FIRST RELEASE		CROATIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS 10000 ZAGREB, ILICA 3, PHONE: +385 1 4806-111, P.O.B. 80, CROATIA ISSN 1334-0565
YEAR: XLV.	ZAGREB, 12 MAY, 2008		NUMBER: 3.1.4/3.
				OBLIGED TO NOTIFY DATA SOURCE

BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED, MARCH 2008

in March 2008, there were 966 building permits issued, which was by 17.4% less than in March 2007.

The total number of building permits issued in the period from January to March 2008 was by 30.4% lower, as compared to the same period of 2007.

In March 2008:

- by type of constructions, 91.3% out of the total number of permits were issued on buildings and 8.7% on civil engineering works

- by type of construction works, 79.8% of permits were issued on new constructions and 20.2% on reconstructions.

According to permits issued in March 2008, it was expected for 2 676 dwellings with the average floor area of 74.7 m² to be built.

1.   Indices of building permits issued, MARCH 2008

	Buildings				Civil engineering works		Dwellings
	Number	Value of works, thousand kuna	Floor area, m^2	Volume, m^3	Number	Value of works, thousand kuna	Number	Useful floor  area, m^2
III. 2008. II. 2008.	122,8	277,9	247,3	264,8	94,4	79,7	179,5	168,7
III. 2008. III. 2007.	83,4	124,6	113,8	117,9	74,3	13,6	98,8	87,7
III. 2008. Ø 2007.	93,0	145,8	137,7	137,4	70,8	26,4	129,1	114,9
I. – III. 2008. I. – III. 2007.	69,1	100,9	90,5	91,6	74,2	99,3	84,7	76,4

2.   BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED AND VALUE OF WORKS, BY TYPE OF CONSTRUCTIONS AND TYPE OF WORKS, MARCH 2008

Type of works		Number of permits by type of constructions			Value of works, thousand kuna			Dwellings
		Total	Buildings	Civil engineering works	Total	Buildings	Civil engineering works	number	useful floor area, m^2
III. 2008.
Total		966	882	84	3 009 520	2 774 636	234 884	2 676		199 955
	New constructions	771	703	68	2 709 429	2 555 131	154 298	2 556		188 670
	Reconstructions	195	179	16	300 091	219 505	80 586	120^1)		11 285^1)
I. - III. 2008.
Total		2 211	1 987	224	6 788 191	4 667 057	2 121 134	5 138		396 295
	New constructions	1 751	1 567	184	6 051 761	4 179 257	1 872 504	4 896		375 020
	Reconstructions	460	420	40	736 430	487 800	248 630	242^1)		21 275^1)

1)    New dwellings created by additions (extensions) or by conversions of non-residential area into a dwelling

3.   PERMITS ISSUED ON BUILDINGS, MARCH 2008

			Number of permits	Floor area, m^2	Volume, m^3
Total			882	634 063	2 344 399
New buildings			703	610 427	2 270 919
	Residential buildings with:		575	318 616	940 324
		One dwelling	322	60 755	179 889
		Two dwellings	77	21 320	63 199
		Three and more dwellings	175	234 086	689 871
		Residences for communities	1	2 455	7 365
	Non-residential buildings		128	291 811	1 330 595
		Hotels and similar buildings	8	9 621	32 920
		Office buildings	6	25 866	102 953
		Wholesale and retail trade buildings	19	51 370	184 671
		Traffic and communication buildings	13	1 255	6 698
		Industrial buildings and warehouse	33	46 861	298 258
		Public entertainment, education, hospital or institutional care buildings	12	142 213	647 740
		Other non-residential buildings	37	14 625	57 355
Additions (extensions)^1)			101	23 636	73 480
	Residential buildings		80	15 547	46 433
	Non-residential buildings		21	8 089	27 047
Conversion and improvement			78	-	-
	Residential buildings		48	-	-
	Non-residential buildings		30	-	-

1)    Works leading to the creation of new usable units beside or on already existing constructions (new dwellings, space for economic activity and other spaces)

4.   DWELLINGS, BY TYPE OF BUILDINGS, CONSTRUCTION WORKS AND NUMBER OF ROOMS, MARCH 2008

			Number of dwellings	Useful floor area, m^2	Dwellings by number of rooms
					1 room	2 rooms	3 rooms	4 rooms	5 rooms	6 rooms	7 rooms	8 or more rooms
Total			2 676	199 955	241	938	927	358	125	67	16	4
Dwellings in new buildings			2 556	188 670	230	901	900	334	108	64	15	4
	Residential buildings with:		2 546	188 041	227	899	897	332	108	64	15	4
		One dwelling	322	42 917	8	18	51	100	74	55	13	3
		Two dwellings	154	14 694	1	32	58	48	7	5	2	1
		Three and more dwellings	2 070	130 430	218	849	788	184	27	4	-	-
	Non-residential buildings		10	629	3	2	3	2	-	-	-	-
Dwellings got by additions and extensions			114	10 685	9	36	27	22	16	3	1	-
Dwellings got by converting non-residential area  into dwellings			6	600	2	1	-	2	1	-	-	-

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Sources and methods of data collection

Data on constructions presented in this publication are collected through reporting method using the Monthly Report on Building Permits Issued (GRAĐ-44a form).

Coverage and comparability

The monthly Report on Building Permits Issued is collected from the services in county state administration offices, administrative bodies of big towns and county seats, the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction, which issue documents, specified in the Construction and Urban Planning Act (NN, No. 76/07), with which the construction is approved (building permits, approval of the main project and settlement of construction conditions).

Data on type of constructions and works are classified according to the National Classification of Types of Constructions − NKVG (Methodologies No. 41, ISBN 953-6667-33-9, CBS, 2002). This Classification is harmonised with the classification prescribed by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Classification of Types of Constructions − CC, final version).

Definitions

Constructions are structures connected with the ground, for which construction works are carried out, and which are made of construction materials and components.

Buildings are permanent constructions covered with roof and closed with outer walls. They are built as separate useful units that protect from weather and other conditions, intended for dwelling, performing a certain activity or for placing and up-keeping animals, goods, equipment used in various industrial activities and services, etc.

In this survey buildings are also constructions covered with roof but without (some of the) walls, that is, porches and underground constructions, for example, underground shelters, underground garages, underground shopping centres and other business spaces (e.g. in subways) etc.

Residential buildings are constructions in which 50% or more of useful floor area is intended for dwelling purposes.

Non-residential buildings are constructions without dwelling area, in which less than 50% of the overall useful floor area is used for dwelling purposes.

Floor area of buildings is a sum total of area of all floors of the building placed inside the outer walls.

Useful floor area of a dwelling is a floor area of the dwelling, measured inside the walls of the dwelling.

Volume of building is the sum total of volumes of all roofed-over spaces of the building, including outer walls.

Civil engineering works are all constructions not classified under buildings, for example roads, railways, pipelines, bridges, dams, constructions intended for sports and recreation, etc.

New constructions are newly built structure built on a location where no structure existed or on a location previously cleared by demolition.

Reconstructions are construction works that affect main characteristics of already existing constructions, for example, additions and extensions, conversions and other works, which may significantly improve the occupancy value of a construction (for example capacity, quality, function) and/or prolong or  at least restore its duration.

Value of works is defined according to the bill of costs submitted by an investor, which is used for defining a tax paid for issuing of building permit.

Abbreviations

CBS    Central Bureau of Statistics

m²            square metre

m³            cubic metre

NN       Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia

‘000     thousand

Symbols

-  no occurrence