At 30, Baptiste Petit is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France), a Companion of the Tour de France, and a former trainer for the Compagnons du Devoir and the Tour de France. He recently founded his company, FORMA-ACT, near Lille, to help construction companies on their construction sites.

How did you get into this profession?

During my ninth grade, I discovered the roofing trade by helping my uncle with his roof. He was changing tiles on an extension, and he needed help. I loved seeing the horizon and the feeling of climbing, and that led me to the profession. I did a work experience internship, then a vocational certificate (CAP) as an apprentice at the age of 15 at the Lycée Le Corbusier in Soissons.

How did you come to join the Compagnons?

There was no longer a BP in Soissons, and I discovered the Compagnons du Devoir in Reims. The structure appealed to me; I thought it was a boarding school. Ultimately, I went "as a tourist" to this institution I didn't know, apprenticing with David Frunin in Bucy-le-Long near Soissons, then to Chanzy-Pardoux, a historic monuments company near Strasbourg, where I worked with Alsatian flat tiles, and then to Nantes, where I worked with slate.

The advantage of the Tour de France is that the materials change!

In the past, we made roofs with whatever we had on hand... In Fourques, between Nîmes and Arles, at Bourgeois, a historic monuments company, I worked with Roman tiles and lead, but I wasn't a mason, so I didn't make genoises; I was the team roofer. Then I went to Bègles, near Bordeaux, to work for Houdusse-Picard, where I worked on a bit of everything: metal roofing, tiles, and so on. The same thing happened at Auger Toiture, near Montargis. Then in Lomme, near Lille, at J. Leroy, I worked on batten roofs; and in Reims, at Garnier, working on slate projects, I worked alongside a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France), Jean-Jacques Limandat. I was 21 years old and he was the same age as my father. Finally, I went to Switzerland above Lausanne, to Graff, where I did a lot of metal work, I was the team's "tinsmith" (the zinc worker in France), who makes metal fittings and metal roofing on chalets, individual houses, buildings. It's the most waterproof material against snow and ice... The last stage of my Tour de France!

What has your career path been like since then?

From September 2017 to September 2024, I was a trainer at the Compagnons (Training Association). And since last October, I've been setting up my business with Camille Jacquot, also a MOF (Moving Professional Officer) [to be discovered soon in a future issue of Toiture Magazine, Editor's note] and a Compagnon, and Paul Vandenbroucke, also a Compagnon. All three of us were trainers.

The MOF (Training Association) exam wasn't a solo adventure...

Camille Jacquot and I took the exam together. It was part of his career choices; he had competed in the previous European Championships as a team, the Olympics, and one thing led to another, and we thought it would be cool... Our former director, Alban Dezoteux, encouraged us to do it and provided excellent support. He offered us the registration fee (200 euros), a good part of the material and logistics, including vans that can load two transport crates, because the final model measures approximately 1.85 x 1.85 x 2.15 m.

How did the competition go?

We had a year to finalize the model (which isn't done in the training room; it's very rare to do it in front of a jury). Camille Jacquot and I registered in December 2019 for the 27th class. The selection process was supposed to take place in 2020, but due to Covid, it was delayed until the end of 2021. The pre-selection process took place in the training room, with two pieces to be created: a pressed lead basin with two projections, and a two-edged slate valley base on a horseshoe base. Each project took three hours, followed by a presentation of our personal experience before a jury. We then received the subject and specifications, with one hour to ask the jury questions. And no further contact with the organization until the model was handed over on December 15, 2022. The transport from Lille to Bourges was quite stressful, because a roof isn't meant to move! There were bumps, potholes, expansion joints on the bridges... and the fear of discovering a broken slate or tile when opening the crate upon delivery.

"I discovered the roofing trade by helping out my uncle. I loved seeing the horizon, the feeling of climbing..."

So you completed the competition as a pair?

We did everything from A to Z with Camille Jacquot, side by side, because we were in the same workshop for the project: design, framework, transport... What differentiated our models were the technical and aesthetic choices. For example, I chose a flaked section for the slate, which the other finalists didn't.

What was the subject?

A convex slope shape with a curved copper section and an imperial roof on the second slope made of flat tiles, and inside, a slate turret penetrating this slope. On the two gables, there was colored zinc metal cladding and wood cladding. All the roofing materials were present: copper, zinc, lead, stainless steel, flat tiles, slate, and chestnut shingles. We went to get these shingles in Carrouges, in Orne, from Le Fendeur…

What led you to take the competitive exam?

The goal was more personal than honorary. I wanted to test my knowledge and professional skills, as I was 27 years old when the model was created, so I already had twelve years of experience. We created this model in a training center; the apprentices and their host company came to see the progress of the work, and we would interact…

What is the purpose of your company?

The best learning experience is being on the job rather than in the comfort of a workshop: the training center is there to teach skills, the company is there to perfect them. Our company will be a training organization. We're pioneering an innovative concept on the market: we train construction companies on their construction sites through personalized support in roofing—cladding, waterproofing, risk prevention, scaffolding, harnesses, skills, etc. Forma-Act (Formation-Action) will operate within a one-and-a-half-hour radius of Lille, including Belgium, and throughout the Hauts-de-France region, as far north as Paris.

Interview by Hugues Chauffray

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