Construction · UBOS building plan statistics
Building plans and permits
16,461 building plans were submitted in 2019, the most in these tables; 14,681 were approved that year. Homes make up most plans: 59% of plans submitted in 2019 were residential.
Plans submitted, 2020
7,291
peak 16,461 in 2019
Plans approved, 2020
5,437
including earlier submissions
Rejected, 2020
49
462 deferred
Occupation permits, 2020
201
buildings certified safe to use
Homes make up most plans: 59% of plans submitted in 2019 were residential.
Plans submitted and approved
Building plans a year
- Submitted
- Approved
- Deferred
- Rejected
| Month | Submitted | Approved | Deferred | Rejected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7,291 | 5,437 | 462 | 49 |
| 2019 | 16,461 | 14,681 | 2,003 | 514 |
| 2018 | 12,765 | 9,868 | 1,335 | 261 |
| 2017 | 13,951 | 6,808 | 773 | 426 |
| 2016 | 9,191 | 6,528 | – | – |
What people want to build
Plans submitted by type of building
- Residential
- Commercial
- Mixed-use
- Industrial
- Institutional
- Others
| Residential | Commercial | Mixed-use | Industrial | Institutional | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5,285 | 3,149 | 0 | 113 | 466 | 178 |
| 2017 | 8,122 | 4,207 | 450 | 188 | 727 | 257 |
| 2018 | 7,488 | 3,506 | 752 | 190 | 531 | 298 |
| 2019 | 9,734 | 4,733 | 827 | 213 | 611 | 343 |
| 2020 | 4,354 | 1,983 | 488 | 57 | 178 | 231 |
Few finished buildings are certified
Occupation permits issued, by type of building
- Residential
- Commercial
- Mixed-use
- Industrial
- Institutional
- Others
| Residential | Commercial | Mixed-use | Industrial | Institutional | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 120 | 133 | 0 | 21 | 38 | 16 |
| 2017 | 146 | 182 | 27 | 30 | 64 | 25 |
| 2018 | 26 | 290 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 3 |
| 2019 | 46 | 412 | 16 | 14 | 24 | 17 |
| 2020 | 115 | 56 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 4 |
Building costs (cement, iron bars, timber) and cement supply are on the Production section’s construction pages.
About these numbers
- Building plans are applications to build, handled by urban authorities. UBOS does not say which councils the tables cover.
- Plans approved, rejected or deferred in a year can include plans submitted in earlier years, so they are not shares of that year’s submissions.
- An occupation permit certifies that a finished building is safe to use.