Craft enterprises away from Pnrr sites

The craft sector of the building industry to the test of the new deadlines imposed by the Casa Green regulation.'The question is: are we really ready? We cannot ignore the climate of uncertainty in which we find ourselves operating, but many companies in the supply chain in recent years have been able to take advantage of the opportunities offered by building bonuses, have invested and introduced innovations internally, and have become structured," says Roberto Boschetto, president of Confartigianato Veneto. The construction supply chain in the region is made up of 62 thousand companies: the craft sector accounts for over 46 thousand companies employing about 90 thousand people; the craft sector accounts for 55% of the sector's workforce, but since 2010 the weight of the craft sector has decreased.

Smart Land's researchers, Federico Della Puppa and Fiorella Angeli, were entrusted with researching the outlook for the next 15 years. "A structuring phenomenon is underway," Della Puppa emphasises, "with a significant and substantial growth in joint-stock companies. Suffering is the young artisan entrepreneurship, which marks -61% from 2011 to date: a loss of 6 thousand units. A survey carried out by means of questionnaires on 160 companies also reveals that the certainty of remaining active on the market in the next few years concerns little more than one in two companies: 10% plan to close their business, while 35% are in a situation of uncertainty. Predictions about the future vary considerably depending on the size of the company and the age of the entrepreneur. Size also plays a role: over 23% of companies without employees say they plan to close in the next few years. By contrast, there is no incidence of those thinking of closing down among companies with 5 employees and more. The perception of operating in a sector that is undergoing great change is widespread: the strategies that companies are deploying - the survey reveals - include the adoption of new technologies and the hiring of high-level professionals. This is followed by a focus on sustainability and with it the need for certification and changing ways of building. With age, attention to generational changeover also grows: for 80% of entrepreneurs over 55, this is a primary challenge. Most artisan construction companies have not invested in innovation in recent years, despite the stimulus provided by regulations and new protocols to be followed: one in four, the data reveal, has done so. Forty-five per cent of the craft enterprises that have invested in innovation have done so in training courses, and 33% have invested in the purchase of new environmentally friendly vehicles.

Innovations in new technologies, new business organisation models and almost no investments in new qualified and specialised personnel are less relevant. Despite the low propensity to innovate in the future, there is a prevailing awareness in the sector of the need to grow from a technological point of view. Amongst the critical points, one in three craft businesses reports difficulties in accessing public tenders, which is more pronounced among businesses that are not part of a network (38% compared to 25% of those that are part of a network) and among businesses that have not obtained certifications (40% compared to 18%). Again, compared to the Superbonus, the market activated by the NRP is less accessible for these companies: as of Q2 2024, only 16% of companies claimed to have started construction sites financed with funds from the Plan, while 63% considered it to be a market not suitable for their business.