Construction cost management firm Davis Langdon PKS estimates that there will be a 2% reduction in the volume of new building projects in 2002.
The firm predicts that the civil engineering and infrastructure sectors will continue to grow in 2002 with Government expenditure on buildings such as schools and hospitals also promised to grow this year.
But the firm warned that the other sectors of the building industry - commercial, industrial and retail - are each showing declines on the peaks achieved in 2001.
PKS says that much of the expenditure of civil engineering projects in 2002 will be on major projects which have already started, such as the Dublin Port Tunnel, and will run for two to three years. It denies claims from civil engineering contractors and the Construction Industry Federation that the sector is on its last legs.
Despite the criticisms during the election, PKS says that capital investment in schools and hospitals continues, with the cash invested increased by 34% and 11% respectively.
PKS estimates a reduction in the number of new house starts this year, revising the prediction made in its January review. It has penciled in a reduction of 4% from the record number of houses built in 2001.
