P
Plouasne
French Plumbing
Sorry that this is over 4 postings, it was too much for one posting, so please bear with me
There is not much difference between French and English plumbing at first glance, but when you have a closer look, its has different as chalk is to cheese
For a start not many plumbers do roof weathering, and there is not much lead used, its mostly Zinc (pronounanced 'zang') that is used for normal house work, and the plumbers do not normally concern them selfs with the guttering or the rainwater pipes, that is left to either the roofer (couveur) or the carpenter (charpentier) there are two types of charpentier, metalic or bois (wood), they are the people who do the roofing structure
Sheet metal roofing, copper, aluminium, and zinc is mostly by specialised trades men, lead is used on resturation work of old historic properties where lead had been used in the past
New work will have to be covered by a 10 year insurance guarante, renovations for 2 years, you are the professional and should know the regulations (or Norms) D T U, or document technique unified, DTU 60, for plumbing, DTU 61 for gas fitting, DTU 64, for drainage not connected to the sewer, DTU 65, for central heating, etc
Gas work
If you do gas work either you or your firm must be registered to an approved body, when the work is finished it is tested and if sound it is signed off, with copies going to the client, the clerk of works (if there is one), the supply company, the firm, all to be kept indefinitely, this includes new or replacement gas boiler and gas water heater work
General plumbing work
There is no such thing like the local council building control inspectors in France, for new works it is normally a Maitre d'Overture, similar to a cleark of works, who will oversee the construction
New estates are normally plots with the services to the boundary and a sub base road, where the buyer can pick what style of house they want from an architect or if the house is under 170² metres overall design it them self, and then choose their own trades men to build the property
Most of the work is carried out by small one man 'artisan's' or a firm with anything up to about 8 operatives, on their books
Self employed
To become an artisan, it is not just a simple matter of having a few tools and calling yourself a plumber, you have to register with the local Chamber of Metiers (Masters) who deal with your trade, then you have to go to school to learn about accounts the law etc, for a week then when you have passed the test, you have to find an accountant, an assurance company, then with that behind you, you can then get your siret number, this is your company registration number which then allows you to trade in what you have said you will trade in; unless you have written what you will trade in you will be restricted to that trade has the major trade with little else apart from minor works relating to the main trade, normally you will write in that you will do plumbing and electrical work, which most plumbers do, and also your VAT (TVA) number, if you have either elected to be a vat registered trader or your turnover will be big enough for you to be registered for vat
Its no good doing mostly electrical work, when your registration is for plumbing and god forbid if you are caught doing decorating or something similar, unless its a minor part of your contract, or even worse black work, thats a BIG NO No; because if caught the authorities can go back over your books and fine you double the amount under-declared, plus a 35000€ fine and or 5 years inside, if you keep on making a habit of working on the black
The person who employs you to work on the black, can also be fined, and if you have an accident you or the person who employs you will have to reimburse the state for any medical treatment and sick pay
The Gendarmes, Police National, and the Inspectors of work, have the right to go on site and demand to see all papers, assurance, and insurance, siret number, identification cards of foreign workers, etc
Material
Most of the pipework in houses is in copper tube with a wall thickness of 1 mm, and the sizes are in even numbers, dead hard temper and in 4 or 5 metre lengths, so you state the obvious when you ask for copper tube, (I want a bar of 8/10 tube, etc) the sizes start at, 6mm, i,d, / 8mm o,d, upwards in even sizes, you can also get coils (couronnes) of copper tube, in 5, 10, & 25 metre coils, unless the tube is clipped to the walls, it is run inside a plastic sleeve ( gaine, pronounced gan) whether it is buried in the floor or the wall, some of the coils of tube have a light plastic foam insulation with a smooth plastic cover, this is nearly all ways used for the heating circuits, and goes down has a first fix onto the concrete slab, before the screed (chappe) is laid, most houses have a a concrete block and beam flooring, (specially shaped hollow concrete blocks laid on to concrete inverted 'T' beams, for the first floor,and some times used for the ground floor as well
