Price of a balustrade
per metre.

A balustrade is priced by the linear metre, measured along the edge to be protected: the nose of the balcony, the perimeter of a terrace, the edge of a floor opening. In our quotes, the line includes supply of the model, its handrail, its fixings and installation. The lengths priced range from about 8 m for a small balcony to 45 m for the balconies of an entire façade.

What stays outside the line: removal of the old balustrade, repair of the balcony itself (damaged slab edge, waterproofing, decking) and, in a co-ownership, the file presented to the general meeting. Two quotes can only be compared on an equal scope: a price per metre that includes removal is not dearer than another that leaves it out.

The figures below come from the balustrade lines priced per metre in our 2024-2026 quote database, clients and prospects, in Savoie and Haute-Savoie: ten projects in all, from €300 to €625 excl. VAT per metre, half the lines between €400 and €540.

Each range runs from the cheapest line to the most expensive. Two to five projects per type is few: these prices give an honest order of magnitude, not the price of your balcony. Our quotes contain no per-metre line for a timber or stainless steel balustrade: we therefore publish no price for these materials rather than invent one.

An example taken from one of our quotes: 8 m of anthracite grey aluminium balustrade with opal glazing, installed on the slab edge after removal of the old one, for €4,320 excl. VAT, or €540 per metre and about €4,750 incl. VAT at 10%.

The infill first. It is what separates the two families in the table. A metal balustrade with rails or bars sits at the bottom of the range; as soon as glazing fills the space between the handrail and the floor, our quotes go beyond €430 excl. VAT per metre. Opal glazing, translucent without being transparent, preserves the privacy of a balcony exposed to the street or to neighbours.

The fixing next. Our quotes distinguish installation on top of the slab, where the posts are screwed onto the top of the balcony, from installation on the slab edge, where they are fixed to its edge and free up the full width. The second requires a sound slab edge, able to take the loads: spalled concrete or rusted reinforcement is treated before installation, and that treatment is not included in the price per metre.

The model and the colour, finally. Our lines cite manufacturer ranges, a RAL colour and a matching handrail; from one model to another, on a single quote, two opal-glazed models installed on the slab edge differed by more than €100 excl. VAT per metre. To complete an existing timber terrace, a line on another quote simply provided for a balustrade of the same type as the one already in place.

A few items come up around balustrades in our quotes. They are rare or priced as a lump sum: the amounts below are observed benchmarks, not a price list.

Demolishing an entire balcony only happens when the slab itself is condemned; most often, the old balustrade is simply removed and the new one fitted on the same slab. The cable balustrade, visually very light, needs particular monitoring: the standard requires that the gaps do not widen over time, and a cable that slackens ends up opening them.

Height. For a balcony, terrace, gallery or loggia, article R134-59 of the Construction and Housing Code (Code de la construction et de l'habitation) requires a balustrade at least 1 m high, a height that can drop to 0.80 m when the balustrade is more than 50 cm thick. The same article covers upper-floor windows: where their lower edge is less than 0.90 m from the floor, a support bar and protection rising to at least 1 m are required.

Standard NF P01-012, revised and published on 22 November 2024, details the rest for new buildings and extensions. It requires a protective element as soon as the drop exceeds 1 m. It sets a height of 1 m for a balustrade up to 25 cm thick, then lowers it in steps to 0.80 m beyond 50 cm, and raises it when a support allows a foothold in front of or against the protection.

The gaps. The 2024 version no longer reasons by type of infill: it checks that an 11 cm sphere cannot pass anywhere over the height of the balustrade. Between 0.80 m and the top, 18 cm is allowed; for infill with a repeating mesh, the gap falls to 5 cm. These gaps must stay the same over time.

Since when. This version applies to projects whose building permit or prior declaration (déclaration préalable) was filed from 1 June 2025 and, for work without planning authorisation, to contracts signed from 1 January 2026.

In renovation, the circular of 13 December 1982 asks that any balustrade installed or replaced be at 1 m from the floor, recommending that the standard be followed; it allows a like-for-like replacement when only a few balustrades on a façade change and its uniformity must be preserved. In our quotes, new balustrades are specified at a height of 1 m.

The same rules on gaps and height apply to a staircase handrail, the edge of a floor opening or a mezzanine. In our quotes, these interior balustrades are almost never priced on their own: they are included in the price of the staircase, with the railing and the handrail. Our guide to the price of a timber staircase gives these amounts.

A mezzanine created in a large volume, as in a barn converted into a home, calls for a balustrade along its whole open edge: its length is measured from the sketch design stage, because it weighs on the budget as much as the staircase leading to it.

VAT. Supplied and installed by the company in a home completed more than two years ago, a balustrade generally falls under the 10% rate. It goes to 20% in a new build or an extension that increases the floor area by more than 10%; our guide to VAT on building work explains where the boundary between the two rates lies.

The town hall. A balustrade replaced like for like does not change the look of the house. A different model — glazing instead of bars, another colour, another design — changes the exterior appearance: it falls under a prior declaration (déclaration préalable) (article R421-17 of the Urban Planning Code, Code de l'urbanisme), and the local plan (PLU) can regulate its colour or material.

The co-ownership. Balustrades make up the look of the façade. Changing them requires the agreement of the general meeting, by the Article 25 majority of the law of 10 July 1965, as soon as the work affects the common parts or the exterior appearance. It is often during a façade renovation (ravalement) that balconies and their balustrades are redone together. If you are also changing the French window that opens onto the balcony, our guide to window replacement covers the other half of the project.