Stefan Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 AllI apologise if this topic has been has been covered in a previous thread but.....DDE require drawings of an extention we are planning...a prospective builder claims his mate, who is not a French registered Architect, can produce said drawings and "get an architect friend to stamp them.." I seem to remember that in an earlier thread (which I now cannot seem to retrieve) such practice was contrary to French Law - anyone got any experience/opinions/better still chapter and verse on this before I plod off to DDE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idealfrance Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 The risks for yourself are minimal - it's the architect that's taking the biggest risk by facing being struck off the register if he gets caught out. If there is any problem during the construction that is due to the planning permission then it could get messy in terms of insurance and liability. No self-respecting architect would stamp another persons drawings without getting involved in the project and anyone willing to take this kind of risk may well neglect to declare the project to his insurance company... He'll probably need paying, too, and you may find that the price difference with a "real" architect is not as great as you think. You would also have the added bonus of having someone design your house to add value to it rather than a builder who will design it to make his own life easier when building it. Ben Symonshttp://www.idealfrance.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcazar Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Personally, I'd not go there, for the reasons stated above. You could also find you'd wasted time and energy and your drawings were rejected by DDE.Best to do as I did, and get someone to do it properly. If you post on here, as I did, you may find someone to do it cheaper..........I got my costs down from €6000 to €2000Alcazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piprob Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 If your extension will bring your living area to 170 square meters, you must employ a qualified architect. If less than 170 square meters, you do not need professional prepared plans - reputable builders will know what drawings are required and many will prepare them for you. Having said this, no one is going to attempt structural alterations without advice from someone qualified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted October 20, 2004 Author Share Posted October 20, 2004 AllThanks for the information, we had a feeling the builder was either unsure of the regulations.....I'm sure he wasn' being economical with the truth. Fortunately we have just found a proper architect so we'll be safe and use him RgdsStefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted June 8, 2005 Author Share Posted June 8, 2005 AllI'm belatedly bringing this back to the top because perhaps some of you may be interested in what finally happened (?)About six weeks after our one-off discussion the builder in question reappeared out of the blue with some elevation drawings, claiming they were what we wanted. Despite the fact that he was not told to do anything other than a few sketches, had no agreement with us,( no Devis), had not taken measurements of the existing house and had not discussed our plans or his ideas with us he insisted they were what we needed..........When we pointed out the error of his ways he rather unpleasantly demanded, verbally, €1000 "in cash, tomorrow"!!!Despite trying to engage in meaningful discussions with this toerag we were met with complete obstinancy and eventually an inflated facture for €1800, followed a few months ago by a summons to attend the local tribunal for failure to pay.Points used by our Advocat in our defence were the lack of a devis, the fact that the chap was completely unqualified to draw the plans and also the fact that the architect signing up such plans was acting illicitly. Happily today we heard we have won - though given costs it's mainly a moral victory.We now know this chap and his partner have made a living doing building and related work for the ex-pat. community and his attitude seems to have been fashioned by his assumption that the ex-pats. are either non-resident and won't look too hard at his paperwork, or are too unsure of French Law to fight him when they do have a problem.What we have learnt should be blindingly obvious, but in conclusion:1. Employ an architect for drawings If your property area is/will be above 170 sq. Metres.2. Check SIRETS.3. Get a Devis. No Devis, no contract.4. Use Registered post (envoi recommandé) for all non-trivial correspondence. Thanks for all the advice fellow forum members gave us, both on this thread and elsewhere, our current Architect from Pamiers(09) is a charming and competent chap - wished we had found him earlier.Happy renovating.Stefan ( in Northern 09 if it's of interest :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcazar Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Just out of interest, was this toerag builder a Frenchman, or British? Or neither?Alcazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Alcazar First thanks for your advice a few months back.I'm a bit mindful of being "done" for naming and shaming.....however the "boss" and his partner were of the same nationality and were neither French nor British.............Just to add to my previous comment about SIRETS - these two gents are registered with the authorities, what we belatedly discovered was that they were only "SIRETed" to do basic building work, as artisans, they are not even registered as maitre d'oeuvres, yet in addition to being budding architects they were claiming they could supervise all the subsequent building work.IMHO we had a very lucky escape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chegerty Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 Just out of interest, would you be able to let me know which architect you are using in Pamiers? Catherine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted June 10, 2005 Author Share Posted June 10, 2005 CatherineCheck your PMs for the info.RgdsStefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.