Up-front payments for building work Renovation in France

Getting and Accepting Quotes (devis) in France

Introduction : Making a list of artisans : Getting a quote : Accepting a quote : Payments and price changes

Once or twice we were asked for small (10%) payments as work started, especially where the cost of materials involved was high. More often we were asked for stage payments as work progressed, but never exceeding the value of the work already done.

We never paid anything ahead of work starting, or at the time of accepting the estimate, and we never paid a large percentage of the total. Neither should you. Conversely, we always paid bills promptly when they did arrive - most tradesmen are small businesses and can do without waiting months for you to pay up. I also suspect that word will get around the other tradesmen in the area pretty soon if you are a slow payer, or dispute bills unnecessarily.

See HERE for help in understanding some of the French terms you may see in your devis

Final word: apart from the above, never pay over a greater amount of money than the amount of work that has been completed to that point in time.

 

Subsequent Changes in the price

Usually, the price quouted in a devis and accepted, is the final price that you will pay. it is not a variable estimate that the building companies can change as they like because things worked out slightly differently. Usually, the only thing that can cause the final price to change is changes that you have discussed and agreed with the company involved. Any change in price should have an additional devis to go with it.

I admit, we didn't always pursue this, when we were confident we could trust someone. When we agreed with our plumber that we needed three bathroom radiators instead of two, we were happy that he would add the correct additional cost on the final bill. but most changes are less easy to quantify - if you decide you want the rear wall of the house repointed instead of painted, or a bigger septic tank than you had originally planned for, you should get an additional quote in writing.

Overall, this has never been a problem for us in France, where a devis is more like a 'fixed quote' than an 'estimate'.