Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
National Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS)
Compiling agency: Industry, Retail trade and Services Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España (INE). Construction Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible
Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España (INE).
Construction
Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Labour Market Statistics Directorate
Construction
Dirección General de Programación Económica y Presupuestos.
Subdirección General de Estudios Económicos y Estadísticas.
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Avenida de Manoteras 50-52
28050 Madrid
Spain
Construction
Paseo de la Castellana 67, C-408
28071 MADRID - SPAIN
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
4 June 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
4 June 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
4 June 2025
3.1. Data description
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Wages and salaries in the industry, Retal trade and Services.
Wages and salaries are defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable to all persons counted on the payroll.
Wages and salaries include the values of any social contributions, income taxes, etc. payable by the employee even if they are actually withheld by the employer and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities, etc. on behalf of the employee. Wages and salaries do not include social contributions payable by the employer.
The source of the data is the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS).
Construction
The Wage and Salary Index corresponds to that defined according to the regulations: REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing technical specifications and provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by the repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics
Wages and salaries: The remunerations - fixed and casual - paid in cash and in kind by the undertaking during the reference month.
Wages and Salaries are obtained via the Encuesta de Índices de Producción de la Industria de la Construcción (Survey of Construction Industry Production Indices, EIPIC), which is a statistical investigation conducted at regular intervals to evaluate and analyse trends in the main economic variables of companies primarily engaged in construction activity. The aim of the survey is to obtain a complete, consistent and homogeneous set of quantitative data on the behaviour of the “Construction” sector in the business cycle.
Main characteristics measured by the survey:
Construction undertakings provide information on a monthly basis on a series of economic variables related to their activity: contracting, works carried out, operating revenue, subcontracts, etc., and variables relating to employment: wages and salaries, staff numbers and hours worked.
3.2. Classification system
NACE Rev. 2.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The activities covered by the QLCS are NACE Rev. 2. Sections B-S at division level.
All size classes are covered by the survey.
Data sent are Total Industry (B to E36), MIGs, Section-level and 2 digit-level of NACE (NACE E37, E38 and E39 not included), Divisions G45 to J63, L68 to N82 and S95 and the aggregates required.
Construction
All undertakings listed in Section F of NACE 93 REV 2.0 (CNAE-2009 in Spain) are covered.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Wages and salaries They are the whole economic perceptions accomplished to the employees, in money or in kind, by their work; they remunerate the actually work, or the periods of time not worked but paid for statutory, contractual or voluntary basis. The questionnaire distinguishes also between payments for overtime and bonuses.
Wages and salaries also include taxes, social security contributions and other amounts payable by employees and withheld at source by the employer.
Construction
Staff costs
Autonomous workers are not included.
Wages and salaries: The remunerations - fixed and casual - paid in cash and in kind by the undertaking during the reference month.
Compensation: The amounts paid to staff of the undertaking in compensation for any damage suffered. This specifically includes compensation for dismissal and early retirements.
Social security contributions made by the undertaking: This includes the amounts paid by the undertaking to social security bodies for the various services they provide.
Contributions to the supplementary pensions system: Amount of contributions paid into pension plans or other equivalent system providing cover for retirement, invalidity or death, in relation to the staff of the undertaking.
Other social costs: Social expenditure in compliance with a legal provision or on a voluntary basis by the undertaking (subsidies for staff restaurant, company store, childcare facilities, etc.).
3.5. Statistical unit
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The unit used is the "account of contributions". It is an administrative concept that companies use to pay the social contributions of their employees and usually coincide with the local unit.
Construction
The information unit is established according to: REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing technical specifications and provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by the repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics
In practice, the statistical units to be investigated are “the undertakings included in the scope of the survey”.
3.6. Statistical population
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The population is formed by all local units (the accounts of social security contribution) with independence of their size, included in the General Regime of the social security, in the Special Regime of the Mining of the Coal and in the Special Regime of the sea workers related to maritime transport.
Within each account, all the employees associated with the account are investigated (employees with obligation of contributing at least one day in the reference period, with independence of the type of contract and the length of the working day).
