Building artisans submit 15 proposals to the Government to halt the decline in energy renovation

Last January, CAPEB asked the Government to react by taking strong and ambitious decisions to put an end to this decline. Decisions that never came. Today, CAPEB is submitting its roadmap of ready-to-use measures to the Government in the hope that it will adopt them.

A decline in the start of the year, in line with the decline initiated in early 2022

The slowdown in activity that began in early 2022 is confirmed in this first quarter of 2023, for all business segments. The maintenance-improvement activity nevertheless made it possible to maintain positive growth this quarter (+0,5%) thanks to the dynamism recorded by the work to improve the energy performance of housing (+2,0%). The situation is different for new construction, which saw its activity in volume stagnate this quarter compared to the same period in 2022.

At the beginning of April, the order books, which have so far remained at high levels, are down and now represent 87 days of work to come, i.e. 9 days less than in the previous quarter and 16 days less than a year ago. a year. The lowest volume since January 2021. This observation is identical in maintenance-improvement and new construction, and this in all regions with the exception of Brittany.

Disparities according to regions and trades

The regional landscape is highly contrasted in this first quarter of 2023. Some regions are posting good performances, like Brittany or New Aquitaine, while, in others, the volume of activity is down for the whole first time since the health crisis (Normandy (-0,5%), Center Val-de-Loire (-0,5%), Hauts-de-France (-1%).

The trades are not spared and notable differences are noted. The trajectory of the decorating and plastering business is picking up on a year-on-year basis compared to the previous quarter, and plumbing and heating roofing companies are showing a moderate slowdown (0,5 points) and better-than-average growth.

On the other hand, electricity companies are particularly affected and are suffering from a drop in activity.

How do companies perceive the coming months?

While the slowdown that began several quarters is confirmed, craft building companies seem to anticipate that it will continue. Between still high costs (rise in the minimum wage, costs of energy, raw materials, materials and equipment), inflation which compresses the purchasing power of households with a direct impact on the drop in work requests for craftsmen, companies have a negative opinion of the evolution of their activity for the next 6 months.

Corporate cash levels deteriorated sharply with a negative balance of opinion of 15 points, ie 3 times more than in the previous quarter.

Similarly, only 6% of companies report seeing an increase in their activity. For the vast majority, the activity, on the contrary, is deteriorating (40%) or has remained stable.

15 proposals to end the decline

LA CAPEB sends the Government its 15 proposals which revolve around 4 main themes: simplify to energize, fight against fraud and strengthen the credibility of the RGE and CEE systems, increase the number of companies able to carry out renovation work and stimulate demand from individuals for more ambitious energy renovations.

For Jean-Christophe Repon: “Some of these 15 proposals are not new, but we are convinced that they will give the building trades sector the breath it needs to meet the challenges for which they are expected and continue to represent a major sector of our economy. The measures we need are there, the Government just has to seize them. We hope for a sign from the Government on these proposals at the next construction conference which should be held in June. »

CAPEB's 15 proposals

Drastically simplify the RGE / CEE / MaPrimeRénov' systems

• accelerate the ongoing simplification work under the OSCAR program to come up with concrete, operational and ambitious proposals by September 2023 at the latest;
• implement a single reference system for the controls carried out under the RGE, or MaPrimeRénov' or even the CEE system by refocusing the controls solely on the verification of the quality of the work in connection with energy performance;

Fight against fraud and strengthen the credibility of RGE and CEE systems

• reactivate the inter-ministerial body for the fight against fraud;
• limit subcontracting to 1 tier for energy performance work;
• prohibit a non-RGE company from subcontracting all the work it carries out to RGE companies;
• set up certification for delegates who market works, collect ESCs and resell them to the obliged parties, and who subcontract and/or enter into partnerships with construction companies;
• strengthen the preventive controls of “opportunistic” commercial companies, not RGE, carrying out a large number of projects, without technical skills in-house;
• require an RGE referent for every 10 employees;
• implement a rate of RGE controls proportional to the number of works carried out by a company;
• randomly choose the sites checked, from a single file listing all the energy renovation sites (RGE, MaPrimeRénov' and CEE);

Increase the number of companies able to carry out energy renovation work

• perpetuate the site qualification by setting up an "Energy renovation consultant", partly financed by a CEE program, alongside the current RGE system to allow competent VSEs to access the assisted energy renovation market, with two ambitions (drastic simplification of administrative requirements and credibility based on systematic site inspections);
• facilitate the creation of GMEs by putting an end to de facto solidarity between companies;

Boosting demand for more ambitious energy renovations

• review the current aid schemes to take into account inflation and really encourage individuals to commit, over several years, to a course of work to aim, in the long term, for global energy renovation;
• after a first gesture made, finance by the CEE, for the most modest households, an energy audit in order to define the ideal course of works to lead to an ambitious global renovation;
• set up a green loan in 3 clicks, distributed by all the banks, to finance the rest payable by individuals.

Consult the economic report for the 1st quarter of 2023 in full.