House energy renovation in Geneva
Planning building work? Apartment, house or building renovation, a new storey or a roof extension, running the project is our job.
HMG Construction Management SA organises the energy renovation of your house in Geneva, from the audit to the commissioning of the new heating. The firm orders the CECB+ certificate, prepares the grant applications before the works start, prices each option, appoints the contractors and manages the site to SIA standards.
How do you get the energy renovation of your house done without the worry? By handing the management and the coordination of the contractors to HMG. HMG is there for you.
What comes first, insulation or the heat pump?
A house that loses heat through the roof, the walls and the windows needs a powerful heating system. Once the envelope is improved, demand falls, and the heat pump can be sized for the renovated house instead of the original one.
So the starting point is an audit. The CECB+, a Swiss energy certificate for buildings, describes the energy condition of the house and sets out renovation options. It lets you compare a full renovation with a phased one, and shows the order to follow if the budget means spreading the works over time.
Requirements, grants and procedures in Geneva
Grants from the Programme Bâtiments, the Swiss buildings programme, have to be requested before the works start. HMG therefore schedules the application ahead of the contracts with the contractors.
Permits are a matter for the Office des autorisations de construire (OAC), the cantonal building permit office. Interior works and works that leave the general appearance of the building unchanged fall under the fast-track procedure, called APA, according to the official page on permit types. Other works need a full application, called DD (demande définitive). External insulation, solar panels or the outdoor unit of a heat pump affect the appearance of the house. HMG therefore checks which procedure applies to each of these, then submits the file online on the AC-Démat platform.
In an older house, a check for asbestos, PCB and lead comes before any insulation, covering or pipework is removed. The Canton of Geneva covers this on its page Rénover, transformer ou démolir sans danger (in French). Cantonal energy requirements change over time, and HMG checks which ones apply to your house when the project is drawn up. If you are aiming for a label such as Minergie, that target is set when the option is chosen, because it shapes the insulation, the windows and the ventilation. Our guide to building permits and procedures in Geneva sets out the whole route.
Who do you call first?
Two routes lead to the same result, and the right one depends on where you stand.
- You have nobody yet. HMG takes on the whole project, orders the audit, draws up the plans, files the permit application as an agent registered on the Geneva MPQ list (mandataires professionnellement qualifiés, the cantonal register of qualified building professionals), works out the cost, appoints the contractors and manages the site through to commissioning.
- An architect is already advising you. The architect designs the project and obtains the permit. HMG then takes over for tendering and construction, working alongside them.
In both cases, a single point of contact answers for the sequence of works, the budget and the result.
How HMG manages your energy renovation
An energy renovation brings together trades that seldom meet. The roofer, the facade contractor, the window fitter, the heating engineer, the electrician and sometimes the solar installer all work on adjoining parts of the building. The junction between roof and facade insulation, or the position of the windows in the insulation layer, has to be settled before the site opens. HMG resolves these details on drawings and writes them into the tender documents.
The firm prices each option by trade, compares the bids item by item and recommends the contractors to appoint. During the works it chairs the site meetings, checks the continuity of the insulation and the airtightness before anything is closed up, then follows the commissioning and adjustment of the heating. Every invoice is verified before payment, and the documents required for the grants are gathered as the works go on.
Usual steps and timing
- Visit to the house and commissioning of the CECB+.
- Choice of option, plans and cost estimate by trade.
- Grant application and, where needed, permit application, before any order is placed.
- Tenders, comparison of bids and contracts with the contractors.
- Works on the envelope, meaning the roof, the facades and the windows.
- Replacement of the heating where planned, commissioning and adjustment.
- Acceptance of the works, final account and supporting documents sent for the grants.
The duration varies with the number of building elements involved, the season and the permit procedure. HMG gives you a dated schedule once the option is chosen and keeps it up to date until acceptance.
Projects managed by HMG
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a CECB+ before renovating?
It is very useful. The CECB+ describes the energy condition of the house and sets out renovation options. You compare the solutions on the same basis, and the specification sent to the contractors builds on the option you choose. HMG also checks whether the grant you are aiming for requires it.
When should grants be requested?
Before the works start. The Programme Bâtiments says so. HMG therefore places this step in the schedule before the contracts are signed and before anything is ordered.
Can a heat pump be installed without insulating the house?
It is technically possible, but not always the best choice. A poorly insulated house needs a more powerful unit and uses more energy. When the budget does not stretch to everything, the audit shows which envelope works should come first, before the heating is changed.
Can the renovation be done in phases?
Yes. A phased renovation is planned as a single project, with the order fixed from the start, so that each element prepares the next. That avoids taking apart a new facade to change the windows later.
Related guides and pages
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