This report will explore the following key questions with regard to civil engineering construction in the UK:

• How have the individual sectors of the civil engineering market performed over the last five years?

• What is the impact of legislative and regulatory measures on civil engineering construction activity?

• How have the key players in the industry performed financially in recent years?

• What are the key drivers for growth over the next five years?

The definitions used in this report for the civil engineering sector are from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which broadly defines the sector as constituting new infrastructure. There are a number of areas defined within this sector comprising both public and privately financed projects.

The sectors include the following:

Water: The construction of reservoirs, purification plants, dams (except for hydro-electric schemes), aqueducts, wells, conduits, waterworks, pumping stations, water mains, hydraulic works, etc.

Sewerage: Sewerage disposal works, the laying of sewers, and service drains.

Electricity: Building and civil engineering work for electrical undertakings, such as power stations, dams and other works on hydro-electric schemes, sub stations, laying of cables, and the erection of overhead lines.

Gas: Gas works, the laying of gas mains, and gas storage facilities.

Communications: Post offices, sorting offices, telephone exchanges, switching centres, cables etc..

Air: Air terminals, runways, hangars, reception halls, radar installations, perimeter fencing etc, which are for use in connection with airfields.

Railways: Permanent way, tunnels, bridges, cuttings, stations, engine sheds, etc, and electrification of both surface and underground railways

Harbours (including waterways): All works and buildings directly connected with harbours, wharves, docks, piers, jetties (including oil jetties), canals and water ways, dredging, sea walls, embankments and water defences.

Roads: Roads, pavements, bridges, footpaths, lighting, tunnels, flyovers and fencing etc.

Public Work: Work on any public authority, such as government departments, public utilities, nationalised industries, universities, the Post Office, new town corporations housing association etc.

Private Work: Work done for a private owner, organisation, or developer, and includes work carried out by firms on their own initiative. It includes work where the private sector carries the majority of risk/gain. For example, in principle, all PFI contracts are considered private.

All values quoted in this report are at current prices unless otherwise specified.

Reports are researched and written by MBD’s in-house, specialist business-to-business consultants. Research is based on both an analysis of official information and on original trade research, providing both a quantitative and qualitative view of the market. MBD’s unique range of frequently updated reports provide an integrated body of ongoing research, enabling deep understanding of the prevailing trends and the drivers of these trends based on trade opinion.

The following abbreviations have been used in this report:

Civil engineering’s proportional importance to all new construction work has increased as the market has been far less affected by the banking crisis and subsequent recession/economic stagnation than the construction industry.

Table highlights:

• Civil engineering is largely determined by the long-term pricing restrictions of industry regulators. Consequently, the economic vagaries that have strongly restricted other construction sectors after the banking crisis have had little impact on growth in recent years. However, some sectors have been restricted by public spending cuts, particularly the roads sector, which was subject to significant spending cuts between 2010 and 2012. Some infrastructure sectors have also been negatively affected by the reduced availability of funding for privately-financed projects . As such, the industry is not totally immune from economic conditions.

The civil engineering contracting industry represents a relatively fragmented sector with most large operators serving the entire market. Even so, it tends to be more highly concentrated than many construction sectors due to the longer lead times associated with civil engineering projects and the extensive size of many contracts. International comparisons demonstrate a high level of contractors in the UK.