Renovating an apartment in Casablanca: stages, budget, pitfalls
Renovating an apartment in Casablanca means working with an existing building you did not choose: load-bearing walls in awkward places, a wastewater riser dating back to 1978, a building manager to win over. Here I set out what a renovation really involves, from the initial technical survey to signing off the final snag list, with budget ranges for each trade. The aim is simple: you should know where the money goes and where the nasty surprises hide before you sign anything.
Three levels of renovation, three very different budgets
The word "renovation" covers projects that have almost nothing in common. Before talking about price, you need to work out which of these three categories your project falls into.
The refresh
Paint, flooring, replacing light fittings and taps, possibly the internal doors. Neither the partition walls nor the concealed services are touched. A 100 m² three-room apartment can be handled in four to six weeks. This is the only case where you can reasonably work without an architect, provided you have a reliable contractor and an accurate schedule of quantities.
The partial renovation
The kitchen and bathrooms are redone, one or two non load-bearing partitions are moved, and the electrics are reworked in certain rooms. This is the most common scenario in the 1970s and 1980s buildings of Maârif, Gauthier or Palmier, where floor areas are generous but the layout is far too compartmentalised.
The full renovation
Everything is redone: electrical and plumbing services from floor to ceiling, a completely redrawn layout, suspended ceilings, external joinery, air conditioning. You go back to the bare structure. It is also the only scenario that genuinely corrects the flaws of an older apartment, and the one that demands the most forward planning in interior architecture.
A classic mistake is to start out with a refresh, open up a wall, discover cables with no earth, and switch to a full renovation mid-project. The budget doubles and the programme falls apart. Hence the next stage.
The technical survey: the one stage you cannot skip
Before any drawing, I spend half a day on site with a laser measure and a camera. This diagnostic visit costs between 1,500 and 2,500 MAD (Moroccan dirhams) depending on the floor area and location, and I deduct that amount from my fee if we go on to work together. Here is what I look at.
- The structure: identifying load-bearing walls, columns and beams. In many Casablanca buildings from the 1960s to the 1980s, the structure is a concrete column-and-beam frame, which allows more freedom than people expect. But any opening in a load-bearing wall requires the opinion of a structural engineer, without exception.
- The services: cable sizes, presence or absence of an earth connection, condition of the consumer unit, position of the water risers and waste stacks. A bathroom cannot simply be moved wherever you like: the fall required for drainage imposes constraints that neither the tiler nor the decorator will flag up in time.
- Damp and waterproofing: marks on wet room ceilings, joinery seals, façades exposed to westerly winds. Casablanca is a humid, salt-laden city, and leaks in gable walls and top-floor units are common.
- Ceiling heights and service routes: actual floor-to-slab height, depth available for a suspended ceiling, routes for air conditioning ducts. Below 2.60 m, a suspended ceiling throughout becomes visually hard to live with.
- The joinery: condition of the glazing, air tightness, and whether units can be replaced without altering the external appearance, which the co-ownership often prohibits.
This diagnostic produces a dimensioned survey and a written note listing the constraints. It is this document that makes contractors' quotes genuinely comparable.
The real sequence, from concept sketch to handover
Here is the process I follow on an apartment of 100 to 180 m² in Casablanca or Rabat. The timings are averages I have observed, not commitments.
- Survey and diagnostic: 1 week. Measurements, photos, a note on constraints, and first discussions about how you live and your target budget.
- Concept design and layout: 2 to 3 weeks. Two or three plan options, with room areas and circulation routes. This is where 80 % of the final quality of the home is decided. A well-judged plan costs exactly the same to build as a poor one.
- Developed design and material selection: 3 to 4 weeks. Final plans, elevations of the wet rooms and kitchen, a materials board, lighting principles. I always have physical samples approved, never mood images alone.
- Tender pack and pricing: 2 to 3 weeks. Construction drawings, a point-by-point electrical plan, floor-setting-out drawings, a detailed specification with quantities. I invite two or three contractors to price the same documents, then analyse the differences line by line.
- Approvals and preparation: 2 to 4 weeks. Notification to the building manager, co-ownership consent where required, a schedule for access to the building, protection of the common areas.
- Works on site: 8 to 20 weeks. Roughly 8 to 10 weeks for a partial renovation, 16 to 20 weeks for a full renovation with a kitchen and two bathrooms. I visit site once or twice a week and issue a written report after every visit.