Construction
The statistical population consists of undertakings with paid employees whose main activity is construction, both on their own behalf and for other parties.
The main activity of an undertaking is considered to be the one that provides the highest gross value added at factor cost.
According to the National Classification of Economic Activities for 2009 (CNAE-2009), activities relating to construction are those listed in Section F, "Construction", as follows:
41.1 Development of building projects: development of projects for the construction of residential and non-residential buildings.
41.2 Construction of buildings: residential and non-residential.
42.1 Construction of roads and railways, bridges and tunnels: roads and motorways, railways and underground railways, bridges and tunnels.
42.2 Construction of utility projects: utility projects for fluids, electricity and telecommunications.
42.9 Construction of other civil engineering projects: specialised construction activities.
43.1 Demolition and site preparation: demolition, site preparation, test drilling and boring.
43.2 Electrical, plumbing and other construction installation activities: electrical installation, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning installation and other construction installation.
43.3 Building completion and finishing: plastering, joinery installation, floor and wall covering, painting and glazing.
43.9 Other specialised construction activities: roofing activities and other specialised construction activities.
3.7. Reference area
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The geographic area includes the whole national territory. All units located in all regions of the country are researched in the survey. Only national activities are covered. Activities outside the geographical coverage are not included.
Construction
It covers all legal units registered in Section F of NACE 93 Rev. 2 Central Directory of Companies of the National Statistics Institute of Spain.
The Statistical Operation of the Central Business Directory contains aggregated information of the local companies and units operating in the territory of Spain. It is updated once a year, generating a new information system on January 1 of each period.
Data for the study> Comprehensive framework> all companies with more than 99 employees. Sampled frame> companies with fewer than 100 employees.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The length of the time series is from the first quarter of 2000 onwards for Industry activities and from the first quarter of 2008 for Retail Trade and Services.
Construction
Seasonal Survey of the Construction Industry (Encuesta Coyuntural de la Industría de la Construcción - ECIC). Quarterly series 1988-2005.
Construction Industry Production Indices (Índices de Producción de la Industria de la construcción - EIPIC - NACE 93 Rev. 1). Monthly series 2005-2008.
Construction Industry Production Indices (Índices de Producción de la Industria de la construcción - EIPIC - NACE 93 Rev. 2). Monthly series from January 2009 onwards
3.9. Base period
2021
Industry, Retail trade and Services and Construction
Data are transmitted to Eurostat as indices.
In the case of Industry, Retail Trade and Services, the data published on national level are the Labour Cost Index. In Construction, data at the national level are published in indices not adjusted for employment or seasonality.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The reference period for the data asked in the questionnaire is the calendar month. The results are presented as quarterly average.
Construction
Reference period for the publication of the results of the Survey: Monthly.
Reference period for gathering information: Monthly.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The collection, processing and dissemination of statistical operations data for national purposes is set by Law 12/1989, of May 9, Public Statistical Function ( LFEP ) and Fourth Additional Provision of the Law 4/1990 , of June 29 . The LFEP provides that the National Statistical Plan is the main instrument governing statistical activities of the State Administration and contains the statistics to be developed in four years for the services of the State Administration or any other entities dependent on it and those that are to be completed wholly or partly with participation of the Autonomous Communities and local governments under cooperative agreements with state statistical services or, where appropriate, in implementing the provisions of the law. All statistics included in the National Statistical Plan are statistics for national purposes and mandatory. The National Statistical Plan 2025-2028, approved by Royal Decree 1225/2024, of 3rd December, is the plan currently in effect (Statistics of the State Administration).
The Quarterly abour Cost Survey (QLCS) is the fundamental source of information for the development of the Labour Cost Index ( LCI ). It is therefore subject to regulation of the statistical operation.
