Administrator Jennifer, of the Facebook group Everything French posted a story that opened with, “So, you require a new bathroom/kitchen or maybe you’ve decided that it’s time for a new roof….” Given that we’ve undertaken all of those projects to our house since we moved to France, I was anxious to read what she was going to say. She first mentions the importance of a SIRET (Système d’identification du répertoire des établissements) that I think of as a company’s registration number for tax purposes but it also proves the existence and location of a business plus the category of work that they do. Once you have a company’s SIRET what’s next?

A quick Internet search of the number should give you their address and the general types of work they do that you can then compare with their website, if they have one. Now it’s time to get some reviews from people familiar with their work. In villages and small towns, the mayor’s office might be personally acquainted with the business. Asking members of a Facebook group that covers your locale could turn up individuals who’ve had work completed by the company you are investigating.

Once you are ready to hire someone, make sure that they have “Decennial liability insurance in France” by asking for a photocopy of their certificate. Jennifer says that she knows a couple who had their home rewired for 20,000 € which a few months later caused a fire that their homeowner’s insurance would not cover because they had not hired a qualified, registered electrician.

Her post generated a lot of responses including some who were familiar with hiring workers for cash to avoid the tax authorities. Officially called travail au noir but our neighbor calls it simply “black”. The homeowner probably: 1) pays less than when hiring a registered worker; 2) gets no guarantee of the work; 3) has an uninsured worker; 4) participates in an illegal activity. Others mentioned that a SIRET might not show every type of job that a company undertakes or might not say anything if the owner has chosen to keep that information private.

Many readers responded with what we thought was the best advice: always get a quote before agreeing to the work and get recommendations from your neighbors and friends.

Oh, that opening question: does Siri have a Siret? No, since she’s a vocal assistant rather than a business, that number is assigned to Apple France. By the way, that’s Bill’s photo of the Apple Store in Lille across the top of today’s blog post.

Illustration notes: Where “Carcassonne” is mentioned, those are © Ville de Carcassonne – Julien Roche while the other two are from the French government’s Ministry of the Economy, thank you.