Above: The RE2020 regulation in France, requiring use of a percentage of bio-based materials in building, is expected to be a significant boost to timber construction
The timber construction industry’s revenue increase, says the Codifab report, resulted from increased sales of higher end timber- based properties. Of the 987 timber building companies that took part in the survey conducted by Xerfi Specific for the report, 19% said that they had completed projects with a timber structure package worth over €500,000. That compared with 17% in 2022. New building construction accounted for
71% of timber building sector revenues, split 56%/44% between residential and non- residential projects. The most difficult market was for individual private family housing, where 7,000 properties were completed in 2024, down 27.5% on two years ago. A total of 1,350 individual stand- alone homes in the multi-family housing developments were completed, down 25% on 2022, and 9,900 multi-family housing units, a decline of 8%.
The contraction in housing volumes was partly offset by growth for timber building businesses in the repair, refurbishment and maintenance sector, which was up in value 9% on 2022. According to the report small to medium- sized businesses among France’s 1,905 timber construction companies found the market most difficult. Among key issues were cancellations of projects and poor quote conversion rates. At the same time, businesses said they were facing increases in timber prices and other costs and difficulties in recruiting skilled personnel.
The main timber construction approach in housing and commercial construction remains timber frame, accounting for 85% of single-family homes, 58% of multi-housing developments and 65% of commercial build projects. Post and beam is growing in single family homes, up 2% on 2022 to 12% in 2024, but decreasing in multi-family
developments. Engineered timber, such as cross-laminated timber panels, is used more in multi-family projects (10% of the total) and commercial builds (6%).
Domestically produced timber makes up the bulk of the industry’s raw material requirements, but manufacturers who responded to the report survey also cited Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Belgium as sources. The market remains challenging into 2025, but according to the Codifab report, confidence in improving conditions is growing. Its survey found that 36% of business planned to increase investment in the next two years. This comprised 46% of companies with over 20 employees, 34% of those with 10-19 and 30% of those with 10 or less.
Boding well for the future of the industry, the Codifab report says, is its increasing technical proficiency and the fact that an increasing number of companies can undertake the whole construction process, from design through to delivery and erection on site.
“The sector is strengthening technically,” it says. “Some 70% of companies now have their own design offices and design systems and 87% manufacture their house (kits) in a workshop or factory.”
This “industrialised organisation”, it adds, puts the sector in a strong position to undertake the transition, which is taking place across Europe, to off-site construction, where the key components and assemblies of timber buildings are prefabricated in controlled factory conditions, boosting quality and speeding up erection on site.
The increased positivity of the industry is further reflected in recruitment plans of companies, with 48% planning to hire in the next 48 months. Once more it’s the bigger
businesses leading the way on increasing their workforce, with 69% of companies with more than 20 staff planning to do so. Currently the sector employs 28,565 people with 43% working for companies with more than 10 staff, compared with 4% in the wider French house construction sector. And companies with more than 20 employees account for 62% of France’s timber house building turnover.
“The average workforce in the sector is 15 employees, compared to the wider building industry average of 3.4,” says the report. “This difference reflects a more solid structure and financial foundation, and the use of more specialised skills.”
Start-ups in French timber building are limited, it adds, due to the increasingly high initial investment required. But the fact that an estimated 85% of timber building companies have been trading for more than 10 years is a “sign of stability that reassures clients and facilitates access to complex markets”.
The Codifab report acknowledges that French timber building still faces challenges, but it also presents it as a “solid, resilient” business that is successfully transitioning to a higher tech, more sophisticated industry model. ■
FURTHER INFORMATION For more information
https://www.codifab.fr/actions-collectives/ enquete-nationale-de-la-construction- bois-2025
https://batinfo.com/en/actuality/ The-housing-crisis-is-getting-worse-in-
France-with-a-drop-in-construction-of-29- in-2024_31396
www.ttjonline.com | July/August 2025 | TTJ
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