Regulation of the European Parliament and Council No. 450/2003 establishing a common framework for the production, transmission and evaluation of comparable labour costs indices
Construction
The gathering, processing and dissemination of data from statistical operations for State purposes is governed by the provisions of Law 12/1989 of 9 May 1989, on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP) and the Fourth Additional Provision of Law 4/1990 of 29 June 1990. Under the LFEP, the National Statistical Plan is the primary instrument for organising the Government's statistical activity and contains the statistics to be produced over the four-year period by the Government departments or any other bodies responsible to the Government and those to be prepared with the total or partial participation of the Autonomous Communities and Local Corporations under cooperation agreements with the State statistical services or, as appropriate, in compliance with the provisions of the legislation. All statistics included in the National Statistical Plan are for State purposes and are mandatory. The National Statistical Plan for 2017-2020, adopted by Royal Decree 410/2016 of 31 October 2016, is the plan currently in force.
The Survey of Construction Industry Production Indices is subject to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics
Industry, Retail trade and Services and Construction
Data transmitted to Eurostat folow:
REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 of 30 July 2020 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Industry, Retail trade and Services
STS data are not sent to other Institution except Eurostat.
Construction
The Survey of Construction Industry Production Indices (EIPIC) obtains all of its information via the specific survey carried out by the Subdirectorate-General for Economic and Statistical Studies of the
Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility for these statistics; no other institution is involved.
The only international body to which EIPIC data are sent is Eurostat
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Industry, Retail trade and Services and Construction
Law 12/1989 of the Public Statistics INE states that can not disseminate, or make available in any way, individual or aggregate data that could lead to the identification of any individual person or entity. Moreover, the European Regulation 223/2009 on European statistics establishes the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of the data used to produce European statistics and the access to those confidential data taking into account the technical developments and the needs of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The INE takes the necessary logical, physical and administrative provisions for the protection of confidential data from data collection to publication. A legal clause is included in the survey questionnaires informing about the protection of the data collected. During the stages of information processing, information allowing direct identification is only preserved while is strictly necessary to ensure the quality of processes. Direct identification data are not stored together with the own statistics, after the data collection phase. The results to be published are analysed in detail before to prevent that confidential data of the statistical units can be derived . In cases in which microdata are disseminated, they are always anonymous.
Confidential data is not published. It is aggregated with other confidential or non-confidential cells to produce a non-confidential data aggregate. For example section B at division level is confidential so only section level is published.
Construction
The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility takes all the necessary logical, physical and administrative measures to guarantee the effective protection of confidential data from collection to publication.
The survey questionnaires include a legal clause that informs users about the protection of the data collected.
When results tables are published, the information is analyzed in detail to avoid any deduction of confidential data on the statistical units. When microdata files are transmitted, the data is always anonymised.
8.1. Release calendar
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Data from the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS) and from the Labour Cost Index (LCI) are released according to a national calendar.
The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year. The calendar is presented to the media at a news conference, and is also disseminated on the INE's website.
Data for this STS indicator are not disseminated nationally. They are only transmitted to Eurostat.
Construction
Release of the data corresponding to the reference month t is staggered so that the data appear on the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility website at t + 55-60 days, in accordance with a predetermined release calendar.
QLCS and LCI Data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing a press release. At the same time, the data are also sent by fax to subscribers, and are posted on the INE's website: Spanish Statistical Office .
Some users may receive under embargo information as specified in the Code of Practice of the European Statistics.
The frequency dissemination of the data is quarterly.
Construction
The data are disseminated on a monthly basis.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The main results of the survey, the series of Total Labour cost, wage costs, other labour costs (per employee and per worked hour) and hours worked (per employee) are disseminated in a special release with a brief explanation of the results each quarter. The very detailed set of series is disseminated without explanation. The microdata are not disseminated.
Users can access to QLCS and LCI data via the INE website . Specifically , there are the following links :
Press Release and Main Results : A summary of the results of the reference quarter
Main series from quarter 1Q/2000 : The main series since the start of the survey
series calendar and seasonally adjusted of the main series for the total economy (total labour cost per employee and per worked hour, wages and salaries per employee and per worked hour and other costs per employee and per worked hour)
Quarterly Series from quarter 1Q/2008 : series in NACE- 2
Back cast estimates 2000-2007. Base 2008 : In order to provide time series of labor costs with a lenght sufficient to allow for analysis have been developed retrospective series in NACE -2 at section level of activity since 2000
Publications "on line " contain information form QLCS and LCI as " Spain in figures ", " Statistical Yearbook of Spain " , " Monthly Statistical Bulletin " , etc.