- Handover and snagging: 2 to 4 weeks. A written snag list, a retention held on the final payment, correction of the outstanding items, then final sign-off. Never pay the full amount before every item on the list has been cleared.
One sequence governs the whole logic of the works: demolition, services, partitions and suspended ceilings, screeds and waterproofing, finishes, joinery, paint, fittings, furniture. Every departure from that order costs money. Chasing a channel into an already painted wall means bringing two trades back to site.
What an apartment renovation costs in Casablanca
The figures below are 2026 orders of magnitude for Casablanca, excluding fees and appliances. They vary considerably with how accessible the building is, the floor level, whether there is a lift, and the grade of materials. Only a quote prepared from drawings is binding.
Overall rates per square metre
- Refresh: 1,800 to 3,000 MAD/m²
- Partial renovation: 3,000 to 5,500 MAD/m²
- Full renovation: 5,500 to 9,000 MAD/m², and higher with premium materials, bespoke joinery and home automation
Breakdown by trade
- Demolition and removal of rubble: 150 to 400 MAD/m² of area treated. In Casablanca, disposal is a genuine issue: truck access, hours imposed by the building manager, licensed tips.
- Complete electrical installation with consumer unit and earthing: 400 to 800 MAD/m².
- Plumbing and drainage: 350 to 700 MAD/m² for a full replacement.
- Plasterboard partitions and suspended ceilings: 250 to 450 MAD/m² installed.
- Tiling or wood flooring, supply and fit: 300 to 900 MAD/m² depending on the material. Zellige and natural stone go well beyond that range.
- High-quality paintwork: 70 to 140 MAD/m² of painted surface, including filling and preparation.
- Complete bathroom: 30,000 to 80,000 MAD per room, including sanitaryware and wall tiling.
- Bespoke fitted kitchen: 3,500 to 9,000 MAD per linear metre of units, with worktops priced by material.
- Air conditioning: 8,000 to 15,000 MAD per split unit installed, more for ducted systems requiring suspended ceiling works.
- External aluminium joinery: 2,500 to 5,000 MAD/m² of opening, subject to co-ownership approval.
I always advise keeping a contingency of 10 to 15 %. In an older property, you rarely open up a wall without finding something. To compare with a new-build project, my guide to construction costs in Morocco gives build rates rather than renovation rates.
Co-ownership, building manager and permits: what is compulsory
This is the point owners tend to discover last, often once the jackhammer is already running.
What falls under the co-ownership rules
The co-ownership regulations and Law 18-00 on co-ownership distinguish between private areas and common parts. You are free to do as you wish inside your own lot, but no further. The following require a decision of the general meeting or written authorisation from the building manager:
- any change to the external appearance: joinery, balustrades, blinds, air conditioning units on the façade;
- any work on the risers, shared waste stacks or communal ventilation;
- any opening in a structural element, even one located inside your apartment, since the structure is a common part;
- enclosing or roofing over a balcony.
In practice, I recommend sending the building manager a letter with the proposed drawings, the list of works, the working hours and the name of the contractor. It avoids blocked lifts and complaints from neighbours halfway through. Also plan for protection of the common areas and a photographic record of the entrance hall and lift before works begin.
When a formal application is required
Interior works that touch neither the structure, nor the façade, nor the floor area generally require no planning authorisation. However, as soon as there is a change to the façade, the creation or removal of an opening, a change of use, or structural work, a file must be submitted through the Rokhas platform, and that file must be signed by an architect registered with the Ordre National des Architectes, in accordance with Law 016-89. I set out the procedure and the documents required in my guide to the building permit in Morocco. When a project calls for it, I work alongside a registered architect who signs and submits the file.
If you are unsure whether you need an interior architecture appointment or a regulatory architecture appointment, my comparison of architect versus interior architect sets out the criteria.
The eight most common pitfalls in Casablanca
- The lump-sum quote with no specification. A quote reading "renovation of 100 m² apartment: 450,000 MAD" means nothing. Insist on line-by-line quantities, with the brands and references of the materials. Without that, no comparison is possible and everything turns into a variation.
- Deciding the electrical layout on the fly. The number and position of sockets, switches and light points must be fixed on a drawing before any chasing begins. In a living room, I rarely allow fewer than eight sockets.
- Moving a bathroom without checking the fall. A waste outlet too far from the stack means either raising the floor level or installing a macerator pump, with all the noise and breakdowns that come with it.
- Skimping on waterproofing in wet rooms. A tanking membrane or liquid waterproofing under the tiles costs a few thousand dirhams. A leak into the flat below costs a dispute and a complete rebuild.
