Fabien Piersanti: 'At the highest levels of the State, we are treated with contempt and cynicism'!
On December 16 and 18, 2025, Fabien Piersanti, president of the Fédération du BTP du Var, extended his wishes to representatives of the profession...
On the occasion of this wishes ceremony, the second for the boss of BTP du Var, the latter tried to make forecasts. But forecasting is difficult, especially when it concerns the future, as the mischievous Pierre Dac used to say! And who would risk making forecasts in the current political and economic context?
Especially since France is entering, in 2026, an electoral tunnel from which it will only emerge in a year and a half, after the presidential election and a possible early legislative election. Thus, such an economic prediction exercise becomes a kamikaze project.
Fabien Piersanti en est sûr : « Nous sommes dans une période d'incertitude et de décisions néfastes qui contribuent à la dégradation de l'économie et de notre secteur. D'ailleurs, la structure même de notre marché change ». Et, sur ce point, les chiffres lui donnent raison. Il y a 5 à 6 ans, le chiffre d'affaires du BTP s'établissait à 55% dans les travaux neufs et 45% dans l'entretien – rénovation. Désormais, c'est l'inverse. Le neuf est en recul et ne représente plus que 45% du chiffre d'affaires. On mesure ce recul dans la production de logements. Le président décrypte la situation : « Dans le Var, avec moins de 4 000 unités mises en chantier en 2024 et environ 4 500 sur les 12 derniers mois, le BTP produit 50 à 60% de logements en moins qu'en 2019. C'est un bouleversement colossal ! Ce cataclysme, nous le devons à des décennies d'absence de politique cohérente pour le logement au plan national et surtout au chaos organisé par l'exécutif du pays qui, depuis 8 ans, au plus haut sommet de l'Etat, nous traite avec mépris et cynisme ».
CONTEMPT AND CYNICISM OF THE STATE Fabien Piersanti is sure of it: 'We are in a period of uncertainty and harmful decisions that contribute to the degradation of the economy and our sector. Moreover, the very structure of our market is changing'. And, on this point, the figures prove him right.
Five to six years ago, the turnover of BTP stood at 55% in new works and 45% in maintenance – renovation. Now, it is the other way around. New builds are in decline and now represent only 45% of the turnover.
We can measure this decline in housing production. The president deciphers the situation: 'In Var, with fewer than 4,000 units started in 2024 and around 4,500 over the last 12 months, the BTP sector is producing 50 to 60% fewer homes than in 2019. This is a colossal disruption!
This cataclysm, we owe to decades of an absence of a coherent housing policy at the national level and above all to the chaos organized by the country's executive, for 8 years, which, at the highest level of the State, treats us with contempt and cynicism'.
SOCIAL TIME BOMB With a certain pessimism, he adds: 'The construction of new housing is an essential market for our companies, but above all it is a societal need for our fellow citizens who can no longer find housing. The needs exist everywhere, whether for students, nearly 20% of whom give up their studies due to a lack of housing, professional mobility which is blocked due to a lack of affordable housing, or even the independence and home care of seniors, which are jeopardized by the prohibitive cost and the too scarce supply of adapted housing. Beware of this social time bomb which will explode sooner or later!
I hope we will remember the warnings issued by our professional branch when it comes to establishing responsibilities, because in addition to the social tragedy unfolding, our businesses will be among the collateral victims of this situation, just like the population. Truly, all of this is incomprehensible,' laments the head of the federation!
Yet, the boss of BTP du Var assures: 'We are not resigning ourselves! Our Fédération remains active at all levels of its organization. It is also active thanks to the Alliance pour le Logement which mobilizes the entire real estate sector: we find there real estate professionals, notaries, architects, design offices, private project owners, and of course BTP companies'.
THE CHALLENGES OF BTP This alliance is reflected in the Observatoire Immobilier de Provence, of which Fabien Piersanti took the presidency of the Var delegation in September 2025 for two years. Thus, messages in favor of housing to local authorities and to prevent the reduction of building rights will carry all the more weight as the sector is united in speaking with one voice. The president of BTP explains: 'We are preparing a manifesto to fuel the debate of the municipal elections and place our challenges at the heart of the campaign with strength and conviction.
Unable to rely on national policy, we are turning to local authorities to request support measures for housing, but also in terms of public procurement with public works contracts. Admittedly, entering an election year is never favorable for construction works, and we are not just discovering this. Our Fédération will still have to explain that our municipalities and our department need these works to maintain infrastructure and buildings, but also to invest in new facilities to improve the attractiveness and competitiveness of our territories'.
He continues: 'Our fellow citizens too often forget, but construction works improve our living environment, and behind the temporary nuisance of noise, dust, and congestion, there is always a better future emerging for the citizens and users we all are. When it comes to infrastructure maintenance, postponing works and waiting for structures to deteriorate significantly increases the cost, and this is a strong argument for the proper use of public funds. But beyond these considerations, 2026 is certainly not the year when public procurement should weaken and investments slow down.
We must tell the municipalities, the intermunicipal authorities, the Département, the Région, and the State that they have a responsibility to support the market. The wanderings of national policy block private investment enough to justify public procurement taking over locally. Otherwise, the risk is to plunge our sector of activity into a slump, and with it the whole cohort of activities that depend on it,' Fabien Piersanti concludes realistically (...)
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Photos by Philippe OLIVIER.