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Frequently Asked Questions – Customers
Are customers required to register and do they have to pay to use the directory?
No, customers do not have to register and the website is free for customers to use.
What trades do you accept?
We currently offer membership to these trades:
Architects/Surveyors
Builders/Renovations
Carpenters/Joiners
Chimney Sweeps/Stoves
Electricians
Flooring/Carpets
Furniture Makers
Garden Designers/Landscapers
Garden Machinery Repairs and Servicing
Gardeners/Tree Surgeons/Garden Maintenance
Groundworks/Plant Hire
Handyman
House/Barn Clearance
Interior Architecture
Kitchen and Bathroom Services
Locksmiths
Metalwork
Painters and Decorators
Plasterers
Plumbers/Heating
Project Management
Property Management
Renewable Energy
Roofers
Sandblasting
Satellite, TV and Telecoms
Scaffolding
Security/Alarms
Septic Tanks/Fosse Septique
Stonemasons
Swimming Pools Services
Tilers
Transportation
Windows, Doors & Conservatories
What pre-checks does Artisan Central make on potential members?
The following checks are made on all applicants:
- SIRET Number/Trading Address
We check the SIRET number is current and the business matches the registered trading address.
Frequency: At application stage and annually
- Proof of ID
We require a copy of current ID such as a passport or driving licence.
Frequency: Once on receipt of application
- Qualifications and Accreditations
If the member confirms they have trade-related qualifications and accreditations we require a copy.
Frequency: Once on receipt of application
- Insurance – Assurance Décennale
If the member confirms they have Assurance Décennale (ten-year guarantee) in place, we require a copy. We check that the insurance matches the services being offered to customers.
Frequency: At application stage and annually at policy renewal date
- Insurance – Public Liability Insurance
All members must have Responsabilité Civile Professionnel cover (public liability) in place, we require a copy.
Frequency: At application stage and annually at policy renewal date
- Customer References
A minimum of two relevant customer references for work undertaken in the past 12 months are required and checked.
Frequency: Once on receipt of application
- Code of Practice
Members agree to uphold the Artisan Central Code of Practice.
Frequency: Once on receipt of application
- Customer Reviews
The email addresses of customers who submit reviews are automatically checked. Artisan Central undertakes random checks by telephone on a minimum of 20% of reviews received.
Frequency: Ongoing
I cannot find an artisan in my area
The Artisan Central website officially launched in January 2017 and we are currently accepting artisans who cover departments within Nouvelle Aquitaine, Bretagne and Normandie. Artisan Central will steadily develop its membership base across France but it will take time to cover the whole of the country and to find artisans of the right quality. Our aim is not to have thousands of members but to promote selected artisans who demonstrate the highest quality of service, workmanship and professionalism. If you cannot find a suitable artisan in your area contact admin@artisancentral.fr and we will check to see if any suitable members are currently in the application stage, we will also use social media to encourage other artisans to join.
If you would like to recommend an artisan who has worked for you, please encourage them to become a member or email their details to admin@artisancentral.fr and we will contact them direct.
How do I find an artisan using the website?
You can search in several ways:
- By business name.
- By trade – for example ‘plumber’.
- By postcode and trade – entering your postcode and the specific trade you are looking for, all artisans covering your area will appear in the search results.
- Consulting the A-Z of members.
What information can I expect to find on a member’s profile?
In addition to the pre-membership checks and confirmation that those checks were made by Artisan Central, you will find a SIRET number, business summary, full contact information, the range of services on offer, insurance details, qualifications, accreditations and experience, a gallery of work, recent customer reviews, and much more.
Does Artisan Central guarantee a member’s work?
While Artisan Central undertakes pre-membership checks on all its members, our members run their own independent businesses and are solely and legally responsible for the quality of their work, the professional way in which they run their business, and the accuracy of their profile on the Website – therefore Artisan Central cannot guarantee a member’s work. Each member has agreed to uphold the Artisan Central Code of Practice which is intended to attract the highest quality artisans operating across France and to discourage unscrupulous, unprofessional and unqualified individuals.
The checks undertaken by Artisan Central do not in any way replace the checks you should always make before entering into an agreement with an artisan. The best way to ensure quality workmanship and to choose the right member for you is to:
- Review the ratings left by previous customers about the member’s timekeeping and reliability, customer service, quality of work, and value for money.