Construction
All information relating to the EIPIC is published on the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility website. The following publications can be found there:
Methodological notes
Monthly series (CNAE 2009)
Yearly publications (2006-2008)
Availability timetable
All of these publications can be consulted at the following address:
INEbase is the system used to store and disseminate at INE Website all statistical information. It contains all the information produced by the INE in electronic format. It is organized basically following the thematic classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration. The basic unit is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to the collection of statistics for a particular sector or theme, from data collected individually.
Data from QLCS and LCI are in INEbase\Labour market\ Wages and labour costs
Historical data and other studies is the system used by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to store all of its statistical information and disseminate it online. It contains all of the information produced by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility in electronic format. It is basically organised using a thematic classification. The basic unit is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities leading to the obtaining of statistical results for a given sector or theme from individually-collected data, and can be consulted at the following address:Estadísticas de síntesis, datos históricos y otros estudios | Ministerio de Transportes y Movilidad Sostenible
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Microdata are not disseminated.
Construction
Users can order specially tailored micro-data files for scientific research purposes. Once the viability of the orders has been examined, users may be granted access to the information under strict conditions of confidentiality.
Micro-data are not accessible to the public.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Industry, Retail trade and Services
STS data are transmitted to Eurostat.
Customised information must be requested in the Information Area, clearly indicating the details of the contact person (name, postal address, telephone, fax and e-mail, if you have one), and detailing as much as possible the information that it is requested.
Requests will pass through a viability analysis process, programming and subsequent verification that the data obtained safeguard statistical secrecy and are representative.
There is the possibility of ordering tailored information via the functional mailbox. When such orders are processed, restrictions relating to confidentiality or precision are taken into account.
EIPIC data are transmitted to Eurostat within the regulatory timeframes.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The methodology of the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey that is the source for the elaboration of the indices are published with the data on the INE's Internet website (Methodology)
Quality Reports are the same as for the Labour Cost Index and are prepared according to Eurostat Regulation 1216/2003, annually since 2004. Following quality criteria relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, consistency, and completeness. The latest available is for the year 2023.
Construction
Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics follows the criteria of quality, relevance, accuracy, timeliness and timeliness, accessibility and clarity, comparability and consistency and comprehensiveness.
A quality assessment and a summary of the statistical situation are carried out each month.
Industry, Retail trade and Services and Construction
Data transmitted to Eurostat folow:
REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 of 30 July 2020 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics
11.1. Quality assurance
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The quality assurance framework for INE statistics is based on the Code of Good Practice of the European Statistics Eurostat. The Code consists of 15 principles, grouped into three areas: Institutional Environment, Process and Productos. Each principle is associated with a number of indicators to measure. To assess quality different tools provided by Eurostat are used: the indicators mentioned above, DESAP, Peer Review, Quality Audits and user satisfaction surveys.
The process of carrying out the statistics has established controls to detect and correct errors in order to ensure the quality of it since the beginning of the process. The collection, recording and validation phases are key development stages of any statistical research . The collection of questionnaires and the recording thereof are carried out in the provincial offices of the INE .
Before processing the information is carried out a comprehensive control over the data provided by the reporting units to ensure their validity .
The received data are double-inspected :
A first debugging, is made simultaneously with the recording in the provincial offices to detect incomplete and erroneous questionnaires and ensure the consistency of the recorded data.
A second control is made in the central office in order to avoid inconsistencies between related variables and time-series combined.
In any case, if something wrong or inconsistent data is found , the responsible provincial office of the questionnaire established telephone contact with the informant to clarify information .
Overall debugging focuses on the following aspects :
Detect incomplete questionnaires : partial non-response is not allowed.
Ensure consistency of data: The data must respect the legal limits in terms of working hours, minimum wages, etc. .. On the other hand , the questionnaire is divided into five distinct blocks but closely interrelated among which should be some consistency . Thus, for example , quesionnaires with overtime data are not supported without overtime payments; there can not be dismissed workers and not include his compensation, nor vice versa;etc.
