Whole-house renovation on the Côte d'Azur
A full renovation puts every trade on site at once, and the paperwork is bigger than for any kitchen or bathroom. For a second-home owner, the hard part is keeping six trades in order from another country.
Need an English-speaking contractor for a whole-house renovation on the Côte d'Azur?
Get quotesOn this page9 sections
- Renovating a stone house, a flat or an extension
- What pushes the price of a whole-house renovation up?
- Which permits does a whole-house renovation need?
- Can MaPrimeRénov' rénovation d'ampleur fund a full renovation of a second home?
- Do you need an architect or a maître d'oeuvre for a full renovation?
- How do you run a whole-house renovation from abroad?
- What should a whole-house devis and contract include?
- French terms you'll meet on a whole-house renovation
- Frequently asked questions about whole-house renovation on the Côte d'Azur
Guides
Renovating a stone house, a flat or an extension
What to check in a village house or mas (a Provençal farmhouse) before you buy: the septic tank, damp and lime, the roof timbers and the reports in the sale file.
Explore Stone house renovationWhich changes need the other owners' vote at the AG, the asbestos check before work in older buildings, and working hours with neighbours through the wall.
Explore Apartment renovationAdding a room, enclosing a terrace or converting a garage or loft: which filing each size needs, when the TVA (French VAT) jumps to 20%, and the taxe d'aménagement (one-off building tax).
Explore Extensions and conversionsBudget
What pushes the price of a whole-house renovation up?
How deep the work goes sets the price of a whole-house renovation. Moving walls, floors or the roof touches the structure and brings in dommages-ouvrage insurance. Re-running plumbing and electrics means opening most walls, and open walls show what the house hides: damp, old pipes, rotten joists. In a building permitted before July 1997, an asbestos check comes first.
Overlapping trades finish sooner, but someone has to coordinate them. A village street with no parking, or a flat with a small lift, slows every delivery. Facade, roof or extension work waits for the mairie (town hall), and structural work in a flat waits for the owners' vote.
On a home over two years old, most work is at 10% TVA, and appliances and freestanding furniture at 20%. An extension counts as new construction at 20%, as does a conversion that raises the floor area by more than 10% or a renovation that replaces most of the structure. Ask which lines that covers before you sign.
Get at least two written quotes, priced lot by lot against the same brief, and keep a contingency for what the walls reveal.
Permits
Which permits does a whole-house renovation need?
Work that stays inside the house and doesn't touch the facade, the roofline or the floor area needs no planning paperwork, whatever the scope. A whole-house renovation rarely stays that way. New windows, a roof terrace or an extension for a second bathroom all bring in the mairie.
Once an extension takes the house past 150 m² of surface de plancher, you need a full permis de construire. A private owner then needs an architect to sign the drawings. Renovating through an SCI or another company removes that choice: any permis de construire needs an architect, whatever the size. Our guide to what permits you need covers the thresholds in more detail.
In an apartment, anything touching the structure or shared parts needs a vote at the copropriété's general meeting first. Our apartment renovation guide covers which changes need it and how to get on the agenda.
Tell us the scope of your renovation and we'll put you in touch with an English-speaking contractor or maître d'oeuvre (project manager) who quotes in writing.
Get quotesSubsidies
Can MaPrimeRénov' rénovation d'ampleur fund a full renovation of a second home?
No. MaPrimeRénov' (the state renovation grant), including the rénovation d'ampleur route for whole-house energy upgrades, is principal-residence only. A second home can't claim it under any route, whatever the scope of the work.
It helps two groups: an owner who lives in the house as their main home, and a landlord who lets it as a tenant's main home. A holiday home, or one let by the week in summer, is out. Even then, the property must be rated E, F or G on the DPE (energy performance certificate) and the works must gain at least two DPE classes. An approved adviser, Mon Accompagnateur Rénov', is compulsory throughout. Income bands and the application steps are in our MaPrimeRénov' guide.
The Éco-PTZ zero-interest loan is also principal-residence only, and it funds only the energy side of a project (insulation, heating, ventilation), never the fit-out. Its 50,000 EUR ceiling is for a performance-based energy renovation. Switch the property to seasonal letting during the repayment period and the bank can call in the outstanding balance. If you're renovating a second home, budget for the work at full cost.
Who runs the renovation
Do you need an architect or a maître d'oeuvre for a full renovation?
