Price of
façade refurbishment.

These figures do not come from a comparison site: they are the unit prices from our own quotes, drawn up between 2024 and 2026 for houses, a barn and a block of flats in the two Savoie départements. They are exclusive of VAT, supply and labour included.

What these figures say, and what they do not. Façade refurbishment weighs less than interior painting or plastering in our quotes: about fifteen usable lines across thirteen projects. We therefore give the individual prices for what they are, real cases described with their content, and not as an average. The only item where the range rests on eight quotes is scaffolding.

Lines for render applied over insulation, as part of external insulation, are excluded from this table: they belong to a different project, which we price in our guide to the price of external insulation per m².

The price depends first on the condition of the substrate, and it is the diagnosis that sets it, not the choice of shade. A sound render, simply grubby or dulled, is cleaned, filled locally and repainted: this is the bottom of our table, €80 excl. VAT per m² on the project recorded.

A render that sounds hollow, is coming away or is cracking in a network pattern is not repainted: paint would only mask the defect for a few seasons. The old coating must be scraped or hacked off down to a sound substrate, then a new render applied. This is what takes the budget into the €85 to €100 excl. VAT per m² band, sometimes more when crack repair is heavy.

An old stone wall, finally, calls for a lime render, which lets water vapour through, rather than a cement render that would trap moisture in the masonry. Slower to apply, it explains the €140 excl. VAT per m² in our estimates for a house and a barn in Savoie.

It is the item that makes two quotes incomparable. On a small one-storey façade, a mobile scaffold tower is enough and its cost is absorbed in the price per m²: that is the case for our €80 painting line. As soon as the façade is high or the whole house is being treated, scaffolding becomes a flat fee: erection, protection, hire for the whole duration of the project, dismantling and cleaning.

On our eight quotes that itemise it, this flat fee ranges from €3,000 to €7,900 excl. VAT. The difference comes from the height, the length of façade to cover and the hire period: one of our €3,060 flat fees is calculated for three weeks of hire. In a town centre, a narrow street may make scaffolding impossible and require other means of access, with a higher price per m²: that is the €118 line in our table.

A quote that states a very low price per m² with no scaffolding line is not necessarily cheaper: ask where that item has gone.

Take a house of 10 m by 8 m, with a façade height of 6 m. Its 36 m perimeter gives 216 m² of walls, and about 180 m² once doors and windows are deducted.

With a new render at €85-100 excl. VAT per m², the façade comes to €15,300 to €18,000 excl. VAT. Scaffolding adds €3,000 to €7,900 excl. VAT. The total therefore lies between €18,300 and €25,900 excl. VAT, or about €20,100 to €28,500 incl. VAT at the 10% rate.

This order of magnitude is for preparing a budget, not for signing: the actual area, the condition of the render and the access are established on site. All the steps, from diagnosis to finish, are covered in our façade renovation guide.

Since 1^st January 2017, a major façade refurbishment can trigger an obligation to insulate. The decree of 30 May 2016 targets work covering at least 50% of a façade, excluding openings, and consisting of redoing the existing render, replacing a facing or fitting a new one.

The obligation falls away in several cases: risk of damage to the building fabric, incompatibility with planning or façade appearance rules, requirements of a protected area, or manifest disproportion between advantages and drawbacks. The text classes as such disproportion insulation that would markedly degrade the architectural quality of the façade, and an extra cost whose payback period exceeds ten years, after grants.

In practice, redoing the render of a whole façade is the right moment to ask the question of external insulation. Our page on external insulation in Annecy details the techniques and grants.

Planning permission. Redoing or repainting a façade like for like, with the same colour and the same materials, is exempt from authorisation. A prior declaration (déclaration préalable) becomes necessary if the external appearance changes, if the house is in a protected area or is itself protected, or if the commune has decided to make façade refurbishment subject to authorisation. Processing takes one month in the general case, as we explain in our guide to the prior declaration for works. In the old town of Chambéry or the protected sector of Annecy, the ABF heritage architect (Architecte des Bâtiments de France) also controls shades and renders: our façade refurbishment in Chambéry and façade refurbishment in Annecy pages give the details.

The obligation to refurbish. A façade must remain clean and in good condition. Where a prefectoral order requires it, façade refurbishment must be carried out at least once every ten years, on the mayor's instruction; failing work within six months, the mayor can require it within a period of one year at most, and a fine of €3,750 is incurred. Without an order, no frequency is set. The planning department of your town hall will tell you whether your commune is affected.

In a dwelling completed more than two years ago, façade refurbishment is maintenance and improvement work: VAT at 10%. A render at €85-100 excl. VAT per m² then comes to about €94 to €110 incl. VAT, the lime render to €154 incl. VAT, and the scaffolding flat fee to about €3,300 to €8,700 incl. VAT.

If the project includes external insulation that meets the technical criteria for energy renovation, the insulation part may be subject to the 5.5% rate. New construction remains at 20%. The details of the cases are in our article on VAT on renovation work.

At NovAlp, façade refurbishment is carried out by our salaried masons and painters: they sound the render, decide what can be kept, hack off what must go and apply the finish. The scaffolding is erected once for all the façade work, including repairs around the joinery or the zinc work if planned.

The quote separates preparation, render or paint, surrounds and scaffolding: you see what each step costs, and what changes if you choose lime rather than an ordinary render. For local specifics, also see our page on façade refurbishment in Aix-les-Bains.