Electrical — Safety
Bringing an installation up to standard is not one sweeping project: it is a list of points that can be addressed in order of urgency. The consumer unit first, the earthing next, the bathroom and kitchen straight after.
Reference
NF C 15-100 (French standard)
Approach
In order of urgency, not all at once
Area
Paris 6th, 7th, 14th, 15th, 16th
The six points I check, and the order in which I advise dealing with them.
At least one 30 mA residual current device — in practice two or more, depending on the floor area — and a protective device for each circuit. This comes first, because it is what protects people.
Without an earth, an RCD is of little use. I check that an earth electrode exists, that it is connected, and that the sockets genuinely receive it — an earth pin does not mean there is an earth wire behind it.
The standard defines zones around the bath and shower, with what is permitted in each. It is the point on which I find older installations at fault most often.
A living room calls for one socket for every four square metres, a bedroom three, a kitchen six. With fewer, one lives with extension leads — precisely what the standard seeks to avoid.
Black and grey cloth-sheathed wires behind the skirting: cracked insulation, no earth, often too small a cross-section. They are replaced circuit by circuit, without necessarily opening up everything.
A new or fully rewired installation must be approved by the CONSUEL, the French electrical safety body, before it is connected. I prepare the file and am present on the day of the inspection.
Other services
Consumer units · Ceramic kiln installation · Fault-finding and electrical repairs · Switch replacement · Socket replacement · New sockets · Bringing wiring up to standard · Recessed spotlight installation · Recessed spotlight replacement · Appliance installation · Appliance connection · Lamps and light fittings · Doorbells · Radiator and towel rail installation · Radiator and towel rail replacement
From the workshop's other trades
An older installation is not unlawful simply because it is old: the standard applies to work being redone. Selling or letting, on the other hand, requires a diagnostic report, and a report listing six faults lowers a price. I tell you what is a matter of safety, what is a matter of comfort, and what can wait.
Five arrondissements — the Left Bank, and the 16th just across the river — covered neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Each arrondissement has its own page, as does each neighbourhood.
Paris 6th Luxembourg · Rue de Rennes · Saint Sulpice · Mabillon · Raspail · Notre Dame des Champs · Odéon · Montparnasse · Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Paris 7th Champ-de-Mars · La Tour-Maubourg · Saint-François-Xavier · Rue du Bac · Saint-Germain · Solférino · Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin · Invalides · Ecole Militaire · Gros Caillou
Paris 14th Brune · Didot · Montsouris · Denfert Rochereau · Mouton Duvernet · Plaisance · Pernety · Montparnasse · Alésia
Paris 15th Necker · Saint Lambert · Vaugirard · Croix Nivert · Lecourbe · Convention · Commerce · Javel · Beaugrenelle · Grenelle
Paris 16th Trocadéro · Passy · Auteuil · La Muette · Victor Hugo · Porte Dauphine · Chaillot · Ranelagh · Exelmans · Porte de Saint-Cloud
Beyond these five arrondissements: elsewhere in Paris and the Île-de-France, depending on the project.
Tell me about the situation, with a photo if you have one. I reply the same day.