Structural Engineering in Paris, France

[CaliforniaSE]

Hello All! My French wife for various reasons has decided she wants to go back to France (specifically Paris) to be closer to her family. While she has a job that is easily transferable I'm a bit stuck on what I need to do. I'm a structural engineer (registered SE and Civil PE in CA) and I have no clue about how the engineering world in Paris let alone Europe as a whole works. I've got a couple initial questions I'm hoping someone on this site can help me out with.

1. I understand Europe uses the Eurocode. How different is it from the IBC (aside from the units)? Do they reference multiple standards for design (concrete, steel etc) or is it like the AASHTO where everything can be found directly in the code?

2. Do they have licenses similar to the US and if so how does it work (applying, maintaining etc)? Can I apply by comity with my US license or is there an exam I would need to sit for?

3. While my French is adequate to survive in France it is nowhere near enough to work in an engineering office. Does anyone know of any American firms that have offices in Paris (or in the immediate suburbs) or firms that use English as their main day-to-day language? My goal is to learn French eventually so that I have more options but I might be limited to English for the first year or two.

Thanks for the help!

 

[canwesteng]

I would be exceptionally surprised if there are any engineering firms that use English in the office in Paris, American or otherwise. Start boning up on your French amigo

 

[CaliforniaSE]

Yup, I realize I'll have to learn eventually but it's not uncommon to have English speaking firms in Europe. There are numerous international firms (American/British owned especially) that use English as their core language across their offices. I also know that CH2M (now part of Jacobs) has a design center in Poland. Those engineers/drafters use English all the time as they assist with projects around the US/World. I was also told by a colleague that it could be possible to negotiate with the big engineering firms (Jacobs, AECOM etc) to work remotely. Not sure how feasible that is but I'm looking at all my options. But like I said I do plan to do a lot of studying/crash course in French so that I will be comfortable within a year or two to broaden my search.

 

[12345abc6ttyui67]

Before I begin, I'm in the UK and no experience of working in France, but hopefully some of the comments below will assist in finding out further info.

1) I've never used the IBC, but I'd be willing to bet Eurocode will be significantly different. You could try googling for "Concrete beam design Eurocode example" (or whatever you are interested in) and I'm sure there will be results which show the general method / philosophy, which you can compare to what you know.

There are separate Eurocodes for almost everything. There are separate codes for structural design, i.e. Actions, Concrete Design, Steel Design, Timber Design, Masonry Design, .....etc. Then there are also Eurocodes for very specific things like Bolt Geometry, Washer Material, Torque Wrench Calibration, ..... etc.

The main Design codes are discussed here: [link]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocodes[/url]

Each country then also has a "National Annex" to each Eurocode, which changes certain values to suit (e.g. the Snow Load in Norway's NA is much higher than the one defined in Spain's NA).

You might also find they don't even use the Eurocode. My industry uses AISC 360 for example, and still references 'old' British Standards.

2) In the UK, Structural Engineers are designated as "Chartered Engineers" (or CEng) once they have been reviewed by a suitable professional body (e.g. the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) or Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)). Essentially, each institution is ensuring the candidate has met the requirements set out by that Countries "Designated Authority" (which is called the Engineering Council in the UK, France will have something similar), and thereby meets the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI) requirements. FEANI keep a record of all Chartered Engineers across Europe and generally aim to ensure suitable quality standards / professionalism / consistency etc. are maintained.

France will have it's own equivalent of an Engineering Council, which works under FEANI.

There are some supposedly 'international' registrations, e.g. EurIng, which are meant to help 'understanding' of your status between countries, but I rarely see it used.

More info here: [link ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Federation_of_National_Engineering_Associations

[/url]

You should probably be able to 'transfer' (for a fee) your US registration (provided it is deemed mutually recognised by France's designated authority / FEANI). Usually there is an annual fee for maintaining membership, and you may be asked to prove continued commitment to development and learning during the year (for instance, my membership with ICE is £304/yr and I may be asked to demonstrate I have carried out 30hrs of CPD each year).

3) Not sure.

 

[klaus.]

Well the french world is a bit different from the rest of the world ...also in engineering
For sure you need to speak and write the language
In Germany we do not have license engineers ...not sure about france ... but i don't think they have them either

Yes in Europe we use Eurocode ...but in france they still like their 'old' national codes
France is rather conservative in many ways

Probably many big international engineering companies have subsidiaries in France or paris
so this might be a good starting point for you to work

good luck

 

[robyengIT]

this is one of the biggest construction company in France and all over the world : you can contact them

http://www.bouygues-construction.com

 

[robyengIT]

here is a book set with a lot of worked examples on all the eurocodes (for example EN 1993 = Eurocode 3):
"Designer's guide to EN 1990 - EN 1991 - ect - EN 1999"

 

[BadgerPE]

Several years ago, my wife had an amazing job offer which meant that we had to move away. I wasn't quite a PE and I was having a hard time finding a job where we were moving. Fortunately, we were just starting a huge project at the company I was at and I pitched to them the idea working remotely on the project. They agreed and it worked pretty well so we kept it going until a year later when my wife's company wanted us to move again. We didn't want to move there, so we returned "home" and I went right back into the office. Total work time lost between the two moves ~ 2 weeks.

Perhaps you would be able to work remotely for your current company while you get on your feet in France. Or, if like in my case, it works well for you, then you stick with it long term.

Just a thought.

 

[racookpe1978]

Consider changing from "office design" engineering to "field engineer" or "field installation and modification".

Sounds like the recertification and replacement of all of your US-applicable code experience is going to be very, very hard in France. But applying your experience in a new language for the few-calculations-but-much-experience-needed in field supervision would be easier for the fabrication and construction side of the house.

 

[CaliforniaSE]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Our plan is to move in the summer 2019 so I have a bit of time to figure things out but will definitely consider everything mentioned here.

 

[hokie66]

That gives you a bit of time to persuade her to reconsider.