Is it worth it to DIY in France?

Some of you will be confident ‘DIY-ers’ and will want to do the work yourselves so this month I think it is worthy to once and for all eliminate that old saying “There are no building regs in France, you can do what you want ….”

The answer is no you can’t!

I’ve deliberately chosen not to list endless horror stories of mistakes people have made in ‘doing it themselves’ without consents or knowledge of French ‘norms’ as this serves no great purpose and would be too easy! What I want to help you guys with is stating the obvious, if in doubt about what you can and cannot do with your new property then take the time to find out first. We are not going to list everything trade by trade but skim the subject leaving you food for thought before jumping in head first.

If you plan on doing the work yourselves, the first consideration is that you will not get the 10 year guarantees that an artisan will give you (deccinel assurences) and if you sell the property within 10 years of the work being completed then the work you have done will be under your responsibility.

Let’s start at the start. Planning. Yes, you can do this yourself if it’s a smaller project or a simple one such as changing the windows but, be warned, if you have missed out any details you will go to the back of the queue and possibly start the endless game of bureaucratic ping pong. Get a architect or planning consultant. It really will get your project off on the right footing and save time. You just want that stamp on the paper before starting.

Let’s presume you have your plans back from the architect, now you will need a fosse septic report to make sure the current one (if not on the mains drainage) complies. If it doesn’t comply then the recommendations of conformity must be followed. The installation of the fosse is very important, and it is regulated, audited and signed off. This is another area where doing it yourself is possible but at a huge cost if you get it wrong or do not comply. I would strongly recommend not doing it yourself.

It’s important to ask the local Marie if you need permissions before starting work on any project. For instance, you do need permission to add new Velux windows to a house but don’t if you are changing like for like.

You may need permissions to change windows and doors if not exactly the same as they already are especially if you are considering a change of material or colour. Many Maries are now demanding Velux be taken out where they have been placed without permission. Even a garden shed requires permission. I’ve always found the local Maries to be helpful but sometimes there seems no logic or pattern to their decisions. I recall once asking the local Marie if I could use PVC windows in a house that was relatively secluded and not overlooked. I was told I had to have wood as the house was close to a church (probably 500 metres but hidden away), the irony was that the person telling me this was standing in the Marie next to a PVC window 6 metres away from a church! Double standards or the realisation that they have allowed too many people to do what they want with their properties and the character of the villages as a whole suffers?

So then, the permissions are all back now and you can start work. There are codes of practice known as the DTU and its for you or your artisan to follow them for each individual trade. Many an issue can arise later on when the client who adamantly refused to follow them wants to sell and the new DPE report shows the fail, this could be anything from the correct levels of insulation to the old favourite of “Why do I need a VMC (mechanical air extractor) when I can leave a window open?” Or the French cottage with English style electrics, to name just a few. Ultimately both the client and the artisan will have something to lose.

That’s not to say though that in a renovation you can always follow the recommended codes because there are situations where you can’t for safety such as the amount of floor you can dig out to accommodate insulation without compromising the walls. So there is a balance to be struck between following the codes (designed for your comfort and longevity of work) and what the house can physically take and what you want from it.

We should say at this point that some of you may be thinking about government grants that cover energy improvements in your home. If you are then it can only be taken on by artisans and not by the owners. I’m not at this point going to go too far into this as it’s a huge and complex topic but what you have no choice about if you are planning on following this route is conformity. All RGE (Qualibat registered energy artisans) have to conform to regs, our work is audited and thoroughly at that. So, the benefits of this are that your house is now lovely and thermally efficient, controlled by an inspection and you have received some form of a financial gain. It’s a mine field and if going down this route then research it well and find a reputable agent to accompany you and be prepared for a very, very long wait before you can start.

I think it’s also worth mentioning what a CEE grant is, as some of you may come across this. It comes straight off the RGE artisans facture if he chooses this option. Let’s say 10 euros pm² for insulation, great for the client. How does the artisan get his money back? He doesn’t really. He gets a credit note for material after a long wait, a string of hassle and then being audited, and he also has to pay an annual fee to be RGE. A lot of the primes/grants are currently on hold following huge back logs and millions of euros in fraud from rouge clients, builders, inspectors, the thousands of agents doing it etc.

Well, I have meandered as usual so let’s get back on track and recap. Yes, there are as many building regs in France as anywhere else with some being specific to what area you live in. No, sometimes they can’t be followed in every recommendation if renovating an ancient property. So really, yes there’s room for you to improve your properties by yourselves but as you can see not in reality in every area as you would need an extensive knowledge of the norms of every trade so choose carefully what aspect you can realistically do and how this will affect your budgeting.

If you are looking for a property improvement quotes in areas 22 and 56 then please look at our website www.mc-renovation .com where you will find video, gallery, magazine articles and testimonials of our award nominated renovations.