How your French home wiring works

A RETIRED electrical engineer has published an English-language book on French wiring. Thomas Malcolm’s Electricity in Your French House (Eyrolles, €14.90) includes photos and diagrams and a glossary of terms.

Some of the explanations are fairly technical and, unless you know what you are doing, you would be best-advised to pay an electrician for any complex jobs. However, if you have ever wondered about aspects of how your French electrics work, it may be worth investing in.

According to Mr Malcolm, there is a tendency for expats to think what they are used to is better; however, French standards are "very high".

Facts from the book:

- When buying equipment such as cables, check for the European CE mark or French NF (norme française), comparable to the UK’s Kitemark.

- TT systems, an earthing arrangement to trigger protective devices in the event of a fault, are more common in France than the UK. This involves a copper wire ring in the ground around the home or a 1.5m steel rod, driven into the ground.

- Most of the south-east, Aquitaine and the Pyrénées-Orientales are at risk of lightning surges and should have protection built into the consumer units (fusebox). Without it, sensitive equipment like computers and telephones are at risk.

- No fuses in plugs or switches on sockets are needed because of protective devices in the consumer unit.

- Cable colours: earth is always green/yellow, live is often red or brown but may be black, and a switched live wire is orange and violet, neutral is always blue.

- Most older French homes have the "T-plug" (prise en "T") for telephones; however, in new homes this has been replaced by the RJ45, similar (but not identical) to British telephone sockets.

Note: The same word is used for "plug" and "socket", la prise (if necessary, you specify a "male" or "female" one).