The factors that move the price
Location
The construction cost varies significantly by region, mainly through labour cost and local market conditions:
| Paris and its region | + 25 to 40 % above the national average. Dearer labour, more complex site set-up, neighbour constraints. |
|---|---|
| Inner Paris suburbs | + 15 to 25 % |
| Major cities such as Lyon, Bordeaux and Nantes | + 5 to 15 % |
| Medium towns and rural areas | The national reference |
| Overseas territories | + 30 to 80 % according to the island, through material haulage and specialist labour. |
The construction method
| Method | Works price band | Key points |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional masonry, block and render | 1,390 – 1,800 €/m² | The dominant standard. Good thermal mass. Site duration 8–12 months. |
| Aerated concrete block | 1,440 – 1,850 €/m² | Quicker to build. Partial integrated insulation. Good regulatory performance. |
| Timber frame | 1,650 – 2,270 €/m² | A dry site, shorter duration of 4–6 months. Excellent carbon balance. Slightly dearer, offset by the programme. |
| Light steel frame | 1,750 – 2,470 €/m² | Rare in housing. Mainly accessible dwellings and extensions. |
| Containers and prefabricated modules | 1,240 – 1,960 €/m² | Very short programmes, but limited customisation. Careful insulation is indispensable. |
The level of specification
| Economical | − 15 to 25 % against standard. Basic PVC joinery, entry-level tiling, standard sanitary fittings, simple paint. |
|---|---|
| Standard | The reference. Mid-range PVC or aluminium joinery, ordinary tiling, a fitted bathroom, kitchen supplied by the client. |
| High-end | + 20 to 50 %. Timber-aluminium or high-end aluminium joinery, triple glazing, stone or solid timber flooring, fitted kitchen, home automation, pool. |
| Very high-end | + 50 to 150 % and beyond. Exceptional materials, bespoke finishes, a singular architectural scheme. |
The complete budget
The works cost is only part of the total budget. For a 120 m² house at 1,650 €/m² of works, that is 198,000 € excluding VAT:
| Works, single or separate packages | 198,000 € excl. VAT, the basis of the calculation |
|---|---|
| Architect and design fees | 19,800 to 29,700 €, that is 10–15 % of the works; mandatory above 150 m² |
| Technical control | 600 to 1,500 €, mandatory for houses with a basement or a timber floor |
| Structural warranty insurance | 2,000 to 5,000 €, mandatory before the site opens |
| Engineering, structure and thermal | 1,500 to 4,000 € according to complexity |
| External works and utility connections | 5,000 to 25,000 €, highly variable with the distance from existing services |
| Landscaping: terrace, fencing, garden | 10,000 to 40,000 € according to expectations |
| Contingency | 5 to 10 % of the works: 9,900 to 19,800 € |
| VAT on the works | 20 % on new build, that is 39,600 € on 198,000 € |
ℹ Estimated total budget for 120 m² to a standard specification, provincial Works excluding VAT 198,000 € · Design fees 22,000 € · Insurance 3,500 € · External works 12,000 € · Landscaping 15,000 € · Contingency 12,000 € · VAT at 20 %, 39,600 €. TOTAL: around 302,000 € including VAT, that is a real cost of 2,520 €/m² including everything, for 120 m² at 1,650 €/m² of works.
The items that vary most with the design
| Foundations | The least predictable item. On standard ground: 5–8 % of the works. On shrinkable clay: 10–20 %. On a sloping site: 15–25 %. A ground survey before developed design is indispensable. |
|---|---|
| The roof | A pitched roof is the reference. A flat roof: + 10–20 %, but greater architectural freedom. A hipped or geometrically complex roof: + 15–30 %. |
| Heating and ventilation | An air-to-water heat pump with heat-recovery ventilation and underfloor heating: 25,000 to 45,000 € for a 120 m² house. A pellet stove with simple extract ventilation: 8,000 to 15,000 €. The choice of energy system is the leading lever on the finishing trades budget under the current regulations. |
| The kitchen | Not included in the works estimates, being supplied by the client. Budget for a fitted kitchen: 5,000 to 40,000 € according to level. |
| The staircase | Cast concrete: 3,000–6,000 €. Bespoke timber: 8,000–20,000 €. Designed metal: 15,000–40,000 €. |
The reference index for updating your estimates
Construction costs move constantly. To bring an old estimate forward, use the BT01 all-trades index published monthly by INSEE. Between January 2020 and January 2026 it moved from 111.8 to 134.7, a rise of 20.5 %, which means a project estimated at 1,300 €/m² in 2020 comes today to around 1,570 €/m² for the same brief.
Articles liés : The cost of an office building · cost per square metre by building type · How to estimate the cost of a project
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Reference basis of the figures
These bands are orders of magnitude for framing, and their reference market is the Paris region. They serve to place a budget at the earliest stages and to compare building types with one another. They replace neither a tender exercise nor an estimate prepared on drawings, and they are not a record of prices actually charged.
The bands on this page are stated in January 2026 values. They were updated from January 2024 values using the BT01 all-trades index published monthly by INSEE on its 2010 base: 130.8 in January 2024, 134.7 in January 2026, a rise of about 3 %.
To bring them forward, apply the usual revision formula: updated value = page value × (BT01 for the month in question / 134.7). The index has kept rising since: it stood at 138,3 in June 2026, the last value published when this page was checked, that is 2,7 % above the reference base.
BT01 measures contractors' input costs, wages and social charges, materials, plant and energy, not the prices actually tendered. The two series diverge as soon as margins move: over 2024 the BT01 rose by 0.9 % while the construction cost observed by the SDES survey rose by 2.1 %. These bands remain orders of magnitude, to be set against an estimate specific to the project.
The price bands are reference values for mainland France. They are indicative and must be checked by an estimate adapted to your project.
Sources: the BT construction cost indices published monthly by INSEE on its 2010 base, used to update the figures · construction cost statistics from SDES, the statistical service of the ministry responsible for construction · regulatory texts published in the Journal officiel and consolidated on Légifrance for the requirements cited.