- Ordering materials too late. Some imported tiles, sanitaryware and taps have lead times of six to ten weeks. The site stops, the contractor moves to another job and does not come back when you want them to.
- Paying in advance. A sound payment schedule follows progress: a deposit at the start, monthly valuations of work actually completed, and a retention of 5 to 10 % until all snags are cleared.
- Underestimating life in the building. Noise restrictions, weekends, Ramadan, public holidays: the real programme is not the theoretical one. Plan for it with the building manager.
- Confusing decoration with design. A beautiful mood board will not fix poor circulation, a lack of storage or a kitchen with no usable worktop. Layout comes before materials.
Appointment, fees and what I bring to an apartment project
On an apartment renovation, my role is twofold: to design a home that works, and to run the site so that what has been drawn is actually built.
The options available
- Diagnostic only: 1,500 to 2,500 MAD. Site visit, measured survey, feasibility and constraints note. Useful if you are still at the purchase stage and want to know what the apartment allows.
- Design only: drawings, layout, materials, tender pack. You then manage the contractors yourself.
- Full interior architecture appointment: design, tendering, site supervision and handover. Fees generally fall between 10 and 20 % of the construction cost, with the percentage decreasing as the budget rises.
The full terms, the payment stages and what each phase covers are set out on my fees page. For a project involving structure or façade works, a full architectural appointment sits closer to 8 to 12 % of the construction cost. All of these figures are 2026 orders of magnitude, to be confirmed by a quote prepared after a site visit.
My work is divided equally between homes and public-facing premises: I designed the My Laser centres in Casablanca and Tangier, where the technical constraints and construction deadlines are tight. I apply that same rigour to apartments. You can explore my approach on the projects page, read about my background in the about section, or browse my other guides. If your project concerns a commercial property, the office fit-out page deals specifically with that, and the architect in Casablanca page presents the full range of services I offer in the city.
What clients ask me most
Do I need the building manager's approval to renovate the inside of my apartment?
For work strictly within your own lot, leaving the structure, façades and shared services untouched, no approval is required, but written notice to the building manager is still essential: it secures access to the lift, sets the working hours and protects you in the event of a dispute. As soon as you touch a load-bearing wall, a shared waste stack, façade joinery or an air conditioning unit visible from outside, written authorisation from the building manager or a decision of the general meeting becomes necessary.
How long does it take to renovate a 120 m² apartment in Casablanca?
Allow roughly 8 to 10 weeks on site for a partial renovation and 16 to 20 weeks for a full renovation with a kitchen and two bathrooms. Add 6 to 10 weeks beforehand for the survey, design, pricing and tendering. Lead times on certain imported materials are the leading cause of delay, which is why it pays to lock in your choices very early.
Can a wall be removed to open the kitchen onto the living room?
That depends entirely on the nature of the wall. A partition in hollow brick or plaster can be removed without difficulty. A load-bearing wall must never be touched without a structural engineer's study, a load transfer solution and the co-ownership's consent, since the structure is a common part. The diagnostic survey exists precisely to settle this question before any drawings are produced.
What budget should I allow to completely redo a bathroom?
The 2026 order of magnitude is between 30,000 and 80,000 MAD per bathroom, all inclusive: demolition, drainage, waterproofing, wall tiling, sanitaryware, taps, vanity unit and lighting. The variation comes mainly from the grade of fittings and finishes. An accurate quote requires a dimensioned drawing and an approved list of product references.
Can I manage the contractors myself to save on fees?
It is feasible on a simple refresh. On a partial or full renovation, the absence of a technical pack almost always leads to quotes that cannot be compared, a string of variations and rework. In practice, controlling the quantities, tendering on a common basis and checking the monthly valuations often recovers a good part of the fee.
Do you also work in Rabat and other cities?
Yes, I work in Casablanca and Rabat, and occasionally elsewhere in Morocco depending on the nature and duration of the project. On an apartment renovation, the frequency of site visits is decisive: I factor it into the scope of the appointment and into travel costs, which are clearly stated in the quote.
Let's talk about your apartment
Describe your property to me in a few lines: floor area, neighbourhood, year the building was built, what bothers you today and the budget you have in mind. If possible, attach the existing plan and a few photos. I will tell you what the renovation can realistically achieve, what it requires on the co-ownership side and which type of appointment suits your situation. You can use the contact page or write to me directly on +212 661 25 78 84.
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