PMR Research conducted in March this year twelfth semi-annual survey of the Polish construction industry. The study was commissioned by PMR Publications (
www.pmrpublications.com) and its results were released in the report “
Construction sector in Poland, H1 2009 – Development forecasts for 2010-2012”. The survey was conducted with the aid of the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) technique on the sample of
200 largest construction companies operating in Poland and 114 interviews with the companies’ senior management were completed.
The results of a survey are evidence that sentiment in the Polish construction industry has taken a slight turn for the better. Despite a harsh winter and the related work stoppages at construction sites, construction companies express slightly higher assessments of the current market situation when compared to the findings of six months ago. Even though construction activity is still hampered by numerous barriers, many companies identify some factors which have a positive effect on the market despite currently challenging market circumstances. In March 2010, PMR Polish Construction Climate Indicator had a value of 6.8 pts, demonstrating that construction companies were more optimistic in their assessment of the market situation than they had been a year ago, despite adverse market circumstances prevailing in Q1 2010.
However, the companies which tend to see more negatives than positives in the current situation are still more numerous in the market. The largest obstacle cited by them are problems related to legal regulations and difficulties in dealings with officials (49% of the responses), including lack of legal regulations protecting the Polish market against underpricing by foreign companies offering construction services, overly complicated public procurement procedures and excessive bureaucracy.
Strong market competition, including competition in price, and high labour costs and taxes were relatively frequently mentioned by construction sector representatives as obstacles to doing business in the construction sector. It was also frequently the case that respondents perceived market competition as being unfair. This particular assessment of the market is affected by the fact that overseas companies apply extremely low prices when attempting to enter the Polish market.
There were also other factors named by the surveyed companies as obstacles to doing business in the construction sector. Almost one in every ten respondents mentioned problems concerning the funding of operations (8%), while each of payment backlogs, the current economic situation and lack of investments were mentioned by 5% respondents.
PMR Research interviewers also asked construction companies about the factors considered by them to be the greatest facilitators to doing business. Since most respondents did not see any significant factors facilitating market operations, only 48 valuable responses were received to this question.
Factors smoothing the progress of operations in the Polish construction market most frequently cited by respondents included the qualities possessed by their companies, namely: reliability, professionalism, honesty, good credentials and experience (27% of respondents). Next in the order were responses mentioning EU subsidies and easy access to and low prices of building materials (23% each). During a slowdown, construction companies greatly benefit from business contacts, including in particular lasting and strong relations with investors and subcontractors. Respondents also mentioned qualified staff employed by their companies (and easiness of finding new members of staff) and emergence and announcement of many new projects, which should boost demand for contractor services shortly.
Full results of the study have been published in the latest PMR Publications report, entitled “
Construction sector in Poland, H1 2009 – Development forecasts for 2010-2012”.
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Twelfth edition of the Polish construction market survey
