II. ESTABLISHING IN FRANCE
D. Certain Rules Concerning Some
Specific Fields of Services.
a. Architects
This profession
is strictly regulated in France. The laws,
rules and regulations tend to protect the
monopoly of architects on one hand, and the
title of Architect on the other (Law 77-2
of January 3, 1977 amended by the Law of July
12, 1985; Ordinance 78-67 of January 19, 1978;
Ordinance 80-217 of March 20, 1980, establishing
a Code of Professional Responsibility of Architects).
(i) Monopoly
The architect,
according to French Law, is defined as the prime
contractor to whom the owner must address himself
for any construction or renovation job which
requires a building permit.
In all cases where a building
permit is necessary (i.e., for all new constructions,
for all changes in the purpose of an existing
construction or all modifications carried
out on its volume or its outer appearance),
the architect has to establish an architectural
plan before such permit can be issued.
Such a plan consists of
drawings and documents defining "the
positions of the building, their content,
organization and volume, as well as the choice
of materials and colors".
The execution of the work
may be entrusted to a contractor, but the
architect must always ensure that the project
is being followed as it has been approved
by the authorities who have issued the building
permit.
Furthermore, the architect
may participate in the following:
- Town planning and development,
including preparation of drawings
- Allotment of land
- Preparation of programs
- Consulting of firms
- Preparation of public calls for bids
- Coordination and direction of works
- Providing assistance to owners
- Consultancy and expert appraisal
- Teaching
Architects
are required to obtain insurance covering their
professional responsibility.
They can group themselves and form a partnership
with others of different means or professions,
or form a corporation for which they will work.
In the latter case the partners
must comply with the following rules:
- The
shares of the company must be nominative shares
- More than 50% of the nominative capital
must be held by architects
- The membership of a new partner is subject
to the prior agreement of the General Meeting
of shareholders. The decision must be taken
by a two-third majority.
- None of the partners can hold more than
50% of the nominative capital
- The chairman of the board of directors,
the general manager (if he is alone), at least
half of the managers and members of the board
of directors, as well as the majority of the
board of directors and administrators must
be architects.
(ii) Protection of the title
The illegal use of the title
of architect is subject to criminal sanction.
To ensure the protection
of the title, there is a professional body
which guarantees the application of professional
rules and regulations. It has the authority
to take disciplinary action and controls the
access to the profession through inscription
on the Roll.
Furthermore, a code of ethics
enumerates the architect's obligations.
Thus, in principle, to join
this profession, three conditions must be
fulfilled:
- To possess
one's civil rights and provide evidence of
good moral character.
- To have obtained a degree, certificate,
or other title recognized by the French government.
- To be French, or the national of another
Member State of the European Community, or
the national of a third country which has
signed a convention of reciprocity with France.
- There is no such convention between France
and Canada, or the United States. - A North
American cannot therefore practice as an architect
in France, unless he has dual nationality,
one of which is of an EU country.
In the latter case, the
degree he or she holds must appear on the
list of foreign degrees recognized as being
equivalent to French diplomas by an order
of the Ministre de l'Urbanisme, du Logement
et des Transports (Ministry of Urbanism, Housing
and Transport).
Nevertheless, the Law of
January 3, 1977 and the Ordinance of January
16, 1978, mention four exceptions to the condition
regarding French nationality:
1. A foreign architect
can be authorized to practice by a decision
of the Ministre de l'Urbanisme, whose decision
is taken after hearing the opinion of the
Ministre des Relations Extérieures
(Secretary of State). But in practice, the
Ministre des Relations Extérieures
bases his decision mainly on the existence
of a convention of reciprocity with the country
of origin of the candidate. The situation
is quite unfavorable for Canadians as the
possibilities for French architects to practice
in Canada are very much restricted.
2. The Ministre de l'Urbanisme
may allow a foreign architect to register
in France, upon presentation of professional
references, and after taking into account
the opinion of a national commission. But
this rule only concerns exceptional cases,
where the candidate has already completed
works of great importance.
3. The Ministre de l'Urbanisme
can authorize an architect to carry out a
specific project in France, either after hearing
the opinion of the Conseil National de l'Ordre
des Architectes, or as a result of a contest
of which he or she was the prize-winner.
Within this context, then,
the authorization of the Minister is practically
automatic.
It is to be noted that competitions
are advertised in the bulletin of the Union
Internationale des Architectes (U.I.A. - International
Union of Architects).
4. Finally, the law provides
for persons having effectively practiced as
architects in France before 1977 to be recognized
and approved by the Ministre de l'Urbanisme,
after receiving the opinion of a regional
commission, and on these grounds to be authorized
to work as an architect.
However, this procedure
seems quite impractical at the moment as 2,000
applications have already been submitted,
and l'Ordre des Architectes is not at all
favorable to this procedure.
The application to register
should be made to the Conseil Régional
de l'Ordre des Architectes of the area in
which the candidate wishes to practice.
In cases 1, 2, and 3, however,
if the candidate is the prize-winner of a
competition, the application should be made
directly to the Direction de l' Architecture
du Ministère de l'Urbanisme.
In all cases, the application
must be accompanied by the documents which
prove that the candidate fulfills the statutory
conditions.
In practice, North American
architects in France practice in partnership
with French architects. Indeed, the real problem
is not the access to the profession, but the
lack of knowledge of French rules and regulations
and of French practice, especially regarding
the employment of salaried workers, the making
of contracts, the technical regulations (control
of materials, etc.) and the possibility of
entering into a partnership with an engineering
firm.
