Insurance & building control in France?

[TroisChatNoir]

Hi all,

I am an English qualified Bricklayer/Stonemason moved into Region 36

and have recently started restoration work on my Fermette/Granier. I

will be using local tradesmen such as electricians and plumbers/heating

engineers where needed but have recently been concerned that some of

the work I am about to do may invalidate my Assurance. Namely I have

demolished the old chimney which was made of clay pots with 6 inch

nails for wall ties and will be building another chimney for the wood

burner in another part of the house (along with the relevant stovepipes

& flue liner) do I need to have the new chimney inspected by any

authorative body before commissioning? If it were in England I would

need a certificate from the local councils building control official so

if it burnt the house down I would still recieve an insurance payout

but over here I don't seem to hear of any inspections especially from

the English who are doing a lot of the work themselves as a grand DIY

project, which is fair enough until something goes wrong and your

retirement property falls/burns down or the roof comes off in a storm

and the insurance company say they wont pay out as the work wasn't

carried out by an insured French artisanant?

[Nick Trollope]

[quote user="TroisChatNoir"]Hi all,
I am an English qualified Bricklayer/Stonemason moved into Region 36 and have recently started restoration work on my Fermette/Granier. I will be using local tradesmen such as electricians and plumbers/heating engineers where needed but have recently been concerned that some of the work I am about to do may invalidate my Assurance. Namely I have demolished the old chimney which was made of clay pots with 6 inch nails for wall ties and will be building another chimney for the wood burner in another part of the house (along with the relevant stovepipes & flue liner) do I need to have the new chimney inspected by any authorative body before commissioning? If it were in England I would need a certificate from the local councils building control official so if it burnt the house down I would still recieve an insurance payout but over here I don't seem to hear of any inspections especially from the English who are doing a lot of the work themselves as a grand DIY project, which is fair enough until something goes wrong and your retirement property falls/burns down or the roof comes off in a storm and the insurance company say they wont pay out as the work wasn't carried out by an insured French artisanant?
[/quote]

There is no building control or building inspectors in France. The onus is on the property owner to ensure that the job is done right. If your chimney does fall down (and, eg. hurts someone), then your (mandatory) household insurance should pay out. You may have to prove that you did the job properly, however and, if the insurance co believes that you contributed to the collapse of the chimney (and hence the 3rd parties injuries) they may refuse to pay out and the health people will persue you, to the limit of your wealth, for recompense. One reason that some buyers won't buy a property without a complete set of 10-year guarantees.

 

 

[TroisChatNoir]

Thanks,

I thought as much, I just haven't been able to find a definitive

statement from any official body on this subject does anyone know of a

good online source for this kind of info?

[Bugsy]

To add to this, when we bought our house the Notaire explained that work done by official businesses/tradesmen was covered under their insurance, but work done by the owner was not.