Apartment and house renovation : architectural firm

When our clients want to secure their work budget, especially when it comes to a major project, we recommend that they begin the design phase by drawing up plans for the home (existing plan, project plan, demolition/construction plan, electrical plan, materials plan). The plans allow us to agree on a clear project whose roadmap has been co-constructed between the client and the architect. These plans allow us to draw up the specifications taking into account the specific needs of the home since we will have all the measurements (quantity of paint, number of sockets, brands, references of tiles, parquet, etc.). “What is well designed is clearly stated” and the more rigorous the project framework, the more this will be reflected in the success of the project.

As part of the new legislation on the energy performance of buildings, the public authorities have intended to reduce by 40% the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by the French housing stock by 2030. After freezing the rents of housing considered to be thermal sieves in 2022, measures are becoming more precise against housing rated G, F and E by 2023, 2028 and 2034. Certainly, these will not be able to be rented for more than 4 months per year by the given deadlines.

To counteract this scourge, our architects act mainly on:

• Insulation of heat-losing walls with particular attention to the treatment of thermal bridges.
• Hygro B controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV)
• The replacement of the joinery (double glazing with argon gas) to which hygro-adjustable ventilation bars are fixed on the windows of the dry rooms.
• The dry inertia electric heating system (when we are not in the case of a co-ownership in which the heating is collective).

A multitude of other options exist in addition to the aforementioned elements (heat pump, solar panels, etc.).

The new DPE legislation creates new opportunities, particularly in the rental market. It also raises two issues that stakeholders like us must address: poor housing and the public health issues that it entails.

Choosing the right craftsman is an expert job. For our part, our firm refuses to be forced to issue calls for tenders for each project proposal. Indeed, working with quality requires that there is pre-existing trust between the architect and the craftsman, and that this relationship of trust is factual. This is how we have developed our network of partners throughout France. These are all-trades companies that support us on the more than 1,000 projects we complete each year. Their insurance and guarantees are verified daily. We limit as much as possible the involvement of multiple companies on construction sites for scheduling reasons and to ensure smooth organization and communication.

Project design times vary depending on the scope of the project. On average, it takes a maximum of 3 weeks between the first visit, the completion of the 5 plans, and the drafting of the specifications by the architect. Regarding the work, several variables must be taken into account: what is the surface area of ​​the home? What ergonomic/logistical constraints for the craftsmen? What work is to be planned? It is up to the architect, depending on the uniqueness of each project, to build a clear schedule that the companies with which we collaborate must follow. It must be kept in mind that there is still time to respect in the work: the different trades have requirements to respect (e.g., drying time) which justifies that, for reasons of consistency, their interventions must follow one another. Finally, for a turnkey project (furnishing & decoration included), it takes 3 months for a studio/T2. For buildings (6 to 7 dwellings), on average 6 months depending on the surface area of ​​the dwellings. It is also necessary to take into account the administrative phases that may occur in some projects: filing of DP, building permit, application for subsidy(ies), creation of meters, etc.

There are a number of energy renovation grants, the most well-known of which is the grant provided by the French National Housing Agency (ANAH). This grant depends on your reference tax income and household composition and assumes that you have your work carried out by a company that is recognized as a guarantor of the environment (RGE). Beyond this, the General Tax Code provides for a VAT reduction of 5.5% on the carpentry expense item, regardless of the quality of the company that will carry out your work. In addition to the elements presented, grants may also be granted under the CEE (Return of Energy Efficiency Certificates) (paid by companies recognized as polluting). Finally, there is a whole series of grants that must be read more carefully because they depend on the local authorities in which you have purchased. Indeed, town halls, departments, and regions provide different mechanisms depending on their political orientations.

We systematically work in pairs to ensure project continuity in the event that one of the stakeholders is unable to attend. This is why our clients’ contacts are the architect and the technical sales representative they had at the start of the project. All of our sales representatives are trained renovation experts (structural engineers, eco-energy engineers, etc.).