Maître d'œuvre

We have enough queries about the way Dominique is working, and the quality of work (I know that things are done differently in France; we don't have a problem with that, & wouldn't expect things to be done in an English way, but cracks in the concrete floor already?) that we want to get a second opinion as to whether he is doing things properly. The doubts, coupled with the (phenomenally!) slow rate of progress, have led us to look for a maître d'œuvre (project manager).

Hands up! We have done things completely the wrong way - we should have had a signed contract stating exactly how long the job is to take, and probably also displayed a declaration of travaux (when we asked the Maire whether we needed planning permission, he told us that we could do what we liked to the inside of the house; that is up to us, the Mairie only gets involved if we change the outside - we never thought to ask if we need a declaration; didn't even know such a thing existed 2 years ago!). Most of the problem stems from dealing with builders like my dad and Bob (yes, our English builder is called Bob!) - we're just used to doing things on an informal business!

We have sent out letters, emails and clicked on the "contact" button on a couple of websites to contact project managers, maîtres d'œuvre and architects who will project manage, and have had responses from 2 maîtres d'œuvre. We plan to meet with both of them (and possibly someone else if anyone else responds - there are still another 9 potential respondees out there!), later this month. In my mind I have labelled the 2 who have contacted us "Mr Efficient" and "Mr Laid-back" - one responded promptly with a (long) list of questions and a detailed fee schedule for a visit and report (negotiable if we engage him as project manager); the other promptly replied that he'd be willing to work on the project and he hoped to hear from us to arrange a meeting soon!

We want to meet them both, because I know that hyper-efficiency can be great at running projects (but can also be counterproductive if too control-freaky & alienates workers! I know that from personal experience - hi Julia!). I also believe that a Zen approach can produce the best results (although not necessarily what one wanted; what you need may not be the same as what you [think you] want... I know that from personal experience, too - hi David!).

I'm working on trusting that we make the right decision!

Will keep it posted when we've decided between M. Boyer & M. Jacquard...