Working in france wiothout certificates

[cowoman]

Hello we are soon to move to france having just sold our house.My husband wants to be a self employed painter and decorator.He has been doing this in England for over 30 years.he did not take any exams to become a P and D but is very good at his job and was taught through the family run business.How would this affect him working in france?Would he need to get some papers either city and guilds before we come over or is it possible to set up without them as so many do in our country.We want to make sure that it will be possible before we make the move...Any help would be appreciated

[chris pp]

He will not require any certificates or anything else to be a self employed painter and decorator, the fact that he's been doing for that length of time will be more than sufficient. He will however need to attend the short ((5 days) course and register with the Chambre des Metiers, get a siret number and that's about it.

Chris

[cowoman]

Oh thanks for that.I was quite worried but thought he would have to get some certificates before we moved.

[tetley]

Just to be on the safe side, I would try to get some references from clients up together.  Try to prove he has been doing his trade for at least the last 3 or if you can, 5 years.  The clients don't have to point out the quality of the work, just something on paper that has the dates/year and what he did.......and if you can, get it translated.  My husband did this, and he asked his old french teacher to do the translation, and all was accepted at the chambre de metiers.  None of it was 'official', apart from a couple of headed letters from the clients.  You can never bring enough paperwork with you! they will love you for it, honest[;-)]  also, it might help with insurance too.

[P-D de Rouffignac]

I hate to disagree with the previous replies, but according to my sources the trade of "painter" like most other building trades is a regulated occupation in France, along with plumber, electrician, plasterer and carpenter/joiner (see my other reply in this same thread). You might need to double check this through a body called NARIC which verifies the equivalency of non-French qualifications. That said, the other replies are very encouraging and as always there are the rules and also the ways they are interpreted often informally even by official bodies such as the chambre des métiers.

Peter-Danton de ROUFFIGNAC

[Chancer]

The following must be true as I heard it said in a bar!

I was discussing with some Airbus workers being multiskilled or polyvalent and how ironic it was that they are being pressured to work in other skill areas when as an artisan they would be restricted to their registered trade, we went on to discuss the various trades that I have done in the UK and being QBE (qualified by experience) and how you have to a have a BAC for each one in France.

They said "ah but things are changing" which I thought was encouraging but once again I had got hold of the wrong end of the stick due to the language, they told me that from now on a BAC is required to work as a refuse collector.