The main subjects are:

• the activity: past and future activity, at a whole level, but also by kind of work and by type of clientele (public, private). The business managers are also surveyed on the general perspectives of the sector;

• the investment;

• the employment: evolution in the staff size, in the last three months  and expected in the next three months. The business managers are also surveyed on the recruitment problems;

• the cash position.

Mostly, the questions are qualitative, with three choices. The results are balances of opinion calculated as the difference between the percentage of <<up (+)>> and the percentage of <<down (-)>>.

The survey covers the sectors defined by the following codes of the French Nomenclature of Activities (NAF rev. 2):

• construction of residential and non-residential buildings (code 41.2), with the exception of installation works of electrical wiring and fittings on public thoroughfare (code 43.21B);

• demolition (code 43.11Z);

• electrical, plumbing and other installation work (code 43.2); 

• finishing work (code 43.3);

• other specialized construction work (code 43.9).

The unit surveyed is the enterprise (legal unit or profiled enterprise).

The quaterly business outlook survey in the building trades covers companies working on the construction of individual houses and miscellaneous buildings, general building work, roofing, framing, fitting and finishing work.

Some data have been available since 1990.