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Resources · Guides
What we usually explain during a first visit, written down. Worth reading before you sign anything — with us or with anyone else.
Please note: both documents are written in French. We have not yet produced an English edition. Everything on this page, and the rest of our English site, is of course in English — and we work in English with our international clients throughout a project.
Most of the unpleasant surprises on a building project do not come from the execution. They come from what went unsaid at the quotation stage: an omitted work package, an unspoken assumption, a price per square metre that does not cover the same scope from one company to the next. A client comparing three proposals is rarely comparing the same thing three times.
We have written down the two conversations we have most often with our clients before signing. There is nothing confidential about them, and they will serve you even if you entrust your project to another company. That is precisely why we publish them: a client who can read a quote is a client with whom the project runs better.
A renovation quote is a technical document dressed up as a commercial one. Price differences between two proposals are almost always explained by what does — or does not — appear in the line items: strip-out and removal of debris, renewal of the building services, finishes, final cleaning, protection of the common parts. The first guide reviews the ten points to check line by line, each with the wording that should put you on alert.
What a complete quote must contain, the wording that hides an omission, and the points a serious company never dodges.
The second question comes up without fail: why does a full renovation cost between €1,800 and €2,500 per square metre, when a refresh sits between €1,000 and €1,200? The answer lies in how the budget breaks down, and above all in the considerable share taken by what will never be seen — electrical services, plumbing, ventilation, making good the substrates. The second guide details that breakdown and sets out three model budgets calculated on surfaces commonly found in Paris.
How a budget breaks down item by item, the ranges we observe in Paris, and three model budgets to give you an honest order of magnitude.
We send you the document, and that is all. No automated sequence, no sales follow-up, no passing it on to a third party. If your project moves forward and you would like to discuss it, you will write to us — and if not, you will not hear from us again. This page exists to be useful, not to feed a database.
Project already defined? Tell us about it in a few lines: we come back to you within 48 hours with a first reading — scope, order of magnitude, realistic timeline.
To understand how a project run under a single contract works, our general contractor page sets out the commitment on price and schedule, and the page devoted to the sixteen trades explains who works when, and in what order.
The journal covers these subjects article by article: the price structure of a Haussmann renovation, the real duration of an apartment project, and the difference between a general contractor and an architect when it comes to choosing who to work with. Depending on the nature of your property, the pages on apartment renovation, houses in the Île-de-France region and hôtels particuliers set out the constraints specific to each type.
Just a question? Write to us — answer within 48 h, no commitment.