Buildings

Buildings represent the infrastructure and development of a province. Investing ducats into buildings can give steady returns over the decades and centuries to come.

Building slots

Adding a new building requires one free building slot. Some buildings can be upgraded as technology advances. These upgraded buildings don't require an additional slot, and the existing building can be upgraded on the same slot. The maximum number of building slots a city can have is 12.^[1]

The number of slots a province provides is mostly influenced by terrain and total development of the province:^[2]

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \text{Number of Buildings} = 2 \text{ } + \text{ Terrain } + \text{ Climate } + \text{ University } + \text{ Center of Trade } +\, \lfloor 0.1\cdot \text{ Development } \rfloor }

	Conditions
+2	Base
+1	Terrain is farmlands, grasslands, or drylands
+1	Has a university
+1	Has a level 3 center of trade in any province of this area
+1	Per 10 development in province, rounded down.
+1	Birthplace of Industrialization
−1	Climate is Arctic

Note: The University can be thought of as not occupying a slot. In case there are no available slots the University will in fact occupy the future slot it is supposed to provide (prior to Patch 1.15 the player would have had to remove a building, build the University, and then rebuild the original building).

Example: If Paris is a city, a core of France, has farmlands terrain, a temperate climate and 32 development, then:

$\text{Number of Buildings} = 2\, +\, 0\, +\, 1\, +\, 0\, +\, \lfloor 0.1\cdot 32 \rfloor = 6 \text{ Buildings}$

Building categories

Buildings are built in provinces at the cost of ducats. There are three types of building:

Normal buildings

These represent common buildings that the player can construct in every province. Buildings are divided into seven categories: government, army, navy, production, trade, defense and taxation.

Each category contains various amounts of buildings. Most of the buildings have an advanced version, but some (for example University) take one slot and can't be replaced by something better. It's not necessary to build a basic building before constructing the more advanced version, although the cost of the basic building will be deducted from the cost of the advanced one.

Manufactories

Each province is limited to one manufactory-level building. Manufactories are proto-industrial buildings that increase production of a specific class of trade good. For example, the weapons manufactory is only constructable on provinces that produce iron or copper. For a list, see below. Each manufactory is essentially the same as any other, except that they are unlocked at different levels and categories of technology. However, there is no manufactory for gold-producing provinces, while furnaces, which can be built on coal-producing provinces, will increase the production of all trade goods. Other manufactory-level buildings can increase defensiveness, increase soldier or sailor recruitment, or decrease the governing capacity required for all provinces in the state.

Native buildings

Native American nations get a unique set of buildings that completely replace the usual buildings as long as they have the Tribal Council government. All buildings can be built without technological requirements unlike normal buildings and their effects are different from the normal buildings. Any native buildings built will be lost when the government is reformed.

Cost

All buildings cost ducats to build. The cost of a building is reduced if a building that precedes it (meaning, it is an upgrade) is already built in the province; though the time requirement is not affected by this.

Construction cost is modified by the following:

	Conditions
−20%	with the native administrative idea “Migrative Traditions”
−15%	with Jacobins faction in power as Revolutionary Republic
−15%	with Seize Clerical Holdings action as Feudal Theocracy
−10%	with Christ Pantocrator as icon (for Orthodox nations)
−10%	with Ganga as personal deity (for Hindu nations)
−10%	with active ritual 'Dakhma' as Zoroastrian nation (only with )
−10%	with Jains at Influence 60-100 (for Indian technology group)
−10%	with Snotra as personal deity (for Norse nations)
−10%	with bureaucrats faction in power as Celestial Empire
−10%	with guilds faction in power as Merchant Republic
−10%	with the ‘Architectural Visionary’ ruler personality
−5%	during parliament issue “Appropriate Land for the State”
−5%	after embracing the Renaissance institution
+1%	for each percentage point of inflation
+10%	with the ‘Obsessive Perfectionist’ ruler personality

