replacing a ordinery wall mounted electrical socket in france

[roger gardner]

I am not a electricion but are competetent in doing these jobs .if I change an ordinary wall mounted socket in my French house ,do I have to get it signed off

 

[telectrix]

not sure of the reg.s over there, but here the answer would be No.

 

[Deleted account]

I suspect not as our regs are stricter than rest of Europe, but I don't know.

Best to check with a French sparky or maybe a French elec forum if one exists.

 

[buzzlightyear]

Just go for it ,the french dont like us any way .what is to worry about it only electric .

 

[Deuce]

Who cares, it's France. They don't even earth half their sockets!

Speaking of which, make sure you swap it for a new socket of the correct type. You must have noticed but there are two standards of plug/socket over there.

France/Spain, it's entirely believable a competent UK Diy'er could do a better job than the native professionals

 

[Deuce]

Just found this nugget...

"The wiring method applied depends upon the material being used and the person doing the wiring. The typical older French country properties employ a system whereby both power and lighting circuits are combined with a continuous pair of cables which run to every outlet, terminating into endless boxes hidden in obscure places with no earth conductor at all."

Sounds about right

Full article here:French Electrical Systems - https://www.frenchentree.com/living-in-france/utilities/french-electrical-systems/, a read through might be useful ahead of doing any work. although it sounds like regulation over there pretty weak and not that well enforced (or even acknowledged perhaps). Imo, if you know how to isolate and dead test, no reason you shouldn't do the swap over. In the UK the problem is that most DIY work goes untested, but I think if you did get a local spark to do the work they might also not bother testing. There is a chance you will find other things to put right when you start looking though.. Have you opened up the old socket yet? You might get back there to discover there is no earth, even if it is an earthed socket type.

 

[freddo]

I like this part:

Red is becoming the standard for the Live conductor in a new installation.

What was the reason for cable colour harmonisation again??