GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license

Has anyone else noticed the very obvious gap in the market? I have done all sensible google searches,and cannot find builders who have licenses for both countries. If this was my industry i would quick smart be setting up a dual resident company to bridge this gap.

I have just renovated two kitchens;

a) in UK - i spoke to two people alone, one built the cabinets and design, the other did all the construction fitting, electrics, plumbing, new floors, removing a chimney, painting etc. i managed two people the entire time. easy. they both had their own teams but i didn't get involved.

b) in France - i employed what felt like 10 different teams; including kitchen designer/cabinet makers, then floor specialists, structural engineers, painters, plumbers, electricians, construction builders and the rest i don't even remember as there were so many. each one cost me an absolute fortune.

I am now ready to start on bathrooms, and cannot fathom having to employ so many people again. Sorry the above was a rant. real question here is does anyone know a company that operates in both locations that can just get on with the job, no need to contact different trades folks? Job is big, there are 8 bathrooms to refurbish in total.

Loire Valley location.

Thanks!

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

Unless your home straddles the Anglo-French border, which seems improbable, :rofl: why would a home-owner care?

Surely you only need a builder licenced where the building to be worked on is located? :confused:

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

it is more that I want a builder who can;

1. ‘do it all’ I don’t want to employ 10 people for one renovation. The English seem to get this. You contract a building company they have their own plumbers electricians carpenters painters etc. I don’t need an artisan to paint my walls, they are just straight up and down 😳

2. Speak English, let’s be clear most people renovating don’t know the English phrases for the technical plumbing or wiring, let alone trying to decode in French.

3. bring in products from U.K. which are far cheaper and the breath is far wider. I am not sure how much luck I would have had finding a 2m cast iron roll top bath from regional France!

4. Technology, everything in U.K. is online, viewable and easily accessible. Trying to find such is harder in France. I don’t need to touch the products I buy, send me on the website with good images and reviews then I am happY! Also use Instagram /Pinterest get some non traditional ideas.

5. Speed of work, buy god they stuff around. Get a couple polish builders in you’ll see the hours of a true ‘working day’ I want that mentality built into my team.

Basically I have just renovated kitchens, I actually had a range which was made in France, shipped to the U.K., purchased there and then sent back to France. It was including shipping £1,800 cheaper than buying in France!!! The French company basically just said they sell so many more to U.K. they offer better prices!!

Someone needs to leverage off this. All my bathroom supplies come from U.K. I couldn’t find a catchapole and rye equivalent in France! 😥

A nice young team of guys who are well organised will keep you updated via images and text, honestly I will do the marketing for them. It is an obvious business model.

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

It sounds like you just want French plumbers to up their game, which may be a very fair point!

However having a plumbing licence in the UK is actually irrelevant to all of your points if the house you need plumbing is in France.

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

Haha possibly!!

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

Interesting thread. I guess this is the result of the different attitudes to the building trades between UK and France. In the UK anyone can set themselves up as anything except for the areas covered by Gas Safe for plumbing and the more dangerous parts of electrical installation. I have done a huge amount of building work over the years with no more than a degree in Sculpture. Unless I have got this wrong, every trade in France is regulated and requires training and qualifications. In theory this should mean that in France you are guaranteed the work to be of a professional quality. This may, or may not, be the case.
You seem to be raising a number of points rolled into one. The price of goods, the work ethic, language barriers and the complexity of project managing multiple trades on one job. We have all probably come across at least one of those in our time. When the Yanmar engine died in my boat in 2005 I contacted the importer in Paris to find they had a sale on. Armed with that price I called a company down in the Lizard in Cornwall and bought the engine from him, shipped to Marseille then delivered to a boat yard in Port St Louis for £1000 less.
I have met UK builders who have relocated to France, got their qualifications and set up companies. One man near Sete would only employ workers from Northern France because of what he felt was their work ethic. I don't know where you are, but there must be a chance of finding a UK builder in France willing to take on a whole project as they would in UK. Then the headaches would be all his (or hers).
Good luck in your search.

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

No doubt there is a niche but as Alianco points out, setting up as a multi service provider in France is costly because of all the insurances and qualifications required (separate trade insurance for each trade, and insurers will only cover you if they consider you qualified in that trade) and how big is the niche? Non French speaking immigrants are a very small percentage of the population in most parts of France, and an even smaller potential niche market because many if not most Brit expats at least do as much DIY as possible. I doubt that many Brits would pay to have a simple wall painted for instance. There are already companies who, for a price, will manage the entire project for you. Any new British speaking company would have to compete with them, they wouldn't be able to work cheaper because they would still be subject to the same regs, and I'm not sure that being able to speak English would be much of a competitive advantage.

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

https://www.lemondedubain.com/collec...fonte-emaillee

:nod:

Re: GAP IN MARKET: Builders with UK/French license
 

You need to employ a maitre d'oeuvre. A foreman. Or use an architect that will oversee everything for you.