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−15%	Brandenburg traditions	Danish idea 4: Found the Rentekammer Portuguese idea 6: Royal Absolutism Tverian idea 4: Tverian Architects	—	Aristocratic-Expansion: Manueline Architecture
−10%	Ajuuraan traditions Bolognese traditions Cascadian traditions Chachapoyan traditions Hanoverian traditions Korean traditions Luccan traditions Nanbu traditions Nizhny Novgorod traditions Shiba traditions Sienese traditions Sligonian traditions Utsunomiya traditions	Economic idea 2: Organized Construction Aachen idea 6: Baroque Architecture Anatolian idea 6: Anatolian Architecture Anhalt idea 4: Anhalt Castle Australian idea 7: Waltzing Matilda Berg idea 5: The Rhineland Market Brunswicker idea 3: Residenzstadt Wolfenbüttel Butua idea 1: Legacy of Zimbabwe Creek idea 1: Moundbuilders Legacy Cherokee idea 1: Moundbuilders Legacy Chickasaw idea 1: Moundbuilders Legacy Chimu idea 3: Split Inheritance Colonial idea 3: Manufacturing Center of an Empire Crimean idea 6: Settle the Crimean Steppe Desmondian idea 1: The Land of Castles Dortmund idea 1: From the Ashes Evenk idea 4: Siberian Resources Finnish idea 4: Settle Middle Finland Frisian idea 4: The Zuider Embankments Georgian idea 4: Restoration of Fortresses and Churches Goslar idea 2: Kaiserpfalz Granada idea 5: Alhambra Hausan idea 6: Sarkin Bayi Incan idea 5: Mit'a System Icelandic idea 6: Resilient Craftsmen Ito idea 7: Development of Forestry Kildarean idea 6: A New Seat for the FitzGeralds Ladakh idea 4: Construction of Great Monasteries Mesoamerican idea 6: Pyramid Architecture Mexican idea 1: Rebuilding Mexico Nagpuri idea 3: Send for Artisans Nepalese Princedom idea 1: Continue Temple Construction Orleanaise idea 5: Chateaux of the Loire Valley Ormond idea 7: Entrenchment of the Butler Dynasty Polotskian idea 7: Forest of Europe Pueblo idea 2: Adobe Architecture Rostov idea 5: Rostov Architecture Rothenburg idea 4: The Knights of the Hinterland Rûmi idea 6: al-Sultan al-Muazzam Sardinian idea 6: Island of Cathedrals Shirvani idea 6: Shirvani Architecture Silesian idea 3: German Settlers Sindhi idea 6: Oversee the Rise of Thatta Three Leagues idea 5: Independent Cities Transylvanian idea 3: Transylvanian Saxons West Indies idea 1: Plantation Economy	Client State ambition Liège ambition Montferrat ambition Ulster ambition	—
−5%	—	Swabian idea 5: A Miserly People	—	—

Many decisions, missions and events.

Local modifiers

Provinces may also have local construction cost modifiers.

	Conditions
−20%	producing tropical wood
−10%	in states of the Jesuits or Qadiri holy order
−5%	in the HRE with the imperial reform “Call for Reichsreform”
+20%	in states with assigned Pasha of ‘Ottoman Government’

Construction time

Buildings need a certain time to be built. The base construction time of normal buildings is 12 months, for forts 30 months and for manufactories 60 months.

Construction time is modified by the following:

	Conditions
up to −10%	with a neutral or loyal Jains estate depending on their influence.

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−10%	—	Anhalt idea 4: Anhalt Castle Dortmund idea 1: From the Ashes Frisian idea 4: The Zuider Embankments Orleanaise idea 5: Chateaux of the Loire Valley	—	—

Some missions.

Local construction time

Provinces producing iron have a −20% local construction time modifier.

List of normal buildings

Buildings

All normal buildings have a base construction time of 12 months and provide various benefits when completed.

