Number of constructions up by 4.0 percent in 2015

1. Based on approved building permits, total number of constructions for the year 2015 totaled to 132,006. This number edged up by 4.0 percent compared with the 126,875 constructions recorded in 2014.

2. The number of residential constructions rose by 7.7 percent to 97,174 from 90,201 reported in 2014. Construction of single-type (9.5%) and duplex/quadruplex-type houses (5.8%) were the drivers of growth in residential constructions. On the other hand, other types of residential constructions, residential condominiums and apartment/accessoria showed decrements in number at respective rates of  -20.5%,  -4.8% and -3.9%.

3. Similarly, non-residential constructions numbering to 16,126 went up by 6.2 percent from 15,191 recorded in 2014. All types of non-residential buildings exhibited growth in the number of construction projects. Among the group, other non-residential and institutional buildings posted double-digit growth with 72.2 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively.

4. On the other hand, the number of addition to existing structures recorded at 5,012 dropped by 19.3 percent from 6,207 constructions in 2014. Likewise, alteration and repair of existing structures fell by 10.4 percent to 13,694 from 15,276 reported a year ago. Figure 1 compares the number of constructions by type for years 2015 and 2014.

5. The top three regions in terms of number of constructions in 2015, were all located in Luzon area comprising 45.3 percent of the total. Region IV (CALABARZON) led these regions where a total of 32,951 (25.0%) constructions were located. This was followed by nearby regions of Region III (Central Luzon) and National Capital Region (NCR) with respective shares of 13,991(10.6%) and 12,863 (9.7% ) constructions. Region VII (Central Visayas), recording the most number of constructions in the Visayas area, placed fourth with 12,824 (9.7%). Region X (Northern Mindanao), having the largest count in the Mindanao area, ranked fifth with 8,599 (6.5% ) constructions.

6. Northern Mindanao, ranking sixth in 2014, replaced Region XI (Davao Region) in the fifth post in 2015. Figure 2 shows the distribution of constructions by region.

7. The top ten provinces accounted for 45.7 percent of the total number of constructions. Cavite still occupied the top slot with 14,900 or 11.3 percent share to total, followed by Laguna and Bulacan with respective shares of 6,316 (4.8%) and 6,024 (4.6%) constructions. Completing the top ten provinces with the most number of constructions were as follows:

• Fourth District of NCR with 5,645 (4.3%) constructions
• Batangas with 5,397 (4.1%) constructions
• Cebu with 4,772 (3.6%) constructions
• Bohol with 4,651 (3.5%) constructions
• Misamis Oriental with 4,343 (3.3%) constructions
• Second District of NCR with 4,257 (3.2%) constructions
• Rizal with 4,029 (3.1%) constructions

8. Among the top ten provinces, Cavite posted the largest increase in the number of constructions, about half (48.7%) higher than the 10,020 constructions registered in 2014. This increase in number was brought about by the significant growth in the construction of duplex/quadruplex-type residential houses (232.9%) in the province.

9. Also, the same set of provinces was in the top ten in 2014 except for Davao Del Sur which was replaced by Misamis Oriental in 2015.

Value of construction down by 9.5 percent in 2015

10. Despite the 4.0 percent increase in the number of constructions, total value of constructions amounting to PHP331.6 billion declined by 9.5 percent from PHP366.6 billion recorded in 2014.

11. Value of construction for residential buildings estimated at PHP160.1 billion accounted for about half or 48.3 percent of the total. This represents an increase of 4.8 percent from previous year’s construction value of PHP152.8 billion.

12. On the other hand, construction value of non-residential buildings amounting to PHP143.2 billion slumped by 22.5 percent from PHP184.9 billion recorded in 2014.

13. Construction value of addition to existing structures amounting to PHP6.3 billion contracted by 14.8 percent from PHP7.4 billion recorded in 2014. Whereas, alteration and repair of existing structures valued at PHP22.0 billion rose by 2.2 percent from PHP21.5 billion recorded in 2014. Figure 3 compares the value of constructions by type for years 2015 and 2014.

14. The top 3 regions in terms of the number of constructions were also the top three in terms of the value of constructions with a combined amount of PHP225.6 billion or 68.0 percent of the total. NCR, ranking third in the number of constructions, consistently occupied  the top slot with construction value of PHP147.5 billion  accounting for 44.5 percent of the total. This was distantly followed by CALABARZON and Central Luzon with respective shares of PHP53.9 billion (16.2%) and PHP24.3 billion (7.3%).

Average cost of residential-type building is PHP10,180 per square meter in 2015

15. Average cost of residential construction in 2015 was estimated at PHP10,180 per square meter, slightly lower by 0.5 percent compared with previous year’s average cost of PHP10,228. This was primarily influenced by the drop in the average cost per square meter of apartment/accessoria (-3.0%) and single-type (-0.6%) dwellings.