To ensure the temporal coherence of the main study variables: The aim is to identify possible errors in the data by comparing the main variables for the same in previous quarters.
Construction
The quality assurance framework for the statistics produced by the Subdirectorate-General for Economic Studies and Statistics of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility is based on ESCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice — revised edition 2017 - Products Catalogues - Eurostat. ESCoP sets out 15 principles, grouped into three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with a series of indicators enabling it to be measured. For quality assessment, various tools provided by EUROSTAT are used: the indicators referred to above, self-assessment (DESAP), peer review, quality audits and user satisfaction surveys.
The EIPIC production process is designed to guarantee the quality of the information used and of the results obtained from it.
To this end, different quality controls have been devised for all the stages of the process:
Data provided are compared and contrasted with historical information from the same reporting unit, comparative analyses are carried out and rapporteurs are asked to explain any fluctuations in production.
Detection of invalid values.
Estimates in the absence of responses.
Supervision and inspection of fieldwork.
Other permanent monitoring of information flows.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The Quarterly Labour Cost Survey is a high quality product. The sample size offers labour cost indicators within a reasonable sampling errors. The harmonized methodology used allows international comparisons with a high level of solvency and provides an invaluable measure of the evolution of labour costs.
As for the limitations of the survey should be pointed out the inherent to the sampling statistical operations such as no response rates and the aforementioned sampling errors or variation coefficients of the estimates. In both cases are kept within reasonable limits. Detailed information on sampling errors is provided periodically in the tables of results published in INEBASE.
The EIPIC indicators are of high statistical quality that meet all the criteria of consistency, comparability, precision, and puntuaity. The methodology follows the recommendations of the United Nations (UN), EUROSTAT and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The main users could be classified in the following groups:
International Organisations: European Union Institutions, OECD, International Monetary Fund, International Labour Organisation, etc.
Public Organisms: different Ministries such as the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, etc.; the National Statistical Institute itself for several of its units, such as National Accounts; the Bank of Spain; Regional Institutions, etc.
Social Institutions such as trade unions, employers’ organisations, political parties,...
Research Centres and Universities
The media
Each of these users have different needs depending on the destination and usefulness of the information they need. Specifically, changes in labor costs per hour worked is an important indicator for analyzing the short and medium term economic developments. The Commission and the European Central Bank are based on the Labour Costs Index, which shows the short-term evolution of labor costs, to assess the potential inflationary pressures due to the evolution of labor in the labor market .
Construction
The survey responds to the information needs of the main users of which the following are of particular note:
EUROSTAT, OCDE, NU, IMF.
ministries and other public bodies
Autonomous Communities
businesses
researchers and universities
press and specialist media
private individuals.
Each of these users has different needs according to the destination and use of the information required. For this reason, tailored information is frequently provided.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other f elds such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications, etc.
On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date (Users surveys).
No specific user satisfaction survey to the QLCS has been carried out although the User Satisfaction Survey indicates the degree of satisfaction of users of labor market statistics. In the user satisfaction survey conducted in 2016, which can be consulted on the website of INE in the category of Quality -> Quality Management -> System evaluation and quality monitoring -> User surveys , you can see the evaluation of "labor market" group in which it is framed this statistical operation . This can give us indications of user opinions of this statistical operation.
It is known the opinion of users who have received information on request or who have asked for methodological details. In general, these users are satisfied. Nevertheless they consider that the survey should have a bigger sample size to offer more detailed breakdown of some variables (in particular of regions, branch of activity and cost components).
Construction
The parties responsible for the survey are in constant contact with the main users when they express a specific need for information.
There is no specific user satisfaction survey for the EIPIC.
12.3. Completeness
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The QLCS meets all requirements established by national and international regulations related to labour costs statistics aimed at local units or enterprises.
As the main source of information to produce the Labour Cost Index (LCI), is subject to the regulation of this statistical operation (Reg. 450/2003)
Regarding to STS indicators, QLCS provides all the time series required for the variable earnings in the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics.
Construction
The survey meets all information requirements laid down in both national and international standards.