- Ask them to provide a written devis (estimate).
- Provide you with current copies of any business insurance policies, trade-related qualifications and accreditations included in their member profile.
- Call their insurance provider and check the policy is valid and covers the scope of the project.
- Wherever possible personally view examples of the artisan’s previous work for customers. All members should be able to provide you with written client references for work undertaken in the past 12 months. See Working with Artisans.
Insurance
Artisan Central will check a member’s insurance policies at the point of application and on the policy renewal date - but as policies can be cancelled by the holder at any time, potential customers should seek evidence from the insurance company that a valid and appropriate insurance policy is in place and the proposed work is covered by the insurance.
We require our members as a minimum to have Responsabilité Civile Professionnel cover (third party liability) in place.
Certain trades in France, particularly those in the building sector, are required by law to have Assurance Décennale (ten-year guarantee). For further information see: https://www.service-public.fr/professionnels-entreprises/vosdroits/F2034
You can see from a member’s profile page if they have Assurance Décennale:
For some projects the home owner may be required to take out their own additional insurance cover for the duration of the work – check with your home insurance provider before work commences.
For further information read the Working with Artisans section.
My shortlisted artisan does not list any qualifications or accreditations
Many trades do not require a formal qualification or accreditation; skill and experience may be more important to customers than a piece of paper obtained many years ago. Remember to read the Working with Artisans section for more information. Regulated trades such as plumbers, electricians, builders etc., are required to provide the Chambre de Métiers with proof of an appropriate qualification before being registered and issued with a SIRET number.
What is the Artisan Central code of practice?
Our members take their business reputation seriously and agree to uphold the Artisan Central Code of Practice. Members will:
- Have a valid SIRET number.
- Be clear, honest and professional with customers.
- Be realistic about a start date and how long work will take.
- Arrive on the date and time agreed.
- Treat customers, property and the environment with respect.
- Be clear if there are any call out charges.
- Provide a written devis, an additional contract for variations, and a written invoice, if requested.
- Provide proof of insurance, trade-related qualifications and client references, if requested.
- Maintain any registration, qualification and insurance required by French law.
- Only undertake work within the scope of the SIRET number and insurance policy.
- Keep customers updated about all aspects of the work including any problems, additional costs and delays.
- Deal with customer enquiries, complaints and problems promptly, proactively and professionally.
- Encourage customers to submit a review.
- Alert Artisan Central staff within 48 hours of any changes to their business which affects the accuracy of their profile, for example cancellation of business insurance, no longer trading etc.
What is expected of customers?
We ask that customers:
- Provide sufficient detail about the proposed work, including deadlines and budget, to enable members to submit an accurate devis.
- Undertake their own checks on shortlisted artisans.
- Give regular and timely feedback to members, raise any questions, issues or problems as they arise. Give the artisan reasonable time and opportunity to correct any problems before leaving a review.
- Submit fair and prompt feedback which is accurate, factual, legal and proper; non-defamatory and non-libellous.
- Agree and pay a fair price for quality work.
- Pay promptly.
Customers reviews – how does this work?
Customers can leave a review of a member’s work by following Customer Review link on a member’s profile page. Only genuine customers can leave a review. General members of the public cannot review or comment on a member’s work through this website.
As part of our commitment to customers and to ensure only genuine reviews are posted, Artisan Central will:
- Ask reviewers to confirm their email address once they have submitted their review (if an email is unconfirmed, the review will not be posted).
- Accept reviews for work undertaken in the past 12 months (from completion date) and only if the artisan was a member at the time the work was completed.
- Undertake random checks by telephone on a minimum of 20% of customer reviews received.
The review form requires customers to provide their name and contact details, to enable Artisan Central to undertake random checks on a percentage of reviews to ensure they are genuine. We cannot accept anonymous reviews. The customer’s name, email address and contact telephone number will not be visible in the published review but would appear as Customer, Civray 86400 for example.
We rely on customer feedback to provide a rating for our individual members and this appears on their profile page. This enables other potential customers to make an informed choice about which artisan to choose, promotes professional artisans, and helps us weed out members who do not adhere to the Artisan Central Code of Practice.
Can anyone give a customer review and what are the review guidelines?
