3. External costs

If there's one specificity of the construction industry, it's that it provides a "system" that has a fairly long lifespan and is therefore not neutral with regard to its environment in the broadest sense.

This systemic point of view makes multiple, complex phenomena easier to understand. The interaction of a physical object with external environments due to the way it functions eventually calls for preventive or corrective treatments, the cost of which must first be assessed, echoing the importance now attached to sustainable development issues.

However, this analysis covers the entire life cycle of a building, from production to dismantling. Taking all these aspects into account thus represents an initial internalization of hitherto unconsidered effects, and may eventually lead to a valuation of the corresponding costs.