Austria (2)

Title of the survey

Construction Statistics Survey

Organization responsible

Austrian Central Statistical Office (ÖSTAT)

Periodicity of the survey

Monthly and yearly. The following description refers to the monthly survey. The annual survey is briefly described under Other sources of data.

Objectives of the survey

The survey data are used by public authorities (federal and provincial governments) and private enterprises in short- and medium-term cyclical analysis.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, earnings and hours of work.

Reference period

For employment: the last day of each month. For earnings and hours of work: the month.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

The survey covers construction only. It corresponds to tabulation category F, division 45, groups 451 and 452 of the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.3, 1990.

Establishments

Enterprises of all types and sizes. They include construction enterprises which are members of the Section Industrie of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, as well as those which are members of the Section Gewerbe, i.e. craft industries.

Persons

Employees. Working proprietors, working directors and unpaid family members are excluded.

Occupations

Not relevant.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Data relate to regular employees. They include apprentices, trainees, workers on probation and part-time workers. Wage earners and salaried employees are identified separately. Excluded are piece workers, commission agents, homeworkers, casual, temporary and seasonal workers, as well as persons temporarily absent from work because of military service, temporary or indefinite lay-off.

Earnings

Data refer to gross earnings. They include pay for normal time worked, premium pay for overtime, shift, night or holiday work, incentive pay, other regular bonuses, cost-of-living allowances, house rent allowances and transport allowances. They also include remuneration for time not worked such as for annual leave, vacation, public holidays, other time off with pay and bonuses and gratuities paid irregularly. Data on earnings exclude the value of payments in kind.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Data are collected on hours paid for and hours actually worked per month. Hours paid for correspond to: normal hours of work; overtime; time spent at the place of work such as for the preparation of workplace, repairs, maintenance, preparation and cleaning of tools, preparation of receipts, time sheets and reports; time spent at the place of work waiting or standing by for such reasons as lack of supply of work, breakdown of machinery or accident, or time spent at the place of work during which no work is done but for which payment is made under a guaranteed employment contract; time corresponding to short rest periods at the workplace, including tea or coffee breaks. They also include hours paid for but not worked such as for vacation, public holidays, sick leave, etc., which are separately identified. Hours actually worked are obtained by deducting hours paid for but not worked (for vacation, holidays, all types of paid leave, etc.) from total hours paid for. Only those enterprises which are members of the Section Industrie of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce are asked to report on hours not worked.

International recommendations

The definition of earnings complies with the international recommendations, in that it includes all gross cash payments for time worked or work done, and remuneration for time not worked. However, the value of payments in kind is excluded. The concept of hours actually worked used in the survey complies with the international guidelines.

Classifications

Industrial

The survey data are classified according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

The survey data are classified by province and employee category (wage earners or salaried employees).

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The sampling unit is the construction enterprise or the joint venture (ARGE). The enterprise is also the reporting unit; in the case of enterprises forming a joint venture, the commercially most important enterprise provides separate information in respect of the joint venture.

Survey universe / sample frame

The sample frame is the Directory of construction enterprises maintained by ÖSTAT. It comprises all commercial enterprises or joint ventures which are engaged in direct construction activities related to surface or civil engineering (including adaptation works) as their main activity. It covers enterprises which are members of the Section Industry (about 250 units) as well as those which are members of the Section Gewerbe (about 3,000 units) of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. The sample frame is regularly updated on the basis of (i) the membership register of Construction Guild (Bauhandbuch), (ii) periodical reports of the Central Association of Social Insurance Institutions, and (iii) correspondence with the enterprises concerned.