16. Among residential constructions, single-type houses recorded the most number with 82,826 or 85.2 percent of the total. Total value of construction for this type was estimated at PHP69.9 billion with a total floor area of 8.2 million square meters, resulting to an average cost of PHP8,576 per square meter.

17. Apartment/accessoria-type units distantly followed with 9,972 constructions representing 10.3 percent of total residential construction. This type of construction had an estimated value of PHP20.6 billion with total floor area of 2.7 million square meters or an average cost of PHP7,485 per square meter.

18. Duplex/quadruplex-type residential dwellings totaled to 4,083 or 4.2 percent of total residential construction. Total construction value for this type amounted to PHP3.1 billion with a total floor area of 383.5 thousand square meters or an average cost of PHP8,050 per square meter.

19. Residential condominiums numbering to 157 had construction value of PHP66.3 billion and a total floor area of 4.4 million square meters. Average cost per square meter for this type was PHP15,018, the highest among the residential constructions. Figure 4 presents the distribution of the number and value of residential constructions by type in 2015.

Average cost of non-residential construction is 10,769 per square meter in 2015

20. Average cost per square meter of non-residential constructions was recorded at PHP10,769, slumped by 25.4 percent from PHP14,430 average cost in 2014.This was primarily due to the two-digit drop in the average cost per square meter of commercial (-37.1%) and industrial (-11.2%)  buildings.

21. Commercial-type buildings numbering to 9,501 dominated all other types of non-residential constructions accounting for 58.9 percent of the total. Value of construction for this type amounted to PHP81.6 billion with a total floor area of 7.7 million square meters or an average cost of PHP10,656 per square meter.

22. Institutional-type buildings placed second with 3,450 or 21.4 percent of the total non-residential construction. Construction value for this type amounted to PHP26.9 billion with total floor area of 2.0 million square meters. Average cost for this type was estimated at PHP13,297 per square meter, the highest among the non-residential type.

23. Industrial-type buildings followed next with 1,876 projects (11.6%), construction value of PHP30.3 billion and total floor area of 2.4 million square meters or an average cost of PHP10,162 per square meter.

24. Agricultural-type structures made up 772 or 4.8 percent of the total non-residential constructions. Construction value for this type was PHP2.5 billion covering a total floor area of 666.3 thousand square meters or an average cost of PHP3,821 per square meter. Figure 5 shows the number and value of non-residential constructions by type in 2015.

TECHNICAL NOTES

CONSTRUCTION STATISTICS FROM APPROVED BUILDING PERMITS

Introduction

This Special Release presents the final data on construction statistics from approved building permits for the year 2015.

The final data set provides updates to the 2015 Quarterly Special Releases on construction statistics. The sources of updates are additional approved building permits collected after cut-off dates because of data collection constraints. These additional documents were not yet available for inclusion in the quarterly tabulation of data on designated target dates.

For this publication, data for the province of Sulu from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is not included in the tabulation as this province did not submit any approved building permit and/or certification of no construction during the reference year.

Annual final tables are presented in Tables 1 to 7, while quarterly final tables are presented in Tables 8 to 11.

Scope and Coverage

Construction statistics from approved building permits relate to administrative-based data on new constructions and additions, alterations and repairs of existing residential and non-residential buildings and other structures proposed to be constructed in all cities/municipalities of the country in a specific period.

Sources of Information

Construction statistics are compiled by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) from the copies of original application forms of approved building permits as well as from the demolition and fencing permits collected every month by PSA field personnel from the Offices of Local Building Officials (LBOs) nationwide.

Limitations of Data

1. Data on building constructions refer to those approved applications during the reference period and not to construction work completed during the reference period.

2. The completeness of the number of building permits collected relies on the approval of applications filed with the LBOs. Hence, building constructions without approved building permits are excluded in the tabulation of data.

Geographic Classification

Building constructions are classified and presented by geographic area using the Philippine Standard Geographic Classification (PSGC) as of December 2014. The PSGC contains the latest updates on the official number of regions, provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays in the Philippines.

Industry Classification

Construction statistics utilizes the 2009 Philippine Standard Industrial Classification to identify the industrial classification of the structure proposed for construction through its use or character of occupancy.

Collection

The number of building permit forms accomplished by the applicant comes in five (5) copies.

The “NSO copy” of the approved building permit is made available within the first five (5) working days after each reference month. Collections of these documents from the LBO in city/municipality are undertaken by PSA field personnel within this period.

Collected documents for each month are properly checked as to its completeness by verifying the beginning and ending numbers indicated in the permit numbers. Missing numbers are indicated, with corresponding reasons, in the transmittal. In cases where there is no construction in a given month in a municipality, a certification that there was no approved building permit during the reference period is provided by the LBO to the PSA field staff.

Data Processing

Data processing of approved building permits is done both manually and mechanically. Copies of documents collected from the offices of LBOs are properly controlled, sorted, edited and coded, folioed and encoded in the PSA provincial offices. During machine validation, inconsistent and invalid entries which are flagged in an error listing are corrected in the data file. This process is repeated until there are no more inconsistent or erroneous entries found in the error listing. The data files are then forwarded to PSA Central Office for validation, consolidation and generation of preliminary tables. Data files received after the cut-off dates of submission set for each quarter are included in the generation of annual tables.