Category	Normal buildings (required technology level)
Government	Courthouse (8) −0.1 Monthly autonomy change −25% State maintenance −25% Province governing cost 100 Ducats	Town hall (22) Upgrades Courthouse −0.2 Monthly autonomy change −50% State maintenance −50% Province governing cost 200 Ducats	University (17) −20% Local development cost +1 Building slot 300 Ducats
Production	Workshop (6) +50% Local production efficiency 100 Ducats	Counting house (24) Upgrades Workshop +100% Local production efficiency 400 Ducats
Taxation	Temple (4) +40% Local tax modifier 100 Ducats	Cathedral (19) Upgrades Temple +60% Local tax modifier +3% Local missionary strength 300 Ducats
Navy	Shipyard (8) +2 Naval force limit −25% Local shipbuilding time +25% Local ship repair 100 Ducats	Grand shipyard (24) Upgrades Shipyard +4 Naval force limit −50% Local shipbuilding time +50% Local ship repair 300 Ducats	Dock (6) +50% Local sailors 100 Ducats	Drydock (19) Upgrades Dock +100% Local sailors 300 Ducats
Trade	Marketplace (4) +50% Local trade power 100 Ducats	Trade depot (17) Upgrades Marketplace +100% Local trade power 300 Ducats	Stock exchange (22) Upgrades Trade depot +125% Local trade power 400 Ducats
Coastal	Coastal defence (5) +50% Blockade force required +100% Hostile disembark time Blocks raid coasts 100 Ducats	Naval battery (12) Upgrades Coastal defence +100% Blockade force required +200% Hostile disembark time +5 Hostile fleet attrition Blocks raid coast 200 Ducats
Army	Barracks (6) +50% Local manpower modifier 100 Ducats	Training fields (16) Upgrades Barracks +100% Local manpower modifier 300 Ducats	Regimental camp (8) +1 Land force limit 200 Ducats	Conscription center (22) Upgrades Regimental camp +2 Land force limit 400 Ducats

Forts

Main article: Land warfare#Forts

The defense type building (fort) has a base construction time of 30 months. Forts resist enemy occupation and must be sieged down. They also hinder enemy movement in the surrounding provinces during war, recapture neighboring unfortified provinces, and reduce devastation in neighboring provinces.

All forts require an ongoing monthly upkeep of Fort maintenance which becomes higher depending on the fort's level. Mothballing a fort gives −50% Fort maintenance for that individual fort.

Category	Tech	Normal buildings (required technology level)
Defense		Castle (1) +2 Fort level 200 Ducats −1 Monthly fort maintenance	Bastion (14) Upgrades Castle +4 Fort level 400 Ducats −2 Monthly fort maintenance	Star fort (19) Upgrades Bastion +6 Fort level 600 Ducats −3 Monthly fort maintenance	Fortress (24) Upgrades Star fort +8 Fort level 800 Ducats −4 Monthly fort maintenance

Manufactories

All manufactories cost 500 ducats, have a base construction time of 60 months. A manufactory can only be built in a province which has its associated trade goods present.

Manufactory	Level	Required trade good	Modifier
Farm estate	6	Grain, Livestock, Wine	+1 Local goods produced
Ramparts	6	all trade goods	+1 Attrition for enemies +15% Local defensiveness
Impressment offices	7	Salt, Fish, Naval supplies, Tropical wood	+500 Sailor increase −20% Local shipbuilding time −10% Local ship cost
Impressment offices	7	remaining trade goods	+250 Sailor increase −10% Local shipbuilding time −5% Local ship cost
Naval equipment manufactory	11	Fish, Naval Supplies, Salt	+1 Local goods produced
Textile manufactory	11	Cloth, Dyes, Silk, Wool	+1 Local goods produced
Weapons manufactory	11	Copper, Iron	+1 Local goods produced
State house	12	Paper, Glass, Gems	−40% Statewide governing cost −10% Minimum local autonomy
State house	12	remaining trade goods	−20% Statewide governing cost −5% Minimum local autonomy
Plantation	14	Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Sugar, Tea, Tobacco	+1 Local goods produced
Trade station	14	Cloves, Fur, Incense, Ivory, Slaves, Spices	+1 Local goods produced
Soldier's households	15	Grain, Fish, Livestock, Wine	+1500 Manpower increase
Soldier's households	15	remaining trade goods	+750 Manpower increase
Mill	16	Chinaware, Gems, Glass, Paper, Tropical Wood	+1 Local goods produced
Furnace	21	Coal	+5% Goods produced modifier^[3]

List of native buildings

All native buildings have a base construction time of 12 months. All native buildings are lost after reforming the government.

