Re-locating to france with my Family
 

So I'm thinking of moving to France with my family, this year or maybe next. I'm a fully qualified electrician with experience in solar, commercial, rail and domestic sectors. My partner is a French native and we have 2 kids together, one isn't talking yet but the other is bilingual.

I've been looking into my options, my main concern is finding work if we move there. I currently have a fairly decent level in French. I'm not fluent but understand 70-80% of what's being said and I can have conversations, albeit with limited grammar.

I guess I'm looking for opinions, part of me thinks that I should just go for it, and the other part is full of doubts. Any recommendations on regions ? Can you make a decent living as an electrician I'm France ? Are my British qualifications transferable?

Thanks in advance for any responses 👍👍👍

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
Since UK and French electrical standards are different, you'll probably have to do some retraining and obtain French qualifications before you can work. Some one more in the know will confirm....
In my present neck of the woods, there's a dearth of electricians (and plumbers) and you shouldn't have problems finding work when you're able to, wherever...
Good luck with your venture!:)

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Hello Macca1995 :welcome:

Electricians always seem to have plenty of work and presumably they make a decent living.
As dmu says, UK qualifications aren't recognised in France any more and in any case you would need to work to French normes not UK normes, so you would need to do a certain amount of retraining, but if you speak reasonable French and have all the basic knowledge it shouldn't be an issue. I believe you can study online. No doubt your partner will help you find your way around what's on offer.
Were you planning on looking for a job with a company, or setting up on your own? If you'll be looking to be employed, that might be a factor in choosing where to live, obviously employment opportunities tend to be focused around larger towns. Under most conventions, salaries for tradespeople are dependent partly on their qualifications, people are encouraged to progress up the salary scale through ongoing training to develop and expand their skills (all workers in France are entitled to state-funded training, and employees are encouraged to use their training allowance each year). If you're thinking of being self employed, again your partner will help you negotiate the rules on running a business but in terms of qualifications, you'll need a minimum qualification in order to be able to set up the business. Also you will also require trade decennial insurance and obviously the insurers will examine your qualifications and experience when deciding what cover to offer you and what premium to charge. So either way, it will pay off to get the highest diploma you can.

As for what region to choose, well that's a matter of personal choice, what do you want. Dramatically mountainous, gently undulating or accessibly flat, coastal or forest or open countryside, predominantly agricultural or predominantly viticultural or predominantly industrial, mainstream French as in Ile de France or Centre or somewhere with a strong regional character like Brittany or Alsace? Hot summers and cold winters, or a milder year round climate? Also suggest you check out which regions are increasingly being hit by flooding, which regions regularly suffer droughts and impose water restrictions, which regions get the mistral. Everyone has their own preferred regions, I'm not sure how useful it is to recommend a region to somebody when you have no idea what they are looking for.

Good luck with your planning

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Hi
You are talking about your partner and you need to be aware that France does not recognise partners.
This effects several different aspects of life in France.
It would make your proposed move to France much easier if you were married or in a civil partnership.
If you are not then your visa application would be different and you would have to justify to the authorities why you want to move to France.
I think that you would be better looking to find employment with a company (electricians or builders) because being self-employed is more difficult in France than in the UK.
You would need to get qualified as a French electrician and (as said above) get appropriate insurance and have a business registration number.
You would have to register your business with the appropriate business structure and pay the relevant social charges (NIC) .
The cost of running a business in France is greater than in the UK - because of social charges.
You cannot just put your number in a shop window or on social media and start working as an electrician.
You would also have to do quotes for customers and charge accordingly.

HTH

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all of your replies I appreciate it.
So I've actually reached out to an English electrician currently operating in France and he says that my qualifications would be enough but that I would need to work for a French company for 3 years. In all honesty this is my preferred route anyway because think it makes more sense to become accustomed to French culture/life before even considering starting a buisness.
Me and my partner plan do plan to marry before moving to France.
As far as regions go, we're struggling to decide where, as France is a beautiful country, although, I would prefer somewhere either by the sea or mountains. Pays Basque is high on my list, Côte d'Azur also. But realistically I will more than likely find a job and go wherever that takes me.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Just be aware that British sparkies who have been working in France since pre Brexit will have had a different experience because pre-Brexit, UK qualifications were automatically recognised throughout the EU, and for anyone who was already established in France pre 2021 with qualifications tobtained in the UK they continue to be valid, because this was agreed in the Withdrawal Agreement. But for anyone arriving since then who isn't protected by the WA, they're not, So I guess it depends what your friend means when he says your qualifications would be 'enough'. If an employer is simply looking for experience and knowledge then it would be enough, but UK qualifications are no longer recognised as qualifications, as such. If your friend is going by his own experience, he may not be fully aware of this.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

