Construction - August 2007

Seasonally adjusted total construction output at constant prices increased by 1.4% in August 2007, compared to July 2007. In comparison to August 2006, output at constant prices was up by 3.3%. The planning and building control authorities granted 11 285 building permits, which was by 17.0% less year-on-year. Approximate value of permitted constructions decreased by 3.3% year-on-year and reached CZK 35.2 billion. 
Seasonally adjusted total construction output at constant prices grew by 1.4% month-on-month. The trend increased by 0.3% month-on-month (see Table 3).   
      Total construction output at constant prices grew by 3.3% year-on-year. The increase in construction output in August 2007 was mainly due to increase in building construction (new construction, reconstruction and modernisation); civil engineering works kept on decreasing, but at a lower rate than in the previous three months.    
 
Contracted construction work carried out by construction enterprises with 20+ employees grew by 3.0% year-on-year at constant prices. New construction, reconstruction and modernisation recorded a 3.1% increase (contribution 2.6 percentage points), of which building construction grew by 8.4% (contribution 4.2 p.p.) and civil engineering works fell by 4.7% (contribution -1.6 p.p.). Repair and maintenance decreased by 11.4% (contribution -1.5 p.p.). Other work recorded a drop of 33.0% (contribution ‑0.2 p.p.). Construction work abroad grew by 87.4% (contribution 2.1 p.p.).
 
The number of employees in construction enterprises with 20+ employees dropped by 2.0%* ⁾ against August 2006. The average monthly nominal wage of employees increased by 7.5% year-on-year and reached CZK 22 113 (the real wage rose by 5.0%). Average hourly wage grew by 9.4% year-on-year and stood at CZK 143. Labour productivity per employee increased by 5.1% and labour productivity per hour worked grew by 7.0%.
 
The planning and building control authorities granted 11 285** ⁾ building permits in August 2007 (of which 6 461 for new constructions and 4 824 for renewals and enhancements). Building permits granted fell by 17.0% year-on-year.
 
The approximate value of constructions permitted in August 2007 decreased by 3.3% in comparison to August 2006 and reached CZK 35.2 billion. New construction is valued at CZK 20.6 billion (down by 12.4%, contribution -0.8 p.p.). Renewals and enhancements will make available constructions worth CZK 14.6 billion (up by 13.4%, contribution 4.7 p.p.). The decrease in approximate value of new construction is mostly caused by non-residential buildings due to a high comparable basis of August 2006 (down by 47.6%, contribution -11.2 p.p.). The approximate value of new residential buildings increased by 19.2% (contribution 4.5 p.p.). Renewals and enhancements saw the highest increase in approximate value for other constructions (up by 38.6%, contribution 6.4 p.p.) where financially demanding projects of railway modernisation and reconstruction were permitted.
 
The planning and building control authorities permitted the construction of 5 116 dwellings, which was by 846 dwellings more (+19.8%) than in August 2006. Out of that, 4 527 dwellings (up by 766) will be obtained by new construction and 589 dwellings (up by 80) by renewals and enhancements. The approximate value of newly permitted dwellings in multi-dwelling buildings was CZK 10.7 billion.
The planning and building control authorities permitted construction of buildings with a floor space of 830.7 thousand m ² (-13.5%), of which floor space of residential buildings increased by 9.2% and of non-residential buildings dropped by 38.9%. The average floor space of a newly constructed dwelling was 115.1 m ² and approximate value was CZK 19.7 thousand per m ².
According to Eurostat News Release, WDA construction output in the EU27 grew by 0.5% y-o-y in July 2007, of which building construction increased by 1.1% and civil engineering works decreased by 3.0%. Among the EU member states for which data were available, the highest increases were observed in Romania (+26.3%), Slovenia (+17.9%), Poland (+17.0%) and Slovakia (+3.2%). The highest decreases were recorded in Hungary (-14.6%) and Germany (-3.7%).
 

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Note
Contact:                                Radek Matějka, phone (+420) 274052894, e-mail: radek.matejka@csu.gov.cz
Data source:                        CZSO direct survey in enterprises with 20+ employees and in planning and building control authorities
End of data collection:       5 October 2007
End of data processing:    10 October 2007
Related publications:         /1-ep-8
8201-07 Construction
8202-07 Building Permits Granted
 
Data in Table 1 for June 2007 are final; data for July and August are preliminary and will be updated with release for October 2007.
Data in Table 2 are final.

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*) Employment indicators are observed 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 Building Code (the Building Act), was brought in. It newly resolves, 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 the numbers of building permits and corresponding approximate values for non-residential buildings, environmental constructions and other constructions.