Normal native buildings

All normal native buildings cost 100 ducats, except for Irrigation and Palisades, which cost 200 .

Building	Effect
Earthwork	+25% Local defensiveness
Great Trail	+50% Local manpower modifier
Irrigation	+0.02 Tribal development growth
Palisades	+1 Fort level −0.5 Monthly fort maintenance
Storehouse	+50% Local production efficiency
Three-Sisters Field	+50% Local goods produced
Longhouse	+0.1 Monthly reform progress

Unique native buildings

All unique native buildings cost 200 ducats. It is only possible to build one of each unique building per nation.

Building	Effect
Ceremonial Fire Pit	−50% Advisor cost +0.2 Monthly reform progress
Fortified House	+10 Land force limit
Sweat Lodge	+1 Diplomatic reputation

Building strategy

The below is one of many player suggested strategies for Buildings. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.

General considerations

There are some general rules of thumb that should be taken to heart when investing in buildings:

Money should be invested in buildings only if it isn't needed for something more important.
The time needed to generate a profit should be noted; some provinces may be too poor to ever generate a profit in the remaining time-frame.^[4]
When considering a large building spree, it might be advisable to invest in the Economic idea group and couple it with policies to reduce the building costs.
It's good to remember that besides local autonomy, province income can also be affected by the province's culture and religion (if different than the state religion).
Space is limited. The number of buildings can only be increased by increasing the development level, or raising a center of trade to level three (only in states and trade companies), if one exists in the province. (Corollary: increase development to open more spaces.)

Building prioritization

Buildings' positioning can have great effect on return-on-investment. It is thus recommended to build the following building types in the appropriate provinces:

Buildings providing a percentile bonus are best built in state provinces with high development values, low local autonomy, and targeted to increase the province's strength(s), e.g., trade buildings in provinces with modifiers benefiting local trade power (such as centers of trade).
Buildings providing a flat bonus are best built in territorial provinces as they won't be affected by the high autonomy, or in state provinces with low development values.
Manufactories increase local goods produced, which in turn also increase both the province trade value and its production income. In addition, coupling them with production buildings in state provinces with high value trade goods will generate high production income.
Manufactories are not affected by autonomy, culture, and religion as other buildings. Thus, they can be built even in high autonomy provinces. While the generated production income may not be at its fullest, they can still return the investment when also taking into account the generated trade income.
Prioritize building forts in provinces with defensive terrain or those with low supply limit to couple them with the local defensiveness and high attrition bonuses, and to make sure you get a terrain bonus to help break sieges. If possible, they should be built mostly in border provinces and mothballed until needed.
Other manufactory level buildings introduced in 1.30 may be more useful than increasing production. For example: Ramparts in a province with a fort improve its defensiveness; Soldiers' Houses greatly increase available manpower if built in Grain provinces, likewise Impressment Offices in Fish provinces, both being trade goods of low value.

Avoidance

Since buildings cost money, their cost-benefit ratio should be considered. Thus, an important step is to know when not to invest in a building type:

Trade buildings are unnecessary in trade nodes dominated by the nation, and you don't need more trade power propagated upstream.
Army/Navy buildings can be avoided if the nation maintains large forces and there are no nations of similar or stronger power.
Due to forts' initial high cost and ongoing fort maintenance, it's best to avoid building them in the inner provinces of the nation where they are far from enemy borders and forces. If the area is prone to rebellions, several low level forts might be more successful in slowing the rebels down until other forces arrive.

Destroying buildings

Occasionally it is beneficial to destroy a building:

Excess forts cost money to maintain even when mothballed. Forts that aren't strategically useful - those in the interior if the enemy never reaches it, or multiple forts in a small space after annexing several small countries, for example - can be worth destroying.
Occasionally a building other than a fort was useful when built, but becomes a waste of a slot due to changing circumstances.
when annexing an AI, it could be worth to destroy some unsuseful buildings (such as church in low tax income province) to build better one (like manufactories).

Is borrow-to-build worthwhile?

