The creation of the “Reconnu Garant de l’Environnement” (RGE, Recognised Environmental Guarantor) label in 2011 has gone hand in hand with a sharp increase over the past ten years in subsidies and incentive schemes for the energy renovation of buildings. As a significant portion of these schemes are subject to the condition of having the RGE label, companies with establishments that do have the label are therefore likely to be affected more than the others. Using the RGE database of the ADEME, it is possible to identify these companies among the respondents to the monthly business tendency survey in the building sector in order to compare the trends in their outlook with those of other companies in the sector since the beginning of 2014. These companies with the RGE label represent about 40% of the sample surveyed each month and their activity is predominantly in maintenance and improvement.

The balances on overall activity show no marked differences between RGE and non-RGE companies. Since 2022, they have been slightly more positive for companies with the label, but this difference largely comes from a composition effect, as these companies were less affected by the slump in construction of new housing over the past three years. However, even taking account of their more marked positioning in maintenance and improvement, the RGE companies appear to be under significantly more strain on their production resources, notably regarding their workforce, in particular since 2020...