Preliminary results are based from data files that have undergone data processing in the provincial offices and have been validated at the Central Office. The preliminary tables are revised to include building permit documents received after the cut-off period in the annual tabulation.  

Statistics Generated

Construction statistics generated from approved building permits provide monthly administrative-based data on building construction at the municipality level nationwide. Statistics generated are the following:

• number
• floor area
• type of construction
• value of construction

Statistical Tables

The statistical tables are presented at the regional and provincial levels by type of construction and by period according to form of ownership. 

Unpublished Data

Aside from the preliminary tables posted in the PSA website, annual, quarterly and monthly statistical tables at the municipality level by type of construction and by form of ownership are available at the Industry Statistics Division of the PSA.

Other special tabulations may also be made available upon request, addressed to the National Statistician, Philippine Statistics Authority, 3^rd Floor CVEA Building, East Avenue, Quezon City.

Dissemination

Preliminary and final results of construction statistics generated from approved building permits are made public in the form of Quarterly Special Releases posted in the PSA website (www.psa.gov.ph) 60 days after the reference quarter and Annual Special Release, eight months after the reference year, respectively. The Quarterly Special Releases are reports containing the preliminary results of construction statistics generated 60 days after the reference quarter while the Annual Special Release is a consolidated report of the quarterly preliminary data incorporating documents which are submitted after the cut-off dates for each quarter.

Definition of Terms (Adopted from the Revised and Updated IRR of the National Building Code)

Building permit is a written authorization granted by the LBO to an applicant allowing him to proceed with the construction of a specific project after plans, specifications and other pertinent documents have been found to be in conformity with the National Building Code (PD 1096).

Building refers to any independent, free-standing structure comprised of one or more rooms or other spaces, covered by a roof and enclosed with external walls or dividing walls, which extend from the foundation to the roof.

Construction refers to all on-site work done from site preparation, excavation, foundation, assembly of all the components and installation of utilities, machineries and equipment of buildings/structures.

Residential building is a building for which its major parts or more than half of its gross floor area is built for dwelling purposes. This type of building can be of the single type, duplex, an apartment and/or accessoria and residential condominium.

Single house is a complete structure intended for a single family or household, i.e. bungalow, 2-storey house, nipa hut.

Duplex house is a structure intended for two households, with complete living facilities for each; it is a single structure divided into two dwelling units by a wall extending from the floor to the ceiling.

Apartment is a structure, usually of two storeys, made up of independent living quarters, with independent entrances from internal walls and courts.

Accesoria is a one or two-floor structure divided into several dwelling units, each dwelling unit having its own separate entrance from the outside.

Residential condominium is a structure, usually of several storeys, consisting of multiple dwelling units.

Other residential construction consists of school or company staff houses, living quarters for drivers and maids, and guardhouses.

Non-residential building includes commercial, industrial, agricultural and institutional buildings.

Commercial buildings refer to office buildings and all buildings which are intended for use primarily in wholesale, retail and service trades; i.e. stores, hotels, restaurants, banks, disco houses, etc.

Industrial buildings are all buildings used to house the production, assembly and warehousing activities of industrial establishments; i.e. factories, plants, mills, repair shops, machine shops, printing press, storage plant, electric generating plants.

Institutional buildings are buildings which primarily engaged in providing educational instructions and hospital/health care; ports, airports and other government buildings; i.e. school, museums, libraries, sanitaria, churches, hospitals.

Agricultural buildings are buildings used to house livestocks, plants and agricultural products such as barn, poultry house, piggeries, stables, greenhouses and grain mill.

Other non-building constructions include cemetery structures, street furniture, waiting sheds, communication towers, etc.

Addition refers to any new construction which increases the height or area of an existing building/structure.

Repair is a remedial work done on any damaged or deteriorated portion/s of a building/structure to restore its original condition.

Renovation is any physical change made on structures to increase the value, quality and to improve the aesthetic.

Alteration is a construction in a building/structure involving changes in the materials used, partitioning and location/size of openings, structural parts, existing utilities and equipment but does not increase the overall area thereof.

Conversion is a change in the use or occupancy of structure or any portion thereof, which has different requirements.

Demolitions refer to the systematic dismantling or destruction of a building/structure, in whole or in part.

Street furniture are street structures consisting of monuments, waiting sheds, benches, plant boxes, lampposts, electric poles and telephone poles.

Floor area of building refers to the sum of the area of each floor of the building measured to the outer surface of the outer walls including the area of lobbies, cellars, elevator shafts and all communal spaces in multi-dwellings. Areas of balconies are excluded.

Total value of construction refers to the sum of the cost of building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and others. The value is derived from the approved building permit and represents the estimated value of the building or structure when completed.