shop wiring in france

[antengland]

Hi Guys, i am an english electrical contractor, and have been asked to quote for some works in a shop in Paris.
Any body had any experience on non domestic wiring?
who do i get to certify the works?
will it need certifying if i don't install new circuits?

any help / info would be appreciated.

Ant.

 

[antengland]

Victor and topcat,
i agree with you both. Just doing a bit would always be wrong no matter where you were. I am looking to employ someone local and oversee the work to ensure the client is satisfied. With the client looking at work all over Europe , I would be mad to turn down such an oppertunity .

 

[antengland]

Victor, just out of curiosity, what tests do you have to carry out on circuits?
same as ours? R1/R2, insulation and loop?

 

[Victor]

I usually carry out tests as I would in the UK although nothing has to be recorded. However when I went to work for a French electrician about 4 years ago, he asked what I was doing and what my testers were and then told me that all I was to test was voltage and if there was 230 volts running through the circuit it was ok....... I have yet to see a French electrician use anything other than a multimeter.

 

[antengland]

Shocked!! (pardon the pun)

 

[Engineer54]

Shocked!! (pardon the pun)

This may well be the case as far as domestic installations go, i don't really know. But it certainly isn't the case on commercial project work or on the industrial side of things...

One of the biggest and respected electrical test equipment manufacturers is French ''CHAUVIN ARNOUX GROUP'' Every French project electrical contracting company that i have worked with, had a full test equipment compliment... And more importantly, knew how to use it all!! ...lol!!!

 

[Victor]

Antengland, have you managed to find anyone yet?

 

[WilcoxElec]

Victor may never have seen a French electrician use anything other than a mutimeter, but the tests required to put a new installation in service properly in France correspond to what you need to do in the UK -.. Given that the schema is usually TT - the testing procedures are similar.

 

[Victor]

Victor may never have seen a French electrician use anything other than a mutimeter, but the tests required to put a new installation in service properly in France correspond to what you need to do in the UK -.. Given that the schema is usually TT - the testing procedures are similar.

That does not mean to say that they have the right equipment, I have seen consuel forms completed with the earth reading left out as they have not got a tester to test it, and the consuel inspector fills it in when he tests the system.

Having been here for 10 years now, I have yet to see an installation that is not a TT system.

 

[WilcoxElec]

I fill it in using an earth resistance meter - I never get the same answer as the Consuel - we always disagree by a few ohms.... I think his measure asumes I have poured alot of water around the peg just to make sure........ so long as the measure he gets is lower than 100 .....



I have know that TN was the schema at the top of some large installations I have seen - in collective buildings - where there is a dedicated transformer. For practical reasons however, for the electrical installations - lights and sockets - in the separate buildings - this is ignored and everything is treated as TT and earthed again locally - there will be a separate Disjoncteur de Branchement .... .... fun isn't it !