Number of approved building permits decreases for all types of building construction

Total number of building construction nationwide reached 20,737 during the fourth quarter of 2007. This number is lower by 14.8 percent compared with 24,330 building permit applications recorded during the same quarter of the previous year.

Residential building construction with a total of 14,441 approved building permits went down by 10.3 percent from 16,096 recorded during the same quarter of 2006. Likewise, combined approved building permits for additions, alterations and repairs decreased slightly by 0.3 percent to 3,842 from 3,854.

Non-residential building construction registered a significant drop of 44.0 percent. This type of building construction had a total of 2,454 approved building permits compared with 4,380 reported during the same quarter of the previous year. Figure 1 compares the number of approved building permits by type of building for the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2006.

Number of approved building permits slides by 13.2 percent

The total number of approved building permits nationwide reached 23,045 during the second quarter of 2007, representing a decrease of 13.2 percent compared with 26,563 recorded during the same quarter of the previous year.
Residential building construction decreased by 11.6 percent to 15,823 from 17,904 approved building permits. Non-residential building construction fell by 41.4 percent to 2,518 from 4,295 approved building permits.
On the other hand, combined approved building permits for additions, alterations and repairs increased by 7.8 percent to 4,704 from 4,364 approved building permits. Figure 1 compares the number of approved building permits by type of building for the second quarters of 2007 and 2006.

Based on the preliminary results of the 2006 Census of Philippine Business and Industry (CPBI) conducted nationwide, there were a total of 648 construction establishments with average total employment (ATE) of 20 and over.