If you want to know why there are no electrical outlets in French bathrooms, and why you are often connecting an extension cord from the adjoining bedroom to dry your hair in front of the bathroom mirror, you will finally have your answer after reading Thomas Malcolm’s book Electricity in Your French House.
It may not be evident at first, as the book is highly technical. However, when you realise that placement of a plug in a bathroom is gauged in volume (meaning having the appropriate distance from any source of water), it is easy to calculate that most French bathrooms aren’t big enough to even consider a legal outlet.
Malcolm’s lead in to Chapter 10 of this graphically demonstrated book of only 80 pages says, interestingly enough:
"In the UK, electrical equipment is forbidden in bathrooms, with only a few exceptions. In France, however, it is quite common to have electrical equipment installed in bathrooms. The installation of any equipment in a bathroom is subject to various rules described in this chapter."
I learned that my bathroom outlet is entirely not accepted by the norme. However, it’s functional, and it makes me happy.
This book is not for the layman, but the little “electrical rules in France for experts (not dummies)” has a wealth of information to allow the layman to deal with his electrician while renovating a home in France. It also gives a basic "French Electricity 101" course in the subject.
First, the glossary of electrical terms translated to French is invaluable and worth the purchase. Any of us that have had the experience of going to a French hardware store to just buy an adaptor plug have struggled terribly with the language.
That “thingy” just doesn’t translate well. Malcolm has done an excellent job of providing the lingo for all of these very needed items.
Second, his general information and graphic inserts allow the layman to make a few observations when buying a home or apartment in France to assess the degree of the norme.
For example, Malcom notes in Chapter 9:
- For a lounge (I assume this means living room) there must be one socket for each four square meters of floor area (with a minimum of five sockets).
- For a bedroom there must be a minimum of three sockets
- Kitchens must be equipped with six sockets, of which at least four must be on the wall above the worktop (counter)
- Other areas greater than four square meters (except for the bathroom) must have one socket, including approved areas in bathrooms (which is mostly never in my experience with Paris apartments).
In Chapter 3, Malcolm gives the basic visual course in what is necessary in French metering and main switchgear. Although a layman may not understand all the technical aspects of the chapter, he (she) can definitely look at the main box and see that the “exterior” electricity has been properly done.
Where you go from there depends on your expertise in electrical applications. In any case, it will help the layman deal with his electrician on some level of expertise.
Malcolm also cites a number of helpful websites for obtaining information about electrical requirements in France that will give you that information in English. Électricité de France (EDF), France’s primary provider of energy, is the primary resource. And I must say, in all my years in France EDF has provided excellent service.
Of particular interest to me, after reading this book as an American that has renovated three dwellings in France, is their very high standard of regulation concerning security at the supply. Unlike the US, where I’ve renovated some 15 homes and apartments, France electricity suppliers build in the “trip switch” at the entry of the electricity to the dwelling.
The GFI, as it is known in the US, must be at the main box, as no “trip switch” can be installed in a dwelling that is not grounded in the earth. It appears that a GFI type switch can be installed at the main box per each separate circuit, but never at the exact source of the circuit (which is mandatory in US kitchens and baths, where a GFI is always required at the outlet).
Frankly, after reading this book and having viewed approximately 25 apartments in Paris over the last two months, it is quite obvious to me that very few apartments or homes meet the norme in France for electrical standards. There are multi-plugs everywhere, sometimes branched to each other to accommodate lighting, hair dryers, and global communications readily available for internet and telephone.
My French husband, who is an electrician, has told me that nothing in France is to the norme unless it is being built now. Further, he says that the regulations change every six months. But there is a general standard, and it is very high in France.
The problem is that not every building or dwelling is able to accommodate these changing times. Fortunately, as I learned from Malcolm’s book, EDF’s standards (and the other 5 percent of providers in France, as stated in Malcolm’s book) do a pretty good job at anticipating this quagmire in the system by dealing with these problems at the origination of the electrical supply.
Malcolm’s book allows you to visually identify some of the problems you may be facing from a “creative” homeowner after the initial main box. Ever wonder why there is so little lighting in rooms in France? Read Chapter 9.
All in all, it's a great read. Skip over the too technical parts if you are a layman; you will still find helpful information that's useful. I have learned a lot; where was Malcolm when I needed him?
April Milliken has been a regular visitor of France for the past 18 years and has just recently moved to Paris in June 2010. She is an expert in real estate and investments, and offers assistance in French real estate on her site, aprilmproperties.com.
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Expat and French real estate expert April Milliken writes how Thomas Malcolm's new book has answers to the tricky questions surrounding the mind-boggling layout of electricity in French homes.
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