Welcome to the latest volume of the Building Information Index
This volume of the Building Information Index provides insight and key analysis of activity in the construction industry for the first six months of 2017. It also provides an invaluable foresight as to what the remainder of 2017 and 2018 will bring. I hope you find it informative.
In this volume actual activity to the end of June 2017 is compared to the same periods in 2016 and 2015. The analysis takes a close look at the construction industry broken down by region, funding source and sectors; Residential, Commercial & Retail, Medical, Education, Agriculture, Industrial and Social.
The total value of Construction Project Commencements grows by €969M (+26%) for the six months to end of June 2017
The value of construction project Commencements for the first six months of 2017 has grown by +26% when compared to the same period in 2016. This represents a continued trend of growth which is up +99% when compared to the same period in 2015. However, when broken down only three of the seven sectors examined actually registered growth. The increase is largely underpinned by the Residential sector which is up €1.14bn (+67%) followed by Agricultural (+102%) and Social (+53%). Industrial (-33%), Commercial & Retail (-4%), Educational (-12%), Medical (-10%) all recorded decreases in Commencements. On the postitive side all sectors still show an increase when compared to 2015.
Value of Applications rises
The value of construction project Applications rose by 11% to €9.69bn when compared to the first six months in 2016. This represents an increase of +27% when compared to the same period in 2015. Again this growth is driven by the Residential sector, the largest sector which is up +€1.41bn (+34%). The only other sector to show a growth is Social (+156%). The other five Commercial/Retail(-19%), Industrial(-16%), Medical(-30%), Education(-25%) and Agricultural(-14%) recorded decreases.
The Building Information Index is measured by factors that correlate with the phases in a construction project. The first is project Commencements which relate to projects that are in progress on-site and where construction activity has started. The second is Applications which are a real time barometer of sentiment in the construction sector and relate to all projects yet to be approved for planning. Thirdly we look at projects that have been granted permission. This shows projects that are further along in the cycle, and being approved, they show more short term potential in the market.
