For the CAPEB Rhône and Grand Lyon, the prevention of the health of the business manager is a necessity

At the start of the 2022 school year and faced with an increasingly stressful economic context, CAPEB Rhône and Greater Lyon is warning of the growing number of business leaders in a situation close to burnout and its impact on the economic and social level.

An increasingly stressful environment

Work relations, relations with customers, pressure of deadlines... building craftsmen have always been confronted with stressful situations.

But, as a direct consequence of the recent pandemic, they are proving to be more and more numerous with:

• the shortage of materials: wood, steel, aluminum but also glue, plaster, electrical equipment, plumbing... all trades are now affected by declining stocks,
• the lengthening of supply and delivery times never reached.

With the result of an increase in costs that can reach up to + 30%, construction companies find themselves caught between:

• excessive and uncontrollable prices which, being unjustifiable to customers and difficult to report, often require professionals to absorb these increases and thus impact their margins
• sites which, unable to be finished in the time allowed, generate late payment compensation and encounter great difficulties in reimbursing the PGEs issued during the various confinements.

Related :

• to the major social issues brought about by environmental awareness: air quality, energy renovation, parking problems and more recently the arrival of Low Emission Zones in major urban centers...
• labor shortage:
  • Already noticeable from 2019, this phenomenon is further amplified by:
    • a slowdown in training, which has greatly reduced the mechanism for renewing the workforce,
    • the blocking of labor from abroad,
    • labor movements related to blackmail on remuneration,
• the burden of administrative procedures: in addition to the average 142 days of work devoted each year in SMEs, the announcement of new schemes such as Prime Rénov proves to be designed more for large groups than for craftsmen, the phenomenon is growing and d as we are approaching a situation of almost full employment with 6,5% unemployment declared in the Rhône in August.

Building-specific solutions

Today, CAPEB Rhône and Grand Lyon finds itself increasingly confronted with members in difficulty and has seen a sharp increase in calls from business leaders requesting information with a view to stopping their activity.

Since September 2022, these calls have even doubled.

In addition to the existing means such as:

• the work of the Amarok Observatory which, through a toll-free number (0800 501 201), provides rapid support for Unpaid Workers with its network of clinical psychologists and prevents the risk of developing a State of Post Stress -Traumatic
• Iris, the Institute for Research and Innovation on Occupational Health and Safety, dedicated to construction and landscaping craftsmen, which develops adapted and innovative solutions and tools for the prevention of occupational risks
• Pro BTP and its training sessions as well as its psychological cell

CAPEB Rhône et Grand Lyon is thus implementing a succession of tools and support:

• through all of its services legal and social assistance service, employment service, training service, economic service, qualification service
• with the presence of administrators within all the social funds and other joint bodies.

In terms of prevention, being accompanied on a personal level is essential: this is where the greatest strength of the building organization, the most powerful in the department, remains with the mutual aid between all the members of the network. .

Craftsmen and small construction companies have always known how to adapt, and even more so in the last two years.

However, in addition to the reminder of its demands made, since the spring of 2022, by CAPEB Rhône et Grand Lyon recalls that the cash requirement for craftsmen and VSEs CAPEB now amounts to an average of €20.000 for the 2nd consecutive quarter, which, outside of confinement, had not happened for 7 years.

CAPEB's demands

In the face of supply difficulties and the resulting price increases and in the face of soaring energy and fuel prices, the CAPEB Network is taking action.

• Reimburse, as for the agricultural sector and the Public Works sector, part of the TICPE for fuels used for professional vehicles;
• Impose on banks and credit insurers that they do not downgrade the rating of companies when they decide to postpone the reimbursement of their PGE;
• Ensure that manufacturers and traders or distributors:
  • actively participate in the construction crisis committee set up by the government (an initiative that has encouraged public purchasers to demonstrate understanding and flexibility in the application of public procurement rules);
  • include the fair cost of decarbonization in their prices;
  • assume the risks of price increases with the sector (solidarity and mutual interests of the actors: manufacturers, traders, companies and customers) within the framework of a solidarity charter;
• Require suppliers to warn construction companies at least 3 months in advance of any price increase and to maintain price stability also for at least three months (indeed, current trends sometimes impose a cash payment and price validity of 24 or 48 hours, while the customer withdrawal period is 14 days);
• Accelerate the overhaul of the calculation of the various BT indexes and their publications in a timely manner in view of the current crisis;
• Apply a reduced rate of 5,5% VAT for all renovation work;
• Finally, make automatic, in public contracts, the application of late payment penalties in the event of late payment to companies;
• Put in place a price shield mechanism for the cost of energy at European and French levels to have industrial production at a controlled price and allow the continuity of public energy and environmental renovation policies, directly threatened by the soaring costs of materials.