At the Assises du BTP, government announcements insufficient to respond to the sector's concerns

Faced with the increase in the price of materials, the difficulties of supplying companies and the desire to support the sector in its ecological transition, Bruno Le Maire announced last July the launch of the Assises du bâtiment et des travaux publics ( BTP), space for consultation and development of concrete measures, carried by the sector and which can be quickly implemented.

The first objective of this meeting is to respond as soon as possible to the needs of the construction sector in order to overcome the challenges linked to inflation. The second objective of this Conference is to meet the structural expectations of the sector in terms of simplification and ecological transition, but also training and digital technology. Finally, the third objective is to initiate a change in the method of dialogue between the State and the sector. The actors of the sector formulated their recommendations, which were then studied by the State within the framework of working groups associating all the stakeholders.

More than 200 representatives of the sector were heard during these exchanges which were structured in 6 working sessions. More than fifteen federations representing the production and distribution of materials, construction and project management took part. More than a hundred measures relating to the economic balance of operations, simplification and ecological transition were discussed. Local authorities were also associated with the validation of the first 13 measures presented.

On Thursday, September 22, the Government therefore presented the measures which will be able to enter into force without delay. These measures are the result of requests from the sector, they preserve the balance of public finances while respecting the dates of entry into force of texts on ecological transition (low emission zones, extended producer responsibility in particular). The other measures continue to be appraised and may be the subject of new announcements by the end of 2022.

The 13 measures:

Measures to improve business cash flow

• 1. Raising the floor thresholds for advances in all public contracts, in order to top up the cash flow of State suppliers and in particular construction players. These thresholds will rise from 20% to 30% for all public contracts awarded with SMEs as soon as possible.
• 2. Improving the staggering of the reimbursement of these advances by rewriting the texts to modify the current situation which leads principals to demand full reimbursement too quickly.
• 3. A guide to good practice in terms of late penalties paid by construction industry players in order to prevent current shortage situations from being unjustly blamed on them.

Measures to improve price predictability in public and private markets

• 4. The government seized the Council of State, which has just indicated that it was possible to revise the prices in the public markets in progress, to take into account the additional costs generated by the exceptional circumstances. A circular will specify in the next few days the steps to be taken in this area, and a practical sheet is already posted on the ministry's website.
• 5. A mission will be entrusted to the Business Mediator to improve the predictability of commodity prices.

Measures to simplify public procurement

• 6. The continuation at €100.000 of the over-the-counter threshold which exempts public works contracts from calls for tenders and which was raised exceptionally during the health crisis.
• 7. The reduction from 6 to 4 months of the period listed in the general administrative clauses of public contracts, between the notification of a contract and the service order for the actual start of the work, in order to avoid an inflation of the costs during this period.
• 8. Targeting and better coordination of controls on construction sites to fight against illegal work.

Measures to simplify and improve the implementation of regulatory and ecological obligations that weigh on companies

• 9. Compulsory and rapid publication of the amount of eco-contributions paid for companies within the framework of the “Extended Producer Responsibility” (REP) sector.
• 10. The establishment of a 4-month tolerance period for bringing companies into compliance with Extended Producer Responsibility (educational awareness rather than sanction).
• 11. The extension of the site-by-site experimentation of the "Responsible Guarantor of the Environment" (RGE) label beyond December 31, 2022.

Measures to accelerate the ecological transition in this sector

• 12. Strengthening the overall high-performance renovation offer through a specific France 2030 call for tenders
• 13. The launch of a consultation on the establishment of a carbon-score of materials

The FFB welcomes rapid work

The FFB that the possibility of obtaining compensation for “abnormal additional costs” constitutes an important step forward. It will make it possible to find legally secure solutions. Similarly, maintaining the €100.000 ceiling for signing over-the-counter contracts is a step in the right direction for the professional organisation, as is the 30% increase in fixed advances on State contracts.

Some initial measures concern private markets, such as the announced strengthening of controls, including for individuals, or all markets, such as the continuation of work to create a tool to better understand the evolution of the prices of materials and better anticipate their evolution.

For Olivier Salleron, president of the FFB: “this rapid mobilization in favor of craftsmen and building contractors must be amplified, in particular on measures relating to private markets. The announcement by Bruno Le Maire that the Assises du BTP are continuing is therefore good news. From the outset, the FFB has wanted this industry-government co-construction approach to take place over time, so as to move from dealing with immediate problems to developing a medium-long term strategy for the sector. construction. The ecological transition and the digital transformation in progress impose this. »

For CAPEB, "an encouraging first step but still insufficient to respond to the concerns of craft building companies"

With its 26 concrete measures and solutions, the CAPEB has shown itself to be proactive and has been fully involved in all the working groups so that ambitious and binding measures emerge from these meetings. It is in fact on this condition alone that craft building companies, severely tested by the current context linked to the difficulties of supply, recruitment, and the rise in the prices of materials and energy, will be able to act fully in favor of energy renovation.

However, if some of the measures announced by the public authorities during this Conference are going in the right direction (increasing the level of advances in the public market, the continuation of the threshold of €100.000 below which over-the-counter is authorized, the reinforcement of controls to fight against illegal work, the establishment of a 4-month tolerance period during the implementation on January 1, 2023 of the REP, etc.), CAPEB notes that, at this stage, None of the provisions aimed at really boosting energy renovation (indexation of all aid to inflation, reduction by two of the remainder payable by low-income households as proposed by CAPEB, the RGE, MaPrimeRénov, CEE, ZFE – m ,...).

Exclusively, Bruno Le Maire arbitrated, at the request of CAPEB, in favor of maintaining the reduced rate VAT on very high energy performance boilers. The increase in this rate would have sent an incomprehensible signal for purchasing power and activity.

For Jean-Christophe Repon, President of CAPEB: “For CAPEB, these meetings being a starting point, it is understandable that the measures announced today are not likely to fully unleash the potential of craft building companies in the energy transition. We therefore look forward to further work so that more ambitious measures can be taken. The stakes are high. Only these VSEs, which represent 95% of construction companies, have the capacity to do so. We are already pleased to see the duration of the experiment relating to site-by-site qualification extended until the end of 2023 and to have been heard on the necessary continuation of this Assizes. The work has only just begun. CAPEB, which is the leading professional organization in France in terms of members and the majority professional organization in the field of building VSEs, will continue to show a constructive and collaborative state of mind. »