He's not actually a friend, just someone I sent a message to ask for info. By the looks of it, he's been in France for years so yes perhaps he doesn't realise it's not as easy now.
What a pain in the a** Brexit is. Not sure I could handle years of re-qualifying in something I'm already established in 😒

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

It is worth investigating whether any equivalence has been set up for UK/EU electrical qualifications. There may be a process you can go through to have your UK qualifications recognised. It's no longer automatic like it used to be, but that doesn't mean it is not possible.
Either way I don't see it would take years to get your CAP. Why not have a look at online training courses to see what's involved. You might even be able start the training from the UK if the provider permits this, there's no actual need to be in France to study online. Since you already have the knowledge you should be able to get the course module ticked off quickly with no great effort. Although of course there is the matter of course fees if you are self financing.
e.g. https://formation.atelierdeschefs.fr...SAAEgKIiPD_BwE

There would in any case be some re-learning to do, I'm sure you're aware of the differences between UK and French normes. If you're like most UK sparkies, you'll start off very skeptical and scornful of the French system and you'll resent having to do things "their" way because you think the UK way is so superior, then after a few years you'll find you've come round to the French way of thinking and you'll even start explaining to UK sparkies why the French do it like that and what the advantages are.

Was it Jonathan Badger that you contacted? If not, he would be a good chap to talk to.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

I have noticed some differences in electric installations in my French home.
It is a modern building and doesn't have ring mains.
The domestic consumer unit has more breakers than a UK equivalent with each breaker controlling a single socket or a restricted number of sockets / functions e.g. roller shutters.
All the wires are enclosed in flexible conduit tubes which can be in any direction behind the wall - not just horizontal or vertical.
Two-way or three-way switches are controlled in the consumer unit by a circuit breaker (sorry I am not sure if that is the correct term) and any of the switches cause the light to switch on/off.
This means that you don't have a complex circuit (e.g. the neutral is actually the live) as in the UK.
I really like my electric wiring in France which seems to be a more modern system than we have in the UK.
When they installed fibre optic cable in France, they just pushed it through the conduit.
I don't think that it would be difficult for a time-served UK electrician to convert to French electrical standards.
Good luck

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult at all but it would involve erasing UK normes from your memory and replacing them with current French normes because the basic rules you have to adhere to will be specific to France, e.g. for domestic installations, the dstance sockets have to be from the floor, from a water source etc, how many sockets must be installed as a minimum per room, which appliances need their own power supply, etc etc. My house was last rewired just over 10 years ago and already it's technically non conforme because these days a bedroom must have a minimum of three sockets in it and mine only has two.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Once qualified, I have no doubt that you will be able to find work.

One fun challenge will be learning the various shorthand notation used by electricians and builders.

I remember watching in confusion as our project manager noted various initials (SA, VV, …) across the floor plan for light switches. Only after some research could I decode the various meanings:

- L'interrupteur simple allumage (SA)
- L'interrupteur va-et-vient (VV)
- Le télérupteur (TL)

TL is for three (or more) way switches. Those get wired back to a common physical switch (le télérupteur) in the fuse box.

The use of conduit for cabling is great in the long run.

See https://stories.miln.eu/tags/electrics/ for lots of photos.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Haha, "neutral is actually the live". Well it's actually just a peice of copper that happens to be covered by blue PVC, and should be sleeved with some brown sleeving to indicate it's a switch live, not a neutral. Not at all complicated but confuses most people (me included) in the beginning.
I have read about telerupteurs, which is what I think you're referring to regarding the multiple switches for one light. I'm keen to learn more, like you say, learning the electrical side of things shouldn't be an issue. It's the paperwork side of things that I'm stressed about !

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Do you know the reason the French use telerupteurs and not intermediate switches ? Seems over-kill to me !! Do they have armoured cables in France?Presumably you've made the move to France as an electrician? How was it for you ?

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

I've already been looking at NF-C-15-100. It shouldn't be too hard to wrap my head around. Our regulations constantly change also, it's just part and parcel of being an electrician anywhere I guess.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

No, it was a different chap.
The guy i spoke to said that it is difficult and will require lots of documentation supporting my experiences here in the UK. He said I would need to speak to my local Chambre de métiers to see their requirements. Do different chambre de métiers have different requirements? He did his pre-brexit and did admit that it may be more complicated now.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

As with most things in France the requirements are national but the interpretations and the emphasis can be local. If your local CdM needs to register you, obviously it's best to find out exactly what bits of paper they want.

