Indices for the construction sector

Most data used in the construction cost index for residential buildings is gathered from other statistics at Statistics Denmark. Prices of materials and equipment are collected from the Price Index for Domestic Supply. Around 950 different material prices are collected every month from producers and importers, cf the documentation of statistics for Producer and Import Price Index for Commodities. Prices are also gathered from Molio Prisdata.

Prices of transportation are collected quarterly from the Producer price index for services, from which prices of Freight transport by road and removal services are used.

The prices of total labor costs are mainly collected from the implicit indices of average earnings. The prices are collected each quarter and refer to the second month of the quarter, cf the documentation of statistics for Implicit index of average earnings.

The weights used in the construction cost index for residential buildings are based on business accounts from nine actual residential buildings: three one-family houses, three terraced houses and three multi-family houses. The business accounts are collected from contractors of different sizes and geographic location. During the processing of this data, an expert in pricing of residential buildings from Molio has been consulted. The collected information is processed so that each construction part, e.g., the mounting of a concrete wall element, is specified by materials, in this case concrete, by equipment, e.g., building crane, and by type of labor, e.g., concrete element work, that is required, and the associated costs. In cases where the accounts have not been detailed enough for the specific elements Price data from Molio has been applied to estimate the cost shares.

Most data used in the construction cost index for residential buildings is gathered from other statistics at Statistics Denmark. Prices of materials and equipment are collected from the Price Index for Domestic Supply. Around 950 different material prices are collected every month from producers and importers, cf the documentation of statistics for Producer and Import Price Index for Commodities. Prices are also gathered from Molio Prisdata.

Prices of transportation are collected quarterly from the Producer price index for services, from which prices of Freight transport by road and removal services are used.

The prices of total labor costs are mainly collected from the implicit indices of average earnings. The prices are collected each quarter and refer to the second month of the quarter, cf the documentation of statistics for Implicit index of average earnings.

The weights used in the construction cost index for residential buildings are based on business accounts from nine actual residential buildings: three one-family houses, three terraced houses and three multi-family houses. The business accounts are collected from contractors of different sizes and geographic location. During the processing of this data, an expert in pricing of residential buildings from Molio has been consulted. The collected information is processed so that each construction part, e.g., the mounting of a concrete wall element, is specified by materials, in this case concrete, by equipment, e.g., building crane, and by type of labor, e.g., concrete element work, that is required, and the associated costs. In cases where the accounts have not been detailed enough for the specific elements Price data from Molio has been applied to estimate the cost shares.

The data used in Construction cost indices for civil engineering projects are mostly obtained from other statistics produced by Statistics Denmark.

Prices of materials and equipment are collected from the Price Index for Domestic Supply, which gathers prices from producers and importers on a monthly basis. For more information see the documentation of statistics for Producer and Import Price Index for Commodities. Prices of transportation are collected quarterly from the Producer price index for services, from which prices of Freight transport by road and removal services are used.

Up to April 2004 material and equipment costs were calculated on the basis of actual prices paid by producers/ importers excl. VAT. This means that the prices used were net of discounts of the actual sale of the materials or equipment. As of April 2004, the prices collected are the importers' purchasing price c.i.f. (i.e. including cost, insurance and freight) excl. taxes and fees, instead of the final sales prices that were collected previously.

Labor costs are calculated based on the collective agreements between the Danish Association of Builders (Dansk Byggeri) and the United Federation of Workers in Denmark (3F), as include wage rates and social costs.

All indices in the Construction cost indices for civil engineering projects are calculated for both with and without unemployment benefits.

The basis for the weights for earth work, asphalt work, concrete structures, and iron structures were developed in cooperation with the Danish Road Directorate, DSB and the Danish Construction Federation in 1976 based on an analysis of a ongoing and completed civil engineering project. The weights reflect the shares of labor costs, material costs and equipment costs of the total costs of performing civil-engineering projects. The weight basis is reevaluated approximately every 5 years, lastly in 2015, where the original weight basis was found to still be adequate.

The weighting scheme for the cost index for road construction is set up in cooperation with the Danish Road Directorate on the basis of an analysis of a range of finished road constructions. The indices for earth works, asphalt works and concrete structures are used directly in the calculation of the cost index for roads. The three indices have weights of 38 pct. for earth works, 41,5 pct. for asphalt works and 20,5 pct. for concrete structures.

The data used in Construction cost indices for civil engineering projects are mostly obtained from other statistics produced by Statistics Denmark.

Prices of materials and equipment are collected from the Price Index for Domestic Supply, which gathers prices from producers and importers on a monthly basis. For more information see the documentation of statistics for Producer and Import Price Index for Commodities. Prices of transportation are collected quarterly from the Producer price index for services, from which prices of Freight transport by road and removal services are used.

Up to April 2004 material and equipment costs were calculated on the basis of actual prices paid by producers/ importers excl. VAT. This means that the prices used were net of discounts of the actual sale of the materials or equipment. As of April 2004, the prices collected are the importers' purchasing price c.i.f. (i.e. including cost, insurance and freight) excl. taxes and fees, instead of the final sales prices that were collected previously.

Labor costs are calculated based on the collective agreements between the Danish Association of Builders (Dansk Byggeri) and the United Federation of Workers in Denmark (3F), as include wage rates and social costs.

All indices in the Construction cost indices for civil engineering projects are calculated for both with and without unemployment benefits.

The basis for the weights for earth work, asphalt work, concrete structures, and iron structures were developed in cooperation with the Danish Road Directorate, DSB and the Danish Construction Federation in 1976 based on an analysis of a ongoing and completed civil engineering project. The weights reflect the shares of labor costs, material costs and equipment costs of the total costs of performing civil-engineering projects. The weight basis is reevaluated approximately every 5 years, lastly in 2015, where the original weight basis was found to still be adequate.

The weighting scheme for the cost index for road construction is set up in cooperation with the Danish Road Directorate on the basis of an analysis of a range of finished road constructions. The indices for earth works, asphalt works and concrete structures are used directly in the calculation of the cost index for roads. The three indices have weights of 38 pct. for earth works, 41,5 pct. for asphalt works and 20,5 pct. for concrete structures.

The Producer Price Index for Construction of Dwellings is calculated on the basis of prices, reported by selected companies engaged in construction of one-family houses. The sample is selected using a top-down approach by turnover. The collected prices cover 30 to 40 pct. of completed free standing one-family houses i Denmark every quarter. Furthermore, the price information is enriched with information from the Danish Buildings and Dwellings Register. Currently, only data on free standing one-family houses are collected. This is due to the fact, that construction of one-family houses typically are carried out by just one entrepreneur with one final sales price. Construction of multi-storey buildings typically requires several entrepreneurs that may not have a final sales price for the whole building, which complicates the data collection process.

The producer price index for refurbishment and maintenance are calculated on the basis of prices reported by selected companies. The sample is selected using a top-down approach, where the largest companies, based on turnover, are selected for price reporting.

The IPC is based on WTA, which are exclusively based on existing data sources, which are subsequently converted to the concepts used in the WTA.