The incoming water main is normally in black MDPE tube with 4 sky blue stripes down the length, and is 20/25mm, o,d/i,d, the meter (compteur) pit is normally just inside the boundary and is a concrete box or circular ring 60 cm in depth, this also serves has the connection point for the telephone as well, the incoming main has a stop valve first, then the meter, followed by a class A, double drain off check valve with a loose female nut which is drilled to take a sealing wire, when it is fixed to the meter, the actual water main is laid in a blue plastic gaine 50mm in diameter at 60 cm depth minimum on a sand bed with 15 cm sand cover then a blue plastic grill is laid on top then another 15 cm of sand before it is back filled with soil
Pipe layouts fitting etc
The system is all mains pressure, so no cold water tanks in a cold roof space, quite often the roof is 'traditional' not like in the UK where its light roof trusses, and the space is used for the first floor bedrooms and bathroom, the water pressure is around 3 bar's, if it is more a pressure reducing valve is used at the point of entry
The system is all mains pressure, so no cold water tanks in a cold roof space, quite often the roof is 'traditional' not like in the UK where its light roof trusses, and the space is used for the first floor bedrooms and bathroom, the water pressure is around 3 bar's, if it is more a pressure reducing valve is used at the point of entry
Although the plumbers are spoilt for fittings, they nearly always make there own, 'tee's', corner branches, even swivel connectors, it is always hard solder jointing, (99% Cu, 1% Ph) in Brittany, where I was working, and 99,9% of the French plumbers do the same, so you older plumbers look out your 'bent bolt', if you want to come and work in La Belle France, because they knock up nearly all their branches, and drift out and flaten the end of the tube to make a swivel connector, how its done, first anneal the end of the tube, then drop a loose nut down the tube, clamp the end of the tube in tool like an oil line flaring tool, flare out the end of the tube then turn the clamp over and flatten the end of the copper tube, and 'voilà', a tap connector, etc, unless you have put the nut on upside down, flared out the tube too much, then you must cut the flange back, or not enough and the nut falls off the end of the tube, but you will soon learn how much tube to turn over
Another thing that s different is that manifolds are used a lot, instead of a single pipe serving all appliances on a circuit, close to the hot water cylinder or the incoming cold water, a manifold is formed, normally out of 28 mm copper tube with the right number of branches to connect to the supplies which were left, when doing the first fix, the manifold is quite compact, with the branches about an inch (25mm) apart or less, these have quarter turn valves so that an individual appliance can be isolated, the manifold also has an isolating valve on the inlet, and a drain off at the far end, it is common for another set of manifolds to be used for the first, and subsequent floors
None of the fittings, like, tap connectors, or traps have a spigot to get in the way, you just bring the deep nut up slide in the fibre washer, then make the connection
Gas service
The Gas (Gaz) service is the same, MDPE execpt that instead of a blue stripe its yellow stripe, and it changes from MDPE to metal not less than 1 metre from the building, and run in a sleeve, all jointing to copper tube is by silver solder, and fittings MUST be used, instead of the 'stab in's' which replace 'tees' as used for water services, special washers must be used for natural gas when making a connection to a gas valve for the cooker, which must be visible and a push in quarter turn valve with a male thread on the end to take the flexible connection, which depending on its construction, has a life of either 5 years, 10 years, or an indefinite life, if its LPG its the same, apart from the washers which are of a different composition
The normal gas operating pressure is 20 mbar for natural gas, and 37mbar for propane gas
Test pressure is 40 mbar for 10 minutes with no drop, the testing kit is a battery powered compressor with a 50 mm dial manometer, 0 to 60 mbar, with a black moving hand and a red movable hand, this is either fixed to the meter connection or if its a bulk propane tank fixed to the connection which connects to the tank, once fixed start the compressor it will stop automatically, let the pipework under test stabilise then, close the valve adjust the red hand to be over the black hand, leave for 10 minutes, if there is no movement of the black hand, the pipework being tested can be considered to be sound
