While my French is good enough for everyday life once things get technical I struggle, so prefer, in some cases, an initial e-mail contact.
Our gites and pool are on the opposite side of a village road from our home and barn. So the electric cable runs across the road from the barn to the gites.
Thanks to woodpeckers and insects the wooden poteaux on the gite side is hollow and won’t last long.
We’ve tried to get someone to replace the pole for about two years. Two electricians said no. We spread the search to include macons etc but after a couple of phone calls trying to get a devis sorted it was clear there was a language problem. So we e-mailed more than a dozen firms - not one replied.
Now the Mairie says they don’t want overhead cables in the village and we’ll have to put it under the road.
We did ask them if we could do that four years ago and they said categorically No.
So we’ve had to find someone to dig the trench etc across the road. Again we’ve contacted, by e-mail or via their website contact form, several firms, and again not a single response.
Emails are often ignored here, especially if you are not called Dupont or something equivalent. The French were first off the starting blocks with Minitel, but it has gone downhill since.
At that point maybe you can say that you’ll send details via email. At least they’ll know to expect your mail. And you can always call them back if you don’t get a reply.
I think the French are just more sociable than other nations. They enjoy the social interaction gained from having a phone call, visiting a bricks-and-most shop, etc… Emails are convenient but also impersonal.
PS - I work for a French company and have many, many French colleagues… Judging by the state of my Inbox, the French certainly do read their emails
Get a recommendation and say that you are calling/emailing on their part.
Use a maître d’oeuvre.
To be blunt, the problem may not be that they do not reply to emails but that they do not reply to you. Do they know you? Do they trust you? Are they local to you? (20 min drive maximum at lunchtime) Do they want to work for you when they are already busy?
No one wanted to work for us on the renovation of our house until we got a maître d’oeuvre and suddenly we had an artisan team in place.
Totally agree (why I suggested changing name to Dupont!). The good artisans will most likely be booked up and not desperate for more work - especially a small job. So a foreigner they can’t communicate with is not going to be high on list of calls to return.
To add to Sue’s list one other issue is whether this is the sort of job they do? For example asking decorating firms to do plastering when they are painters - there aren’t the same generic trades here. . Are you calling terrassement firms, or entreprise travaux public? This is not the sort of thing most domestic electricians will do.
In my experience, the French don’t do email. It’s cultural and has nothing to do with manners; indeed, they’d probably be horrified to learn that some people might consider ignoring an email rude.
Do you know anyone running a business who you might ask for a contact in trench-digging or whatever? Your local bar? If you start asking questions, people tend to chip in (helpfully or not!) The boulangerie? Many Mairie websites show local businesses. Arm yourself with vocabulary and make a visit?
Good luck anyway. At least you can have the cable underground now!
If I understand correctly you require a private duct put under a public road i.e. you only have one electricity meter/supply which is then used to feed part of your property which us separated from your supply by a public way.
Assuming the above is correct then a standard electrician will not have the authority to dig up the road, nor will a maçon, or any other standard trade.
I suggest that you approach one of the contractors used by ENEDIS to install underground services. They at least have the necessary authority & insurances for such work.
Once an empty duct is in place then you can get the private bits either side dug out by whoever (it’s your land) & an electrician can then pull in the appropriate cabling.
If you don’t know who ENEDIS use in your locality then I suspect that someone at the Marie will.
P.S. I’m fairly certain that whoever strung a private mains electrical cable across a public way should not have done so in the first place
We aren’t talking small artisans- they are unable to do the work - we are talking regional firms. And with this sort of work - opening up a public road, traffic control etc - it’s impossible to get a recommendation
Your commune will most likely employ a cantonnier, and they would probably have an idea of who works in your area. So maybe try to buddy up with them? You may not be in the preferred area for a regional firm to di a small job.
Depending on how the Mairie have communicated with @Highlander … there might be room for misunderstanding, given previous comments about language…
If the village/commune is to be going through the involved Works for putting cables underground…
it is quite possible that this cable at @Highlander 's place can-be/is-to-be included.
It must be nigh 15 years since our cables (and heaven knows what else) went underground.
As I recall, there were at least a couple of instances where extra work was requested, quoted-for, agreed and done by the Enterprises… then paid for by the Owners.
The route I’ve outlined above… might well be his best way forward.
In @Highlander 's case, I feel his situation needs to be clarified:
Does HE have to get the work done… or merely Pay for it… or Both… ???
(and I’m still no nearer understanding why Any of it might be his responsibility…)
This is not at all unknown… but things have to be done correctly, of course.
Another reason why Professionals are used. They know what they are doing; have the qualifications and insurance to cover them, their workmanship and whatever they supply.
It might be cheaper to bite the bullet, ring ENEDIS, and get them to install a PDL (point de livraison) in the property with the gîtes. You’ll end up paying for 2 meters, and 2 contracts, but at least you won’t have to worry about overhead cables, digging tunnels under public roads, etc. Oh, and it may take some time…
Yes - when we bought 10+ years ago the cable was there and yes, four years or maybe more we tried to put it underground. But at that point the Mairie said no, and have continued to say no until a month ago.
And our Mairie isn’t as helpful as yours seems to be. Don’t know or you’ll have to do that yourself is the usual answer. And it doesn’t have a website - we are a small rural commune.
