What do you risk for paying a friend to do work at French home without a contract?

If you are planning on hiring a worker to help you with a task at your property in France, you should ensure you do so within the rules. 

Property owners may sometimes opt to pass DIY jobs or works at their home on to other people for a host of reasons. 

Roles required may include not only major renovations but also smaller projects such as repainting a room, mowing the lawn or laying new carpet. 

Despite the higher outlay, it is often more beneficial to hire a professional worker to carry out even relatively minor projects, due to the increased expertise and security in case of error. 

We review some of the rules.

Hiring non-professionals

You are entitled to hire a private individual such as a neighbour or friend to carry out a job for you, the federation of private employers (Fédération des particuliers employeurs) says. 

To do so, you do not necessarily need to sign a contract – there is no rule requiring it – but it can make it easier to have an agreement in place to prevent future disagreements.

This should include basic information including the nature of the job, proposed pay etc.

Hiring an individual, with a contract or not, makes you their ‘employer’ for the duration of the work, meaning you must pay them the correct amount (at least the minimum wage) and provide adequate working conditions.

They must also declare the income to the tax authorities.

In addition to a friend or neighbour there are also websites such as AlloVoisins where people offer to carry out small tasks for payment.

You can always ask for proof of previous work in the area to assess if the individual knows what they are doing, and you should inform your home insurer of any pending works. 

There is a possibility the insurance company may cover you for any minor damage incurred as a result of the work, but as you are hiring a private individual and not a professional this is not always the case. 

Be aware that in all cases – contract or otherwise – hiring a private individual does not come with a guarantee of the quality of the work. 

If there are any issues caused by the work – for example, you hire a friend to help with your plumbing but they break your system – neither you nor the hiree are covered by any professional insurance meaning reparation / other costs are unlikely to be insured. 

You will also be unable to ask your neighbour to cover the payments – even with a contract – as they are not a professional, so you will be left out of pocket. 

Hiring a professional 

Hiring a professional should offer greater protection.

While neither a contract nor a quote (devis) is mandatory, most professional companies and tradespeople will offer these and this is recommended by the government. 

These contracts, unlike working with a private individual, can be used in the event of an error to protect you against the cost of any damages caused by the works, and can also be used as evidence during court cases.

In addition, if the company offers a devis giving a breakdown of prices, etc that you subsequently agree and sign as a contract, they cannot charge you above this amount. 

Note that for certain larger renovations including many eco-projects, a devis is mandatory.

In short, for larger projects it is usually better to err on the side of caution and hire a professional.