# Have you done a Permis de Construire yourself?



## BaguetteMan (Apr 20, 2010)

I’m looking at a potential project where I will buy some land with a ruin on it and build a small house of 65sq.m as well as a 20sq.m. workshop and garden shed. I’m hoping to do a lot of the work myself, starting with the Permis de Construire. I was wondering if anyone here had completed their own application?
I’ve looked at the form and it seems quite in-depth.
Have you done it yourself? How did it go? any ‘lessons learnt’?
Thanks in advance. All help will be welcome.


----------



## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

I did two permis before the PLUs (land usage plans) came into existence.
The first was for some wooden shelters on agricultural land which had a CU. The need for that was quite a surprise as wood is by its nature a temporary structure and earth floors are good enough for animals. Had we bought kits for these shelters we would not have qualified for a multiple delivery discount, so by undertaking all the tasks ourselves we saved 2k!
The other permis was for major modifications to a terraced buy to let. A lot of that work could not be done by ourselves, but at least we couldn't be fobbed off by unhelpful "artisans".
I recall lots of photos were required to show existing properties as they were and then what they would look like with the modifications drawn on. A lot of the pages were superfluous in the end. I just drew lines across those pages.

Biggest tip: involve the mairie before making a final submission. Modifications can easily be made at that stage e.g. needing to add more natural light/insulation to a room to comply with current regulations.

Since the permis is only valid for 3 years the majority of people get a substantial part of their new builds/conversions done by construction companies. Some friends had the outer shell built with basic electrical and drainage works done. Even that took 20 months. They then took their time to fit out the inside to their liking. The drive has still not been done other than with a layer of rough stone.


----------



## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

We did our own building "declaration" (supposedly not as elaborate as a building permit), which is what you'll need for the 20 m2 out building if you hold off on that until the house is well underway. Our neighbor did their own building permit application, which she says involved her doing the architectural drawing for the work (adding a couple of rooms over the garage). Those blueprints/drawings are what can add some considerable expense to the project and our neighbor "just happened" to be able to do them herself. Was quite proud of herself in the end.

We had an architect do the drawings for our barn (just under 20 m2) and then used those drawings to show the builders what we wanted. I will warn you that the mairie can get quite picky about the drawings and the dimensions indicated on them. But you can build an out building of 20 m2 or less on the property - just work with the mairie on the precise placement of it because they specify how far from the house, from the street (center of the street) and a few other placement details.


----------

