A new series of Output Price Indices (OPI) for the Construction Price and Cost Indices (CPCIs) has been issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Since taking responsibility for the Construction Price and Cost Indices (CPCIs) on 1 April 2015, ONS continue to produce Construction Output Price Indices (OPIs) on a quarterly, experimental basis.
ONS committed to a longer term solution, but improvements were implemented in the Quarter 3 2017 release. Their National Statistics status is currently being re-assessed by the UK Statistics Authority.
The OPIs were used to deflate the volume output in the construction Industry for the first time in the April 2015 release, published on 12 June 2015, and they continue to be used by ONS for this purpose. The dataset can be found on the ONS website
There are separate series for:
- New work
o Housing
o Infrastructure
o Public non-housing
o Private industrial
o Private commercial
o All new work - Repair and Maintenance
o Housing
o Non-housing
o All Repair and Maintenance - All construction.
The Construction Price and Cost Indices (CPCIs) were previously produced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and were published for the last time in September 2014. BCIS continues to publish some continuation Resource Cost and Tender Price Indices, using the same methodology, in the Public Sector Price and Cost Indices online service.
ONS has said that users wishing to link the BIS Construction OPIs (prior to 2014) and the new Construction OPIs (from 2014 onwards) to create longer-running time series have a number of options, however the one method they point towards is the application of factors to link equivalent series.
To help subscribers to the Public Sector Price and Cost Indices extend the time series of the discontinued BIS OPIs published in this package, BCIS has calculated linking factors at 1st quarter 2014. The factors should only be used from the linking quarter going forward. They are not applicable to the back indices in the old superseded series.
BCIS stresses that this is its own interpretation of the figures based on the general guidance from ONS. Where the indices are being used for contractual purposes, it is important the figures be agreed between the parties.
To extend the superseded BIS OPIs, users can simply multiply index values from the current OPIs by the relevant linking factor to extend the discontinued BIS OPI beyond 1st quarter 2014.
Users should note that the OPIs are published on an experimental basis and improvements will more than likely result in revisions. ONS will publish full details of any revisions alongside any revised data and BCIS will keep subscribers informed of any future changes and revisions.
The methodology ONS use to calculate the Construction Output Price Indices is very different to that previously used by BIS. This should be kept in mind when extending the OPIs and analysing the volume of construction output over time.