The law requires an architect only above the 150 m² threshold, or for any permis de construire filed through a company. Most whole-house renovations stay inside the existing footprint, so the question is whether you want one.
A maître d'oeuvre sequences the trades and checks invoices against the signed devis (written quote). The plumber's pipes go in before the tiler arrives, and the electrician gets the walls open at the right moment. You can legally hire each trade yourself and run the schedule. Then someone has to answer when a delivery is late or a trade needs a decision, and on a multi-trade renovation that's most weeks.
The other route is an entreprise générale: one firm takes the whole project, subcontracts what it doesn't do itself, and answers to you for the result. What their fee should cover and what their contract should say are in our guide to managing a renovation from abroad.
Managing at a distance
How do you run a whole-house renovation from abroad?
Someone has to be on site or reachable most weeks to keep several trades moving in the right order. If you'll be abroad for most of the project, plan for that from the start. You need a maître d'oeuvre or entreprise générale who reports back, or a trusted local contact. Our guide to managing a renovation from abroad covers the contract, payments tied to checked stages and the handover.
The paperwork
What should a whole-house devis and contract include?
On a six-trade renovation, insist on a devis broken down lot by lot (demolition, structure, plumbing, electrics, plastering, finishes), each with its own TVA rate. The signed devis is the contract: price and scope are fixed, and any change needs a written avenant (signed change to the contract). A single figure for the whole house gives you nothing to check when a trade's invoice comes in high.
Work at this scale almost always reaches the structure, so get a dommages-ouvrage quote alongside the devis, even though owners often skip it for a single bathroom. It's your obligation as the owner, taken out before work starts, and the glossary entry explains what it pays for.
A maître d'oeuvre or entreprise générale contract should state their fee, what they answer for if a trade runs late, and how disputes between trades are settled. Each trade's own devis should carry its garantie décennale (ten-year building insurance) insurer and policy number, because that cover sits with whoever did the work.
Keep the final payment for the réception des travaux, the handover walk-round. A visible defect you don't list on the réception report counts as accepted. If you can't be there, our guide to renovating from abroad explains how someone can sign for you.
French terms
French terms you'll meet on a whole-house renovation
Key French terms for this service
Questions
Frequently asked questions about whole-house renovation on the Côte d'Azur
If your question isn't here, send it with your request and we'll answer it directly.
Most of it, on a home over two years old: labour and building work are at 10%, and qualifying energy work such as insulation at 5.5%. Appliances and freestanding furniture stay at 20%, and so does a room built onto the house or a renovation heavy enough to count as rebuilding. Ask for the rate on every line of the devis.
Not if the work stays inside and adds no floor area. A déclaration préalable covers facade changes and small extensions. A permis de construire is needed for a bigger addition, or once an extension takes the house past 150 m², and above that size a private owner needs an architect. Through an SCI or other company, any permis needs an architect.
Only if the contract provides for it. A retenue de garantie of up to 5% can then be held back, either placed with a third party or replaced by the contractor's bank guarantee. It's released one year after the réception unless you object with reasons. So agree the clause before you sign.
No. Only a signed devis or contract commits either side. Get the maître d'oeuvre's fee, scope and the trades they coordinate in writing before work starts, as with any contractor.
The law says yes, and a whole-house renovation almost always touches the structure. It's the owner's obligation, taken out before work starts. A private owner who skips it faces no fine, but at a sale within ten years the notary records that it's missing, which gives a buyer a reason to push the price down.
Sources
Official sources for whole-house renovation permits, grants and insurance
- Service-Public.fr: MaPrimeRénov' (F35083) Principal residence only, and the rénovation d'ampleur conditions: E, F or G rating, a two-class gain and a Mon Accompagnateur Rénov' adviser.
- Service-Public.fr: Éco-PTZ zero-interest loan (F19905) The loan is limited to a home used as a principal residence.
- Service-Public.fr: permis de construire for a house (F1986) An architect above 150 m² for a private owner, and for any permis filed by a company such as an SCI.
- Service-Public.fr: TVA on renovation work (F23568) The 10% rate on homes over two years old, and 20% on any addition built onto the house or on work that raises the floor area by more than 10%.
- Service-Public.fr: dommages-ouvrage insurance (F2032) The owner takes out the policy before work starts; individuals building for themselves escape the penalty.
- Service-Public.fr: guarantees after réception of the works (F2958) A visible defect left off the réception report counts as accepted.
Rules checked against these sources in September 2026.