Construction - April 2004
Builders reported unusually high construction volume
Publication Date: 08. 06. 2004
Product Code: r-8202-04
Reported construction output at constant prices increased by 62.4% year-on-year .
This extraordinary and hardly-to-repeat growth of the construction output reported was mainly affected by the fact that April 2004 was the last month to have seen the reduced VAT rate of 5% for construction work (except for housing construction). Most of the construction enterprises may have pre-invoiced their construction work using the 5% VAT, within the meaning of the contracts for construction works concluded with investors. This development got reflected differentially in the whole structure of construction work with the exception of housing construction and in all size groups of construction companies (both small and large). It can be reasonably expected that the development will be corrected in the following months this year.
Preliminary calculations of the Czech Statistical Office based on the development of employment, hours worked and labour productivity indicate that the pre-invoicing is responsible for about two thirds of the growth.
The number of persons employed in construction enterprises with 20+ employees rose by 2.9%. The average monthly wage of employees reached CZK 17 600 and increased rising by 8.2% nominally and 5.8%. Average hourly wage increased by 6.6% and amounted to CZK 112.
Planning and building control authorities granted 13 075 building permits (of which 6 158 for new construction and 6 917 for renewals and enhancements). The approximate value of constructions permitted in April was CZK 29.2 billion (of which new constructions accounted for CZK 20.9 billion and renewals and enhancements for CZK 8.3 billion). The distinctly higher approximate value was due to the building permit granted for a large railway construction in Prague.
Planning and building control authorities permitted 3 450 dwellings to be constructed. New construction will provide 2 506 dwellings – an increase of 480 year-on-year. The increase resulted from the permit to construct a complex of multi-dwelling buildings in Prague 15. The number of new dwellings obtained by renewals and enhancements was 944 (mostly conversion of military quarters into dwellings) and was considerably higher than in April 2003. The approximate value of newly permitted dwellings in multi-dwelling buildings stood at CZK 6.5 billion. Average approximate value per dwelling was CZK 2.3 million (new construction) or CZK 1.0 million (renewals and enhancements).
Note
Contact: Josef Vlášek, phone (+420) 241019115, e-mail: vlasek@gw.czso.cz
Data source: CZSO direct survey in enterprises; planning and building control authorities
End of data collection: 3 June 2004
End of data processing: 4 June 2004
Related publications: 8201-03 Construction ( https://csu.gov.cz )
8202-03 Building Permits Granted ( https://csu.gov.cz )
The data in Table 1 are final for February and March; the data for April are preliminary and will be updated when data for July 2004 are released.
The data in Table 2 are final.