Is it worthwhile to take out loans in order to construct a certain building? Equivalently, if there is an on-going loan, should the loan be paid off first before initiating on any construction project? Just like in real life, theoretically, the answer is yes if the income provided by the building per year divided by the sum of build cost and interest accrued during construction is higher than interest per annum. This can be the case for highly developed provinces or for manufactories in a highly productive province that produces expensive trade goods. (For manufactories, the player should also include trade income.) However, the player would also need to make sure there is enough income to pay off the loan before inflation gets out of hand. A player considering using debt to build, however, is cautioned to carefully consider these trade-offs, for in many cases, it is not profitable. A safe guide is whether the income before constructing the building is able to cover the principal part of the loan within a reasonable time frame.

When will increased income cover building costs?

The increase in income is dynamically influenced by provincial and national modifiers such as tax efficiency, production efficiency as well as the development in the province, all of which are bound to increase as technology progresses. Therefore, early game, whether a building will pay for itself is not usually the question. The question is how long and thus if the ducat can be better spent elsewhere. The following table lists the required increase in monthly income (displayed in-game in the building interface) for a certain number of years before the building breaks even.

Building capitalization timetable (assuming no share in trade)
buildings
build price	100	200	300	400	500
Years before break-even	Required monthly income increase
5	1.67	3.33	5.00	6.67	8.33
10	0.83	1.67	2.50	3.33	4.17
20	0.42	0.83	1.12	1.67	2.08
50	0.17	0.33	0.50	0.67	0.83
100	0.08	0.17	0.25	0.33	0.42

The benefits of manufactories are two-fold: one is through local production; another is through trade collection. Trade collection is influenced by multiple factors: price of trade good, trade company bonus, player's share in trade power where the goods value is collected, and whether there is any transferring bonus (if collected in a downstream trade center). Assuming no trade company and 100% share in trade, the required increase in monthly income (displayed in-game in the building interface) for a certain number of years before the building breaks even is listed as follows.

Manufactory capitalization timetable at 100% goods produced modifier, 100% trade share and 0% trade efficiency
Price of trade good	5.0	4.0	3.5	3.0	2.5	2.0
Years before break-even	Required monthly income increase
5	7.92	8.00	8.04	8.08	8.13	8.17
10	3.75	3.83	3.88	3.92	3.96	4.00
20	1.67	1.75	1.79	1.83	1.88	1.92
50	0.42	0.50	0.54	0.58	0.63	0.67
100	0	0.08	0.13	0.17	0.21	0.25

The required income is higher for a given schedule if the player cannot fully collect on the value of the trade goods. At the same time, any trade efficiency bonus reduces the required monthly income increase or bring closer the time the building breaks even.

Manufactory capitalization timetable at 100% goods produced modifier, 50% trade share and 0% trade efficiency
Price of trade good	5.0	4.0	3.5	3.0	2.5	2.0
Years before break-even	Required monthly income increase
5	8.13	8.17	8.19	8.21	8.23	8.25
10	3.96	4.00	4.02	4.04	4.06	4.08
20	1.88	1.92	1.94	1.96	1.98	2.00
50	0.63	0.67	0.69	0.71	0.73	0.75
100	0.21	0.25	0.27	0.29	0.31	0.33

Manufactory capitalization timetable at 100% goods produced modifier, 100% trade share and 75% trade efficiency
Price of trade good	5.0	4.0	3.5	3.0	2.5	2.0
Years before break-even	Required monthly income increase
5	7.60	7.75	7.82	7.90	7.97	8.04
10	3.44	3.58	3.66	3.73	3.80	3.88
20	1.35	1.50	1.57	1.65	1.72	1.79
50	0.10	0.25	0.32	0.40	0.47	0.54
100	0	0	0	0	0.05	0.13

As with other buildings, the increase in income from manufactories also scales with game progress although with the added sensitivity to the price of trade goods. Certain trade goods decrease in value late in the game. See Trade goods strategy.

References

↑ Specified in /Europa Universalis IV/common/defines.lua.
↑ Specified in /Europa Universalis IV/map/terrain.txt and /Europa Universalis IV/common/static_modifiers/00_static_modifiers.txt respectively.
↑ Note that this is a country-wide modifier.
↑ Forum, ROI on Buildings (spreadsheet), 2017-02-05