EIPIC statistics is governed by the following regulations:
REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, which repeals 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing specifications and technical provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics
The survey provides all of the information required under the regulations: the "level of mandatory results available" is therefore 100%.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The design of the sample attempts to minimize sampling errors and the various processes of the survey are intended to eliminate or reduce as far as possible the errors both in the collection phase (response rate and debugging control) as in subsequent stages of editing and imputation.
Construction
The statistics used in the production of the EIPIC are designed in such a way as to guarantee the reliability and accuracy of the indices and data calculated.
Validity checks and analyses of the information take place at all stages of the process of obtaining the indices and data. Errors and missing responses are addressed, resulting in high levels of statistical reliability with low error rates and bias.
The accuracy of the statistics is determined by the accuracy of the information sources from the Structural Survey of the Construction Industry and the Central Directory of Undertakings of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística that are used in compiling them. The sample design attempts to minimise sampling errors and the different survey processes aim to eliminate or reduce errors in it as far as possible, during the collection phase (response rate and debugging check) and subsequent stages.
The calculation of the coefficients of variation of key variables is performed in each survey implementation and disseminated in the publication of their results and the successive quality reports.
Stratified random sampling with optimal allocation: a sample is taken of companies with less than 100 workers, in the strata without automatic representation, while all large companies with 100 or more workers are included.
Companies with less than 100 workers included in the survey sample represent 80-83% of the 4,000 units studied monthly. Companies with 100 workers or more represent 17-20% of the survey sample. The percentages are proportional to the population.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Industry, Retail trade and Services
A control of non sampling errors is performed in every statistical process. It also has specific information on the non-response rate.
The study population consists on all employees who work for an employer during the reference month of the survey. The framework used for the sample selection was the General Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions, held by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. When the Register is received from the Social Security, a first debugging is made prior to the selection of the sample, which implies several stages:
To eliminate economic activities regarding agricultural activities, livestock, fishery, households with domestic employees and extra-territorial organisms since these are not part of the survey.
To eliminate the units that belong to the special regime of Social Security sales agents, whose main compensation consists in commissions on sales and who, consequently cannot be surveyed either.
After this, the sample is selected and the questionnaires are sent to the selected units; the data collection and debugging stages reveal the errors in the surveyed units.
Frame errors:
Data collection for 2024 showed that 1.4% in average of the units were inactive or closed . Only 0.3% were erroneously included units. All these units are replaced by others that belong to the same stratum in the next quarter survey. A 1.3% showed no activity during the month surveyed but remain in the sample since they can be units with seasonal activities.
Measurement and processing errors:
The questionnaire has been elaborated approaching the required information to documents (payslips and social contributions bulletins) that the employer must fill in in relation to their employees, this way the answer is easier to the informants.
Debugging errors:
This first debugging consists in using filters referring to errors that allow separating valid questionnaires from those with inconsistencies to be revised.
The filters are of two kinds: those detecting type I and type II errors.
Type I errors:
If they are not thoroughly corrected, the questionnaire cannot be considered as valid.
Type II errors:
They affect norms that have to be complied with towards the coherence of the data. The non-satisfaction of these norms does not necessarily mean that the questionnaire is not valid, but it should be explained why an error is stated. In cases of doubts, a telephone call is made to the respondent for him to elucidate them. There are more than 200 rules that are checked in each questionnaire.
After the tabulation, the results obtained are analysed to check the coherence.
Non-response rate:
The average non-response for year 2024 has been 11.3%.
Construction
Checks on non-sampling errors are carried out throughout the statistical process. EIPIC is a specific and unique survey to obtain production data for construction. Tthe sample used is based on the Central Register of Undertakings and Section F of NACE 93 Rev.2.0.
Specific information on non-response rates is also available. At the time of publication the non-response rate was below 5%.
14.1. Timeliness
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The QLCS results refer to quarter t are published at t +80 days. The same day the STS indicator is sent to Eurostat.
Construction
The EIPIC is published 55-60 days following the reference month. Advance data are made available to Eurostat within the regulatory timeframes.
14.2. Punctuality
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The results of the survey are published according to Short-term Statistics Availability Calendar of INE. Each publication has been released on the date announced in the calendar.
