Bands by equipment level
| Level | Cost per m2 | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Structure and roof only | EUR 200 - 300 | Bare precast frame, no services, no industrial floor |
| Weathertight shell | EUR 300 - 420 | Structure, roof, cladding, industrial floor |
| Finished with basic services | EUR 420 - 700 | Electrical, essential fire protection, local heating |
| Complete for production | EUR 700 - 1,200 | Process services, extended fire protection, offices, heavy insulation |
The figures cover only the building and services element. Excluded are land, urbanisation fees, professional costs (12-15 per cent in industrial work), yards and internal roads, electrical substation and connections: items that in a production facility can be worth 30-40 per cent of the total.
The technical variables in charge
Span and height. These are the two parameters no per-m2 comparison can omit. Moving from 15-20 metre spans to 25-30 means deeper beams, heavier columns and deeper foundations; rising from 6 to 10 metres clear height increases structure, cladding and volumes to condition. Two warehouses at EUR 350 per m2 with different spans and heights are not the same product.
The industrial floor. An item often treated as detail and in fact critical: load capacity, flatness, abrasion resistance and point loads from racking change thicknesses, reinforcement and surface treatments. For logistics with high racking, the required flatness is an explicit specification item, not an implicit expectation.
Fire protection. Determined by activity, fire load and area: it ranges from extinguishers and hydrants up to sprinkler systems with water storage and a pump house, with step changes in cost. This is the chapter where the declared activity changes the estimate by hundreds of thousands of euros.
Insulation and photovoltaics. Performing sandwich panels and rooftop photovoltaic readiness are now de facto standards in new developments, and their structural weight (additional loads) must be designed in, not added later.
Complete budget example: an 800 m2 warehouse
Precast concrete, 20-metre span, 7 metres clear height, storage use with a small workshop and 60 m2 of offices. The example includes services, fire protection and external works.
| Item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Excavation and foundations | EUR 55,000 | |
| Precast structure and roof | 800 m2 × EUR 250 | EUR 200,000 |
| Cladding and doors/windows | EUR 62,000 | |
| Industrial floor | 800 m2 × EUR 45 | EUR 36,000 |
| Services (electrical, fire, heating) | 800 m2 × EUR 130 | EUR 104,000 |
| Finished office and welfare block | 60 m2 × EUR 1,100 | EUR 66,000 |
| Yards, fencing, connections, substation | EUR 95,000 | |
| Professional fees (13%) | on works | EUR 80,000 |
| Contingencies (7%) | EUR 43,000 | |
| Total excluding land and fees | EUR 741,000 | |
| Full cost per m2 | / 800 | ~EUR 926 |
The comparison between the EUR 250 per m2 of the structure and the EUR 926 per m2 of the complete project is the central lesson of industrial construction: the building is the minority item in a production facility's budget. Anyone planning on the precast supplier's quote underestimates the investment by two thirds.
Timelines and occupancy approval
The complete path for a warehouse generally takes 8 to 14 months: design and building permit (2-5 months depending on the municipality and complexity), foundations (1 month), structural erection (2-4 weeks for current sizes), services and finishes (2-4 months), final filings and occupancy approval (1-2 months). For a company the months count as much as the euros: every month of delay is missing production capacity or storage space, a real cost that appears in no per-m2 table and that belongs in the comparison between options.
Note: the figures shown are 2026 orders of magnitude for the Italian market, for guidance only. Every project requires a specific estimate based on a bill of quantities and on the declared intended use.