ABSTRACT
The gross output of building and civil engineering was about £4,000m. in 1967, including £l,100m. of repair and maintenance work. Changes are taking place in the building contract, in the use of new materials, in the management of the building site, and in the types of work being carried out. Building work absorbs about half the nation’s capital investment each year. Building employees represent over 7 per cent of the total working population. The volume of building output increased on average by 7 per cent a year from 1956 to 1961 and by nearly 5 per cent from 1961 to 1966, and the number of workers has fallen. System’ building has been largely confined to local authority housing; in the first nine months of 1967 30 per cent of their dwellings used one of these ‘prefabricated’ methods. For the individual building firm, the Ministry is primarily useful as a source of information and statistics, and possibly of free consultancy.