Sorry that this is over 4 postings, it was too much for one posting, so please bear with me
There is not much difference between French and English plumbing at first glance, but when you have a closer look, its has different as chalk is to cheese
For a start not many plumbers do roof weathering, and there is not much lead used, its mostly Zinc (pronounanced 'zang') that is used for normal house work, and the plumbers do not normally concern them selfs with the guttering or the rainwater pipes, that is left to either the roofer (couveur) or the carpenter (charpentier) there are two types of charpentier, metalic or bois (wood), they are the people who do the roofing structure
Sheet metal roofing, copper, aluminium, and zinc is mostly by specialised trades men, lead is used on resturation work of old historic properties where lead had been used in the past
New work will have to be covered by a 10 year insurance guarante, renovations for 2 years, you are the professional and should know the regulations (or Norms) D T U, or document technique unified, DTU 60, for plumbing, DTU 61 for gas fitting, DTU 64, for drainage not connected to the sewer, DTU 65, for central heating, etc
Gas work
If you do gas work either you or your firm must be registered to an approved body, when the work is finished it is tested and if sound it is signed off, with copies going to the client, the clerk of works (if there is one), the supply company, the firm, all to be kept indefinitely, this includes new or replacement gas boiler and gas water heater work
General plumbing work
There is no such thing like the local council building control inspectors in France, for new works it is normally a Maitre d'Overture, similar to a cleark of works, who will oversee the construction
New estates are normally plots with the services to the boundary and a sub base road, where the buyer can pick what style of house they want from an architect or if the house is under 170² metres overall design it them self, and then choose their own trades men to build the property
Most of the work is carried out by small one man 'artisan's' or a firm with anything up to about 8 operatives, on their books
Self employed
To become an artisan, it is not just a simple matter of having a few tools and calling yourself a plumber, you have to register with the local Chamber of Metiers (Masters) who deal with your trade, then you have to go to school to learn about accounts the law etc, for a week then when you have passed the test, you have to find an accountant, an assurance company, then with that behind you, you can then get your siret number, this is your company registration number which then allows you to trade in what you have said you will trade in; unless you have written what you will trade in you will be restricted to that trade has the major trade with little else apart from minor works relating to the main trade, normally you will write in that you will do plumbing and electrical work, which most plumbers do, and also your VAT (TVA) number, if you have either elected to be a vat registered trader or your turnover will be big enough for you to be registered for vat
Its no good doing mostly electrical work, when your registration is for plumbing and god forbid if you are caught doing decorating or something similar, unless its a minor part of your contract, or even worse black work, thats a BIG NO No; because if caught the authorities can go back over your books and fine you double the amount under-declared, plus a 35000€ fine and or 5 years inside, if you keep on making a habit of working on the black
The person who employs you to work on the black, can also be fined, and if you have an accident you or the person who employs you will have to reimburse the state for any medical treatment and sick pay
The Gendarmes, Police National, and the Inspectors of work, have the right to go on site and demand to see all papers, assurance, and insurance, siret number, identification cards of foreign workers, etc
Material
Most of the pipework in houses is in copper tube with a wall thickness of 1 mm, and the sizes are in even numbers, dead hard temper and in 4 or 5 metre lengths, so you state the obvious when you ask for copper tube, (I want a bar of 8/10 tube, etc) the sizes start at, 6mm, i,d, / 8mm o,d, upwards in even sizes, you can also get coils (couronnes) of copper tube, in 5, 10, & 25 metre coils, unless the tube is clipped to the walls, it is run inside a plastic sleeve ( gaine, pronounced gan) whether it is buried in the floor or the wall, some of the coils of tube have a light plastic foam insulation with a smooth plastic cover, this is nearly all ways used for the heating circuits, and goes down has a first fix onto the concrete slab, before the screed (chappe) is laid, most houses have a a concrete block and beam flooring, (specially shaped hollow concrete blocks laid on to concrete inverted 'T' beams, for the first floor,and some times used for the ground floor as well
