French electrics

[Biggles..]

Guy's and gal's, the brother in law is about to buy a run down shack in France which will need bringing out of the dark ages and up to date. he posed the question about the differences between french electrics and the good old fashioned english way. I dont have a clue as a) im not french and b) have never felt the need to rewire french houses. Could some of you please enlighten me.
Lee

 

[plugwash]

i don't know the details but here are a few points

1: there is officialy a specific pin assignment for live and neutral on french sockets but they don't seem to worry too much about it (unlike us brits who are very carefull about it because of our plug fuse system)
2: they use low rated radial circuits with unfused plugs rather than high rated rings with fused plugs.
3: they use different cable types (iirc they tend to use conduit a lot more and thier sheathed cables have insulated earths)
4: they have limits on the number of sockets allowed on a circuit (i don't have the figure here) so if rewiring i'd try to keep most circuits at least a couple of sockets under the limit for future expansion.

I also strongly advise getting some local advice before doing any big jobs.

 

[Biggles..]

Thanks for that I was begining to think noboy would be able to offer any advice.

 

[Monkeynuts2]

Hi hope this might help?

Sockets

sockets are called prise
cable colour red,blue,green/yellow
cable size 2.5mm
height from floor {first fix} 250mm
radial circuit 8 sockets per circuit
conduit size {grey plasctic} 20mm
maximum cables per conduit 7
maximum load per circuit 4500watt 16/20amp

lights

switch wire colour purple,blue,green/yellow
power cable red,blue,green/yellow
light switch {first fix} 1.2m from floor
10amps 2200watts per circuit
conduit size 15mm
maximum nuber of cables per conduit 3

Convectors

cable colour brown,white,orange.

Tony

 

[JohnD]

Somebody posted a link to an Expats site that helps UK people doing work in their french homes. have a browse through the "Electrics Outside UK" old posts and you should find it.

 

[Biggles..]

Tony, thankyou for that i will pass it on, John helpful as always thanks.
A quick new question, brother-in-law has recently qualified with 2381, part p domestic installer and AM2, will these be recognised quals in france for him or do they do conversion courses etc.
cheers Lee.

 

[solair]

Also worth baring in mind that you'll need certification to get reconnected by EDF after a major upgrade.

They can be a LOT more fussy on the contenenant about electrican's qualifications. As in, there are places you can end up in front of a judge for modifying a fuse box.

I know someone who bought a run down holiday home in Austria and rewired it himself to UK specs. He ended up in rather serious legal trouble and it cost him a fortune to get the house brought up to code too. Nothing was compliant with Austrian regulations. Basically required a total rewire from scratch.

In general, I'd seek local expert advice before doing any electrical work. It can be very costly and even very dangerous if you use UK norms. They're not any safer and they can be totally incompatable with the system you're dealing with.

E.g. using ring circuits would cause many electrical inspectors outside the UK to collapse in horror.

Typically, you'll find there's more requirement for conduit, RCDs will be much more tightly enforced and required etc etc.

 

[lepassous]

Hi!
If you're contemplating doing your own rewire in France I recommend you get a book called L'electricite pas a pas ( step by step). It gives all the latest regulations for every possible instance. -which cable, How many plugs per room/circuit etc etc - Beware! e.g. The French rules insist on a telephone and tv socket in every room in a new install !
The book is in French, but with loads of diagrams, and easy to understand. -I wired my house from scratch - with two separate fuse boxes and over thirty circuits with zero experience, other than putting on a plug.
The Consuel (have to verify every new installation is up to regs) checked it out with no problems. You can buy the book online at www.saep.fr about €10. - Absolutely invaluable

 

[breezer]

Bet he has done it now, since he asked in August last year, nice link though