- The reviewer must be a paying customer of the artisan/business and have no financial or personal interest in the artisan/business.
- The work should have been undertaken in the last 12 months and has been completed.
- The customer must raise any issues about the artisan’s work with them direct and give reasonable time for them to rectify the problem or respond before leaving a negative review.
- The review must be restricted to the reviewer’s personal experience of the artisan’s work and not the opinion of family, friends or others.
- The artisan must be a current member of Artisan Central at the time of the review and at the time the work was carried out.
- The review should be accurate, fair, factual, legal and proper; non-defamatory and non-libellous.
- Artisan Central will not publish reviews about insurance issues if the customer has chosen to work with a member who does not offer Assurance Décennale.
- The administrator at Artisan Central has the right to edit, modify or refuse to publish a review.
- A review may be refused on the grounds it is anonymous, unconfirmed, libellous, defamatory, violates the Agreement or does not comply with applicable laws and regulations; the customer is asked to modify their review but does not do so within the deadline mentioned in the email; the review violates other people’s rights, privacy, intellectual property; the review is of a marketing nature; the review is from an employee or ex-employee or family member; the reviewer is not a genuine customer; the customer is unable to provide proof that they are a genuine customer, proof of the work carried out, or proof that the negative review is warranted.
What if a member has no customer reviews?
It probably means the member has recently joined Artisan Central and customers have not had the opportunity to post any reviews. If you are interested in that member, contact them direct as all members should have a portfolio of work and customer references that they can share with you. Artisan Central encourages all members to have a minimum of two customer reviews on their profile within the first six months of membership.
How does the review system work?
Customers are asked to rate a member’s completed work against four key criteria:
Timekeeping and Reliability: Was the artisan punctual and reliable throughout. Was the work finished to an agreed schedule?
Customer Service: Was the artisan courteous and professional throughout?
Quality of Work: How would you rate the quality / finish of the final work?
Value for Money: How would you rate value for money? Consider the quality and scope of the work undertaken, initial quotation, additional work agreed and the final overall cost?
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Customers are also able to leave a summary of the work, up to a maximum of 600 characters, a member can respond to feedback.
How are negative reviews handled?
- In the unlikely event a customer encounters a problem with a member’s work the customer should raise the problem directly with the member. This should happen as soon as possible and the member given reasonable time and opportunity to rectify the problem or respond before any negative review is submitted (Step 1).
- A negative review will not be published or actioned by Artisan Central until Step 1 has been taken.
- If a negative review has been submitted and the customer confirms Step 1 has been completed but no resolution reached, Artisan Central will ask the customer if they wish us to contact the member on their behalf.
- If the customer wishes us to contact the member, Artisan Central will do so with the aim of suggesting an appropriate course of action enabling both parties to reach a resolution. See Dispute Resolution Guidelines.
- Artisan Central may request evidence of the problem. If the customer fails to provide sufficient evidence or does not respond to Artisan Central within 28 days, the negative review will not be published but will be retained on a member’s file for future reference.
- If the customer does not wish us to contact the member, the negative review will not be published but will be retained on a member’s file for future reference.
- If a member does not respond to Artisan Central messages about a negative review within 28 days, the feedback will be published, but may be subject to editing by Artisan Central.
- We cannot accept reviews from anonymous sources or anyone except genuine customers.
- If legal action is taken against a member or a customer, a review will be published once legal proceedings have been finalised.
- We aim to respond to complaints within two working days.
- Artisan Central aims to remain impartial and cannot provide legal advice or undertake investigations or negotiations on behalf of customers or members. In the event a resolution cannot be reached customers or members should refer to the Dispute Resolution section for further guidance.
- If a satisfactory resolution is reached, customers will be asked to revise their initial review and resubmit.
- The administrator at Artisan Central has the right to edit or refuse to publish a review.
Do you refuse or cancel membership?
Yes, if an artisan does not uphold the Code of Practice and Terms and Conditions or cannot provide the necessary documentation (ID, proof of insurance etc.), or adequate customers reviews – membership may be declined or suspended.
If you have a question which has not been answered here, contact: admin@artisancentral.fr
Artisan Central is a directory of pre-checked, highly skilled artisans working throughout France. Artisan Central members represent quality, skill and professionalism.