Sample design

Enterprises which are members of the Section Industrie are fully enumerated. A one-stage stratified sample is drawn from the list of enterprises that are members of the Section Gewerbe. Enterprises are stratified according to (i) the annual value of production as reported in the last annual report or, in the case of new enterprises, estimated on the basis of the available monthly reports; and (ii) the geographic location of the enterprise. Enterprises are classified into five groups by annual value of production (under 1, 1-5, 5-10, 10-50, more than 50 million schillings) and into nine groups by geographic location, corresponding to the nine Federal Länder. Thus, a total of 45 strata are formed. All enterprises with an annual value of production of more than 50 million schillings are included with certainty in the sample. The total size of the sample for the remaining four classes of annual value of production is 600 enterprises. The sample size is determined by the requirement of keeping the sampling error for the annual value of production at the national level below 2 per cent. The 600 sample enterprises are allocated to the four classes of annual value of production in using Ehlers' method; within each class, allocation of the sample by geographic location is approximately proportional. Within each stratum, enterprises are listed in ascending order of their annual value of production and a sample is selected systematically with a random start. In this way, enterprises of all sizes are covered uniformly within each class of annual value of production. The data of the 12 monthly reports obtained from the sample enterprises are complemented with information from the annual report which all construction enterprises have to submit.

Field work

Data collection

Questionnaires are sent by mail at the end of each reference month. The completed forms should be returned by the 20th of the following month.

Survey questionnaire

Two forms: Monatsmeldung A and Monatsmeldung L are used. Both are designed to collect information on output, employment, hours of work and wages and salaries. In addition, the second questionnaire asks for data on the consumption of fuel and energy and should be filled in by the appropriate enterprises. Detailed instructions on definitions, methods of checking, items to be included or excluded, etc. are provided along with the questionnaires.

Substitution of sampling units

There is no replacement of units which have gone out of business, refused to respond, etc.

Data processing and editing

Data are processed by computer. In the case of missing or inconsistent data, respondents are contacted by mail or telephone.

Types of estimates

Totals of employment; total and average monthly hours actually worked, hours paid for and monthly earnings.

Construction of indices

None.

Weighting of sample results

Aggregate data are obtained by multiplying the sample results per stratum by the raising factor, i.e. the ratio of the number of establishments in the universe to the number within the sample.

Adjustments

Non-response

None.

Other bias

None.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Seasonal variations

None.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

The Directory of construction enterprises is virtually complete.

Sampling error / sampling variance

The sampling error is about 0.96 per cent for earnings, and 1.01 per cent for hours of work. It is not available for employment.

Non-response rate

The survey is conducted mainly under Federal Law BGBI Nr.91/1965 on statistics which makes it compulsory for enterprises to complete and return the questionnaires.

Non-sampling errors

Not available.

Conformity with other sources

Not relevant.

Available series

Published tables in construction include: average monthly and hourly earnings per wage earner and salaried employee; average monthly hours of work per employee.

History of the survey

The survey was first conducted in 1968, by complete enumeration. Since 1969, sampling has been used. From 1996 onwards, the national industrial classification will be changed to the Statistical Classification of economic activities of the European Communities (NACE), Rev.1, which is based on ISIC, Rev.3, 1990.

Documentation

Österreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt: Statistische Nachrichten (monthly; Vienna). idem: Monatserhebung - Baustatistik, 1.Teil (annual; ibid.). idem: Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Republik Österreich (annual; ibid); this publication contains methodological information.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

The data provided by the enterprises are used for statistical purposes only. In addition, cells are deemed to be confidential if less than four enterprises contribute towards them.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Statistics of average (a) hours actually worked and (b) hours paid for, per month, in construction are published in Table 14 of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics. The statistics of hours actually worked refer only to those enterprises which are members of the Section Industrie of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, excluding those belonging to craft industries.

Other sources of data

The Austrian Central Statistical Office conducts another Construction Statistics Survey every year which covers enterprises of all types and sizes, excluding those belonging to craft industries, and all persons engaged (working proprietors, unpaid family workers, apprentices, trainees, workers on probation as well as wage earners and salaried employees). Data on hours of work are not collected in this survey; the structure of earnings is similar to that in the monthly survey. Data on employment refer to 31 October, those on earnings to the calendar year. The survey is based on a complete enumeration of enterprises. The survey results are given in the publication: Österreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt: Jahreserhebung, Baustatistik, 2. Teil (annual; Vienna). Data on paid employment in construction, up to 1989, are published in Table 7 of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.