Construction
The results of the survey are published in accordance with the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility release calendar for statistics, which can be consulted at the following address:
Each publication was issued on the date announced in the release calendar.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The availability of a methodology, a design and a common process for collecting, filtering, editing and elevation throughout its geographic scope, ensures comparability of results between the different regions.
Regarding the international comparability of the survey, the methodology follows the concepts and definitions of Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of the Council of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and labor costs, in turn based on the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). It also follows current international recommendations on labor statistics (ILO). Therefore international comparability is assured.
Construction
The survey is designed to be homogeneous across the geographical area taken into account in terms of methodology, design, method of collection of information, analysis and verification and screening of data.
In addition, at European level, comparability between countries is guaranteed by the regulations: REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing specifications and technical provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics
15.2. Comparability - over time
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The results broken down by sections and divisions of NACE-2 for activities included in Idustry are comparable in time since 2000. For economic activities included in Retail Trade and Services the data are comparable since 2008.
Construction
The EIPIC was published for the first time in 1988, when it was known as the ECIC (Encuesta Coyuntural de la Industria de la Construcción, Seasonal Survey of the Construction Industry). The changes made since then (changes in periodicity, changes to the sampling framework, change to CNAE, changes to the basis, etc.) have gradually modified certain methodological aspects of the survey, resulting in a degree of interruption to the series, which has been addressed to ensure linked series whenever possible.
Seasonal Survey of the Construction Industry (Encuesta Coyuntural de la Industría de la Construcción - ECIC). Quarterly series 1988-2005.
Construction Industry Production Indices (Índices de Producción de la Industria de la construcción - EIPIC - NACE 93 Rev. 1). Monthly series 2005-2008.
Construction Industry Production Indices (Índices de Producción de la Industria de la construcción - EIPIC - NACE 93 Rev. 2). Monthly series from January 2009 onwards.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The use of a single national classification of economic activities allows the possibility to compare the information with other economic statistics on common variables such as National Accounts.
Construction
An examination of trends in annual data reveals that there is coherence between the structural surveys of the sector (Structural Survey of the Construction Industry) and the annual results of the EIPIC.
Data are contrasted with other studies directly related to the sector:
Evolution of registered unemployment in the construction sector
Survey of Active Population construction sector
15.4. Coherence - internal
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Estimates of the labour cost variables have complete internal consistency as they are based on the same corpus of microdata and are calculated using the same methods of estimation.
Construction
The data used in the calulation of the EIPIC are obtained using a survey specific to these statistics and undergo the same processes of analysis, validation and attribution, rendering them completely coherent.
The various subsectors of the construction sector - i.e. building and civil engineering - are obtained directly from the data provided by the reporting units.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
In order to achieve a balance between sample stability and the informants burden in the QLCS are carried out the following actions:
Distribution of the sample in three monthly sub-samples during the quarter:
The sample is distributed in three monthly sub-samples during the quarter, such that the first sub-sample is always interviewed in the first month of each quarter, the second sub-sample is interviewed in the second month of each quarter and the third sub-sample in the last month of each quarter. This way, each unit is interviewed for only four times a year instead of every month reducing the burden of the informants and distributing the monthly workload of INE provincial offices. At the end of the quarter data collected over the 3 months is aggregated to assess both costs and hours per employee per month during the reference quarter .
Renewal or annual rotation of the sample:
The total sample was divided into five groups of rotation so that in the first quarter of each year the oldest group is replaced, representing an annual renewal of 20% of the sample. In this way it is guaranteed that most companies will collaborate in the survey for five years. An exception is made for the units in the exhaustive strata (units with more than 500 employees and those belonging to strata so small that their sampling size necessarily coincides with the population), that are not renovated unless they cease to exist. These units represent 28% of the sample.
To help answer the informants , we have tried to approximate the required information to documents ( payslips and social contributions bulletins ) that the employer must fill in in relation to their employees. In particular , the last section of the questionnaire.
Moreover from the first quarter of 2015 section E of the questionnaire was reduced, asking only those variables that are essential to check the internal consistency of the information provided in the questionnaire. The breakdowns of this information are provided by the Social Security from their administrative records.
