Builder walked off
 

We have been left completely in the lurch by our (english) builder, who simply walked away with considerable amounts of our money etc. And yes we had multiple devis, references etc.
My questions however do not relate to that, but to the work that was left unfinished.
As I understand it, EdF must approve your electrical circuitry when the supply is first connected. Or is it just the connections to the circuit board etc that they have to approve? If so, is it possible to get approval of that separate from the rest of the wiring- although clearly we would like someone to give the wiring the once-over.
Also does anyone know the situation as far as household insurance is concerned regarding both electrical and plumbing work which presumably now are going to be without an artisanal guarantee?

Many thanks

Re: Builder walked off
 

Oh no! how awful for you. I think you do have to have the electricity signed off on a new house and ideally on an old renovation for insurance purposes. That said we haven't had ours signed off yet.
As regards guarantees; I would guess that you are up the creek; however I would recommend talking to your insurance company to find out the exact situation.

I am really sorry to hear such bad news for you and I sincerely hope things look up soon

Re: Builder walked off
 

First of all what was the "builder" doing?? From what I understand he was doing your electricity and plumbing....??? He shouldn't have been unless he's properly qualified, which I doubt very much. The thing is, is he insured for this kind of work?? Again I doubt it as professional insurance is very expensive and the more trades you have under your belt the more expensive it gets, which is why "Bob the Builder" types are people to avoid.

But anyway, do you have a "devis signé"?? Do you have any "factures d'accomptes/situation"?? Basically what were you quoted and how much have you paid so far? What percentage of work has been done so far and, if I may ask, why did he walk off??

As for your electricity you can get the certificate yourself, and if there is any gas work done its also possible for you to get a Qualigaz certificate. However if there is no "facture" for the work that has been done you'll have to take the responsibility for the work carried out.

In France the people in the building trade have quite a bit of responsibility and it soon gets messy when the insurance / lawyers / jurists / Julien Courbet types get involved and they go to great lengths to protect the client (person having a problem with an artisan). And this is why it's pretty rare in France for a builder to spit his dummy out and just walk off. There are times I would have liked to have just "walked off" a job, but it doesn't matter how much a pain in the rear the client is you have to obey the contract.

To sum up:

If the artisan has not been paid whats called a "facture d'accompte or situation" in French, for the work done he can walk off and come back and finish the job once its been paid.

If there is a Devis signé then both parties must respect the contract.

If you're doing it without a devis signé then you're fooked.

If you need any help or have any questions you can PM me if you wish

Re: Builder walked off
 

We have never paid nor been asked to pay the full amount of any job we have asked someone to do. We paid in stages after we saw the expense sheets and discussed necessary future purchases.

Brits working on the black are far less reliable than French artisans for reasons explained above. In addition would you approve of immigrants to GB relying on their own untrained workforce and excluding the indigenous trained population?

Re: Builder walked off
 

Etoile de Berger,

Can I respectfully suggest you read people's posts before parading your self righteousness?

Le Plumber - thank you. I will PM you.
As you gather, what I am enquiring about is what sign offs we may or may not need. The money he owes us we will pursue through the police and the courts, who I understand are less forgiving than in the UK.

Re: Builder walked off
 

People post in here for mutual information.

May I respectfully suggest that you stop being so egocentric? Next time ask first. Some of us have been here a while.

Good luck with the courts. It wil cost you and without a contact you haven't a prayer. If your work was done on the black you may find it is you who are in jail.

Re: Builder walked off
 

Etoile - trolls like you really are the bane of these forums.

Can you read at all? Would you please re read my post? Where on earth does it even suggest that we had paid "on the black"? Where does it say we don't have a contract? Of course we have a contract. And of course we paid legally to a legal business.

To answer the only actual point in your splenetic ramble, my post was indeed a request for information. if you had bothered to read it.

Re: Builder walked off
 

Now, now...

I'm sure everyone has the best intentions:nod:

By the way, do you feel like naming and shaming said Builder - or at least give us a clue where he's based so he can be avoided?

Re: Builder walked off
 

Derbyflan

Thank you.

I do not know why, but I have never been happy with the naming and shaming bit -never was one for slinging mud in public. (Although I must confess to being sorely tempted with this one!).

But I would of course respond to any request for information.

Re: Builder walked off
 

Cheers!:thumbup:

You have a pm.

Re: Builder walked off
 

Prat.

I don't have to refer soecifically to your wishes?

No wait. Don't answer that.

Expats like you give GB a really bad name.

Legal business? Pull the other one. I have been involved in 8 years of renovation work. Seems to me you was "had" mate.

Re: Builder walked off
 

Lets not turn this thread into an argument ... pretty please ;) There's no need to be so sharp.

The OP has already said So lets leave it at that and get back to the original question which I believe was about the electrical sign off.

Thanks

Re: Builder walked off
 

Damn!

Now I'm going to have to look that one up:frown:

Re: Builder walked off
 

I've PM'd you ;)

Re: Builder walked off
 

Germans.