About Riviera Home Experts

The problem we exist to solve

If you own a home on the Côte d'Azur and your French isn't fluent, finding good tradespeople is harder than it should be. The contractors are out there, but they're hard to find.

English-speaking homeowners, expats, and second-home owners regularly run into the same friction points: language barriers that make it hard to specify the work clearly, unfamiliarity with French paperwork such as the devis (written quote), planning declarations and grants like MaPrimeRénov' (the state renovation grant) and CEE (energy-supplier grants), and difficulty getting more than one written quote to compare. Many people end up either overpaying, accepting work that wasn't quite what they asked for, or simply not getting the project done at all.

What we do

Riviera Home Experts is a matching and referral service. We connect homeowners with English-speaking contractors who have direct experience of expat and second-home projects on the Côte d'Azur.

We don't do the work ourselves. We're not a contractor. What we do is provide clear, honest information about the options for energy work (heating, cooling, solar, electrical), renovation (insulation, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, whole houses) and outdoor projects (pools, gardens, terraces, gates), and then put you in touch with the right specialist for your specific situation. That means someone who can discuss your project in English, understands the local planning rules, and knows how to navigate the French subsidy process on your behalf.

Where it's possible to get you more than one quote, we'll try to do that. Where the project has specific requirements, we'll make sure the contractor we refer has the relevant certification, whether that's RGE (the state's approved-installer label) for grant-funded energy work or IRVE (the qualification for fitting EV chargers) for an EV charger.

Where we work

We cover the Alpes-Maritimes and the broader Côte d'Azur, including Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Valbonne, Grasse, Mougins, and Sophia Antipolis. If you're in the area and not sure whether we cover your commune, just ask.

What we don't promise

We're honest about what this service is. We can connect you with good contractors, but we can't guarantee every project runs perfectly, and we don't oversee the work once introductions are made. We vet the contractors we work with, but the contract, the work and its guarantees are between you and them. We're not a party to the contract, a warranty provider or a project manager.

If your project needs someone on-site managing the work day to day, that's a different kind of service and we'll tell you that upfront.

Get in touch

The best way to start is to tell us about your project. Use the contact form and describe what you're trying to do, roughly where you are, and whether you have a sense of budget. We'll come back to you with honest guidance on next steps.