The estimation of the budgetary credit necessary to finance these statistics, as foreseen in the 2024 Annual Programme, comes to a total of 3,517.64 thousand euros.
Construction
The workload for the industrial establishments from which we request information has been diminishing in recent years since the implementation of a system offering respondents the possibility of replying online: this, combined with the possibility of using other methods such as email, fax or telephone, has considerably reduced the time and effort invested by respondents in replying to the questions on the questionnaire.
According to the most recent data available, the time spent on the survey by the responding undertakings comes to 0.32 person hours per month. Given that the number of reporting units is 4,000, the monthly burden works out at 1,280 hours.
Again according to the most recent data, the cost in hours of conducting the EIPIC survey to obtain production indices is the equivalent of 41.556 working hours per year, or 3.463 hours per month.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The data are final when first released and are not subject to revision.
Advance notice of major changes in methodology expected to take place during a particular year is given in the annual publication " Programa Anual del Instituto Nacional de Estadística" (in Spanish), which is published in the last quarter of the previous year.
Construction
Data are provisional when first published.
They remain provisional for six months, since a percentage (< 0.25) of undertakings respond after the deadline or because there is a possibility of undetected errors. Consequently, the provisional data vary very slightly, if at all, in relation to the definitive data.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The data are final when first released and are not subject to revision.
Construction
Data become definitive six months after the reference period.
18.1. Source data
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The source is the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS). It is a sample survey. The population is formed by all employees working for an employer. The framework used for the selection was the General Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions, held by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. An Account of Social Security Contribution is an administrative concept that companies use to pay the social contributions of their employees and usually coincides with the local unit.
The procedure for random selection of units corresponds to stratified sampling with optimal allocation, in which the sampling units are the accounts.
The stratification criterion is accomplished attending to three variables: Autonomous Community (17 regions), the economic activity (division level of NACE rev.2, from B to S) and eight size intervals. The size of the unit is the number of employees in the unit.
The following groups are considered for the stratification:
1-4 employees
5-9 employees
10-19 employees
20-49 employees
50-99 employees
100-199 employees
200-499 employees
500 and more employees
The stratum eighth was researched exhaustively.
Within each stratum, the units are selected through systematic sampling with random start.
The sample is composed of around 28.000 units that they will be interviewed each quarter. The total sample is split into five groups of rotation so that in the first quarter of each year the oldest group is replaced such that one-fifth of the sample is replaced.
An exception is made for the units in the exhaustive strata (units of more than 500 employees and those belonging to strata so small that their sampling size necessarily coincides with the population), that are not renovated unless they cease to exist. These units account for 28% of the sample.
There is only one questionnaire format for the whole survey population. The questionnaire is revised periodically. It changes when the labour legislation makes it necessary. No changes are currently planned.
The survey is carried out by postal questionnaire, web questionnaire, etc.
Separate ratio estimators are used based on the number of employees in the Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions as the auxiliary variable.
The index is calculated from the results obtained from the survey comparing its value directly with the base period average value.
Construction
Directory: The framework for the survey is the Central Register of Undertakings (Directorio Central de Empresas, DIRCE) which includes information on undertakings with their identifying details, location and territorial distribution, and their classification by size and economic activity.
Size and design of the sample: The selection of the sampling units (undertakings) was made by strata defined by the size of the undertakings and the activities in which they are engaged in in accordance with the National Classification of Economic Activities for 2009: at national level, an exhaustive selection was made of all undertakings with 100 or more workers and a random sample was taken of those with fewer than 100 workers, with optimum allocation within each stratum. The size of the sample is approximately 4 000 units.
Rotation system: Approximately 20% of the units sampled change each year.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The QLCS conducted quarterly. The reference period for the information requested in the questionnaire is a month. However, the reference for the results is the quarter. The sample is distributed among the months of the quarter and the estimates are calculated as the average of the whole quarter.
Construction
Data are collected on a monthly basis.
18.3. Data collection
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The survey is carried out by postal questionnaire, web questionnaire, etc. The main method used by respondents is the