach overcomes the requirement for French-underwritten insurance, for example.

Yes, there are work-arounds for commercial projects by multi-nationals - but I can find none for "private" projects.

How is it done?