Construction - April 2007

Seasonally adjusted total construction output at constant prices was down by 0.3% in April 2007, compared to March 2007. In comparison to April 2006, output at constant prices grew by 17.6%. The planning and building control authorities granted 8 919 building permits, which was by 8.1% less year-on-year. Approximate value of permitted constructions reached CZK 32.7 billion, which was up by 41.2% year-on-year. 
Seasonally adjusted total construction output at constant prices grew by 0.3% month-on-month. The trend rose by 2.0% month-on-month (see Table 3).
Year-on-year, total construction output at constant prices grew by 17.6%; WDA growth was 15.9% (April 2007 had one working day more) and SA growth 19.4%. Favourable weather conditions (the mean temperature in April 2007 was by 2.2°C higher year-on-year), low comparable basis and continuous demand for construction work kept a double-digit growth of total construction output for the fifth successive month.
 
Contracted construction work carried out by construction enterprises with 20+ employees grew by 16.6% year-on-year at constant prices. New construction, reconstruction and modernisation recorded a 13.8% increase (contribution 12.0 percentage points), of which building construction grew by 21.0% (contribution 11.4 p.p.) and civil engineering works by 2.0% (contribution 0.6 p.p.). Repair and maintenance increased by 14.3% (contribution 1.5 p.p.). Other construction work recorded a drop of 33.7% (contribution –0.2 p.p.). Construction work abroad nearly tripled (contribution 3.3 p.p.).
 
The number of employees in construction enterprises with 20+ employees decreased by 1.0%*) against April 2006. The average monthly nominal wage of employees increased by 11.2% year-on-year and reached CZK 20 672 (real wage rose by 8.5%). The average hourly wage grew by 8.8% year-on-year and stood at CZK 141. Labour productivity per employee increased by 17.7% and labour productivity per hour worked grew by 15.2%.
 
The planning and building control authorities granted 8 919**) building permits in April 2007 (of which 4 802 for new constructions and 4 117 for renewals and enhancements). The number of building permits granted fell by 8.1% year-on-year.
 
Approximate value of constructions permitted in April 2007 increased by 41.2% year-on-year and reached CZK 32.7 billion. New construction is valued at CZK 24.5 billion (up by 52.7%, contribution 36.4 p.p.). Renewals and enhancements will make available constructions worth CZK 8.3 billion (up by 15.4%, contribution 4.8 p.p.). A more than two-and-half rise in approximate value of building permits was recorded for new construction of non-residential buildings (contribution 30.0 p.p.). New construction of residential buildings grew by 19.2% (contribution 4.8 p.p.). The rise in non-residential buildings was mainly due to building permits for financially demanding projects of new industrial buildings including technology. Year-on-year decreases in approximate value of building permits were registered for renewals and enhancements of non-residential buildings (down by 16.7%, contribution -2.2 p.p.) and for environmental constructions (down by 29.9%, contribution -0.4 p.p.).
 
The planning and building control authorities permitted the construction of 3 169 dwellings, which was by 360 dwellings fewer (-10.2%) than in April 2006. Out of that, 2 733 dwellings will be obtained by new construction (down by 173 dwellings) and 436 dwellings by renewals and enhancements (down by 187 dwellings). The approximate value of newly permitted dwellings in multi-dwelling buildings was CZK 7.3 billion.             
The planning and building control authorities permitted also the construction of buildings with a floor space of 686.9 thousand m ² (+25.3%), of which floor space of residential buildings increased by 10.8% and of non-residential buildings by 51.0%. The average floor space of a newly constructed dwelling was 131.8 m ² and approximate value CZK 19.2 thousand per m ².
According to Eurostat News Release, the working days adjusted index of construction output in the EU27 grew by 11.2% y-o-y in March 2007, of which building construction by 10.4% and civil engineering works by 13.5%. Among the EU member states for which data were available, the highest increases were observed in Poland (+41.6%), Slovenia (+36.6%), Germany (+24.1%) and Slovakia (+17.0%). A decrease was recorded only in Portugal (-7.3%). 

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Note
Contact:                                Vladimír Zikmund, phone (+420) 274054252, e-mail: vladimir.zikmund@csu.gov.cz
Data source:                        CZSO direct survey in enterprises with 20+ employees and planning and building control authorities
End of data collection:       5 June 2007
End of data processing:    8 June 2007
Related publications:        /1-ep-8
8201-07 Construction
8202-07 Building Permits Granted
 
The data in Table 1 for February and March 2007 are final; data for April are preliminary and will be updated when data for July 2007 are released.
The data in Table 2 are final.
 

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*) Employment is measured in construction enterprises with 20+ employees. The average registered number of employees does not include agency workers.
**) On 1 January 2007, a new Act No. 183/2006 Sb., on Territorial Planning and the Building Code (the Building Act), was brought in. It regulates, especially in Sections 103 and 104, the problem of “granting building permits”. This new Act may have an impact on absolute values in time series covering new construction and renewals and enhancements, particularly numbers of building permits and corresponding approximate values for non-residential buildings, environmental constructions and other constructions.