Construction - July 2007

Seasonally adjusted total construction output at constant prices increased by 0.2% in July 2007, compared to June 2007. In comparison to July 2006, output at constant was down by 1.7%. The planning and building control authorities granted 9 736 building permits, which was by 17.5% less year-on-year. Approximate value of permitted constructions decreased by 5.9% year-on-year and reached CZK 30.2 billion.

Seasonally adjusted total construction output at constant prices grew by 0.2% month-on-month. The trend decreased by 0.2% month-on-month (see Table 3).






Total construction output at constant prices decreased by 1.7% year-on-year; WDA decrease was 3.1% (July 2007 had 1 working day more).

The decrease in construction output in July 2007 was mainly due to a decrease in civil engineering works, the underlying reasons were:

• high comparable basis of July 2006 (2006/2005 growth was +16.8%);
• delay in preparation and financing of new civil engineering works;
• shortage of skilled building workers and certain building materials.

The total output decrease was not reversed by increase in building construction (new construction, reconstruction and modernisation).

Contracted construction work carried out by construction enterprises with 20+ employees fell by 1.9% year-on-year at constant prices. New construction, reconstruction and modernisation recorded a 1.6% decrease (contribution -1.3 percentage points), of which building construction grew by 8.9% (contribution 4.3 p.p.) and civil engineering works fell by 15.5% (contribution -5.6 p.p.). Repair and maintenance decreased by 8.8% (contribution -1.0 p.p.). Other work recorded a drop of 32.5% (contribution -0.2 p.p.). Construction work abroad grew by 15.1% (contribution 0.6 p.p.).

The number of employees in construction enterprises with 20+ employees dropped by 1.9% ^*) against July 2006. The average monthly nominal wage of employees increased by 8.0% year-on-year and reached CZK 22 253 (the real wage rose by 5.6%). Average hourly wage grew by 4.7% year-on-year and stood at CZK 157. Labour productivity per employee remained constant year-on-year and labour productivity per hour worked dropped by 3.1%.

The planning and building control authorities granted 9 736 ^**) building permits in July 2007 (of which 5 258 for new constructions and 4 478 for renewals and enhancements). The number of building permits granted fell by 17.5% year-on-year.

Approximate value of constructions permitted in July 2007 decreased by 5.9% in comparison to July 2006 and reached CZK 30.2 billion. New construction is valued at CZK 20.4 billion (up by 17.0%, contribution 9.2 p.p.). Renewals and enhancements will make available constructions worth CZK 9.8 billion (down by 33.2%, contribution -15.1 p.p.). The increase in approximate value of new construction is due to building permits for other constructions (up by 120.7%, contribution 7.9%) and residential buildings (up by 16.7%, contribution 3.2 p.p.). Other constructions grew due to financially demanding projects of highways and roads, residential buildings record a long-term growth. Renewals and enhancements are lower in all segments, except for renewals and enhancements of residential buildings (up by 1.1%, contribution 0.1 p.p.).

The planning and building control authorities permitted the construction of 3 483 dwellings, which was by 362 dwellings more (11.6%) than in July 2006. Out of that, 2 958 dwellings (up by 360) will be obtained by new construction and 525 dwellings (up by 2) by renewals and enhancements. The approximate value of newly permitted dwellings in multi-dwelling buildings was CZK 6.6 billion.
The planning and building control authorities permitted also the construction of buildings with a floor space of 925.8 thousand m ² (+13.3%), of which floor space of residential buildings increased by 7.3% and of non-residential buildings rose by 18.8%. The average floor space of a newly constructed dwelling was 128.0 m ² and approximate value was CZK 19.2 thousand per m ².

According to Eurostat News Release, WDA construction output in the EU27 grew by 2.0% y-o-y in June 2007, of which building construction by 1.8% and civil engineering works by 2.1%. Among the EU member states for which data were available, the highest increases were observed in Romania (+26.7%), Slovenia (+16.5%), Poland (+4.8%) and Slovakia (+1.9%). The highest decreases were recorded in Hungary (-15.8%) and Germany (-3.3%).

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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 in planning and building control authorities
End of data collection: 3 September 2007
End of data processing: 6 September 2007
Related publications: /1-ep-8
8201-07 Construction
8202-07 Building Permits Granted


Data in Table 1 for May and June 2007 are final; data for July are preliminary and will be updated when data for October 2007 are released.
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.