Just had a man call at the house asking to inspect our 'fire extinguisher'. I went to get the one we have and my husband asked what I was doing, he then went out to speak to the man. He asked if it was a new law that private homes must have an extinguisher. The man said it was 'obligatoire' so he asked to see identification and was he a Pompier. When he opened the back of his van it was full of brand new extinguishers. He showed my husband his business card and repeated that we must comply but by now my husband was losing his patience and asked to see 'official documentation' prescribing the law but he could not produce it. My husband does not take prisoners and told him ' d'obtenir sur vélo et foutre le camp' (he won’t tell me what that means but I can guess). The guy left very quickly.
Just to clarify, is this a law in France are were we about to be scammed?
Adriana, here is what I found.
Actuellement, aucune loi française n'oblige les particuliers à installer un extincteur chez eux. Cependant, pour votre sécurité, vous pouvez vous équiper de ce dispositif de lutte contre les incendies. Il complétera la fonction préventive du détecteur et avertisseur autonome de fumée (DAAF) obligatoire à partir du 8 mars 2015.
L’extincteur chez les particuliers, un dispositif non obligatoire, mais conseillé
La France reste l’un des rares pays à ne pas imposer pour l’instant l’installation d’extincteurs dans les habitations des particuliers. Cependant, il est conseillé de s’en équiper afin d’éteindre rapidement un départ de feu et de réduire le risque d’incendie domestique.
This man was a con man, your husband was right to chase him away.
Marie-Antoinette
This thread is interesting, we haven't bought a fire extinguisher ,but last year my OH fixed a fire warning system in the hall, which we thought was obligatoire.
Believe it or not when it starts 'screeching' )it has happened twice)we can't turn it off.
Mu husband is blind, and i can't climb up ladders to get hold of the thing so we have to call in the neighbours.It was a cheap one so if you think of buying a fire warning system i would advise you to buy the best.
Actually i didn't know that we were suppsed to have a fire extinguisher at home, but i suppose it is common sense when thinking about your safety.