I think Jonathan Badger may be the man to talk to. If you google something like 'jonathan badger electrician france" you should find him easily enough. He's an extremely helpful person, he's based in Normandy but he's consistently been helping the expat community in France with advice on all things electrical since before I arrived nearly 20 years ago. I believe he's retired now but he's still active on social media and I'm sure he'd be happy to give you a steer.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Hi I seen your thread and thought you could use my input.

I am in the middle of moving to france from morocco, Im a british citizen lucky enough to have european citizen, im a jib ecs approved gold card electrician (and yes i keep it renewed, at my mums address which i suggest you do too) with compex 01-04 gas and vapours.

i have worked in france and europe and even other continents since brexit with 0 hassle if you work for the right companies !
and thats without residence or any other permits.
so here on this thread people are disregarding UK qualifications as non recognisable, when i can guarantee you that our standard of training tradesmen is one of the highest in the world and you can work all over the globe.

my suggestion is unless you want to stick to domestic and commercial, to go towards the direction of shipyard work or chemical plant shutdowns. this will enable you to work at any dock or petrochemical facility with just UK qualifications.

in fact I have simply put electricien region france in linkedin search bar and the first few jobs were in shipyards requiring english language.

the compex 01-04 is an international recognised qualification and it will even be printed on the back of your JIB card. once you have it your phone wont stop ringing.
I currently work offshore 3 on 3 off and i went down the route of refinery shutdown work, shipyards and then naturally progressed in to a drilling offshore job.

if you can hack the time away from your family this route is very rewarding and it will keep you very busy in any country you want to live in.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Yes, I suggested in post #4 that working for company was the way to go.
If the OP wants to work as his own business then that is where he will encounter problems.
I am sure that any UK qualified electrician can wire a house and connect to an electicity meter but EDF will not connect a meter unless the work is certified by a French registered electrician.
I have met UK electricians working on a building site in France for a local contractor.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

As Cyrian points out the OP is asking about moving himself and his family to France as a Third country national and starting his own business.This is a whole world away from Brianbunus situation where he is clearly working for a large probably multi national company but as a bonus he is also an EU citizen which of course makes it easier.
Remember if you want to work for a company it has to be for the company to establish your visa/other right to work as the spouse of a French national and to show that they could not find an appropriately qualified French or EU citizen to do the job.
If the OP wants to be "self employed" then a lot of paper work needs to be done I am afraid

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Just noticed in the original post that the OP refers to his "partner" This means that cannot use the "spouse" of an EU citizen route and will need his own visa plus of course this can lead to problems with inheritance and inheritance tax especially. The first thing the OP needs to do is get married in some form if he is serious about moving to France

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Last year I very nearly booked myself on to a Compex course just for the sake of having it! They run the course in my town which is handy. It is something I had thought about, maybe moving the family out to France and then working off-shore with a registered address here in England.
I could deal with the time away, if the money is good.

I'm not going to lie. I had been looking at jobs in France for Electricians and I was massively put off by the advertised salaries, they seem to be paid peanuts !

This offshore route seems like a better route to go down. I will look in to it and maybe get myself booked on a Compex course, thanks for the advice.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Hi Guys,

what was the outcome of this case ?
I am also electrician working in trade in United Kingom, with Level 2 electrical engineering and 18th edition. Looking to move to France in about 2-3 years. Just thinking what gaps i would have to fill in in my summary to work as sparky in France.
Thanks

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

I still haven't made any progress to be honest. What people have said in this thread is accurate. Easiest route is to work for a French company until you know the ropes and then consider a buisness later on. However, the wages aren't great in comparison to British wages. Think the average wage is like 14€ an hour! I've lost hope personally, can't stomach the thought of regressing in my career and struggling financially. Shame though, I do love France.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Macca-Thank you for the feedback -So often when experienced expats try to give advice to people looking to move to the EU post Brexit they often get a negative reaction when they point out the need for Visas etc,so it is nice to know that we are right sometimes!!!!.
Do not give up hope-keep learning French and in the future the Brexit situation may change.

Have you looked at getting an EU passport by descent?

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Thank You Macca,

Despite the fact i have a european passport as well. 1) It would be hard to sacrifice salary comparing to UK standards 2) Language barrier can play a big role.
Another thing which comes to my mind is remote work, being employed by UK company. IT or cybersecurity.

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

In France most internal installations of broadband phones etc are done by a sparky.The IT route might give you an in as when my phone line/broadband packed up the engineers who came were a Swede and a Portugese and they replaced the outside and some inside line.Chatting to them it became clear that France was struggling to recruit enough phone engineers to push forward on fast broadband so it might be something to explore

Re: Re-locating to france with my Family
 

Thank you,

I suppose anything to start with in electrical / installation field can be good for the minute.

I have had some random conversation with estate agent and she talked me through some requirements for mortgage etc. So once you get up and running, there should be also no issues with lending.