The incoming water main is normally in black MDPE tube with 4 sky blue stripes down the length, and is 20/25mm, o,d/i,d, the meter (compteur) pit is normally just inside the boundary and is a concrete box or circular ring 60 cm in depth, this also serves has the connection point for the telephone as well, the incoming main has a stop valve first, then the meter, followed by a class A, double drain off check valve with a loose female nut which is drilled to take a sealing wire, when it is fixed to the meter, the actual water main is laid in a blue plastic gaine 50mm in diameter at 60 cm depth minimum on a sand bed with 15 cm sand cover then a blue plastic grill is laid on top then another 15 cm of sand before it is back filled with soil
Pipe layouts fitting etc
The system is all mains pressure, so no cold water tanks in a cold roof space, quite often the roof is 'traditional' not like in the UK where its light roof trusses, and the space is used for the first floor bedrooms and bathroom, the water pressure is around 3 bar's, if it is more a pressure reducing valve is used at the point of entry
The system is all mains pressure, so no cold water tanks in a cold roof space, quite often the roof is 'traditional' not like in the UK where its light roof trusses, and the space is used for the first floor bedrooms and bathroom, the water pressure is around 3 bar's, if it is more a pressure reducing valve is used at the point of entry
Although the plumbers are spoilt for fittings, they nearly always make there own, 'tee's', corner branches, even swivel connectors, it is always hard solder jointing, (99% Cu, 1% Ph) in Brittany, where I was working, and 99,9% of the French plumbers do the same, so you older plumbers look out your 'bent bolt', if you want to come and work in La Belle France, because they knock up nearly all their branches, and drift out and flaten the end of the tube to make a swivel connector, how its done, first anneal the end of the tube, then drop a loose nut down the tube, clamp the end of the tube in tool like an oil line flaring tool, flare out the end of the tube then turn the clamp over and flatten the end of the copper tube, and 'voilà', a tap connector, etc, unless you have put the nut on upside down, flared out the tube too much, then you must cut the flange back, or not enough and the nut falls off the end of the tube, but you will soon learn how much tube to turn over
Another thing that s different is that manifolds are used a lot, instead of a single pipe serving all appliances on a circuit, close to the hot water cylinder or the incoming cold water, a manifold is formed, normally out of 28 mm copper tube with the right number of branches to connect to the supplies which were left, when doing the first fix, the manifold is quite compact, with the branches about an inch (25mm) apart or less, these have quarter turn valves so that an individual appliance can be isolated, the manifold also has an isolating valve on the inlet, and a drain off at the far end, it is common for another set of manifolds to be used for the first, and subsequent floors
None of the fittings, like, tap connectors, or traps have a spigot to get in the way, you just bring the deep nut up slide in the fibre washer, then make the connection
Gas service
The Gas (Gaz) service is the same, MDPE execpt that instead of a blue stripe its yellow stripe, and it changes from MDPE to metal not less than 1 metre from the building, and run in a sleeve, all jointing to copper tube is by silver solder, and fittings MUST be used, instead of the 'stab in's' which replace 'tees' as used for water services, special washers must be used for natural gas when making a connection to a gas valve for the cooker, which must be visible and a push in quarter turn valve with a male thread on the end to take the flexible connection, which depending on its construction, has a life of either 5 years, 10 years, or an indefinite life, if its LPG its the same, apart from the washers which are of a different composition
The normal gas operating pressure is 20 mbar for natural gas, and 37mbar for propane gas
Test pressure is 40 mbar for 10 minutes with no drop, the testing kit is a battery powered compressor with a 50 mm dial manometer, 0 to 60 mbar, with a black moving hand and a red movable hand, this is either fixed to the meter connection or if its a bulk propane tank fixed to the connection which connects to the tank, once fixed start the compressor it will stop automatically, let the pipework under test stabilise then, close the valve adjust the red hand to be over the black hand, leave for 10 minutes, if there is no movement of the black hand, the pipework being tested can be considered to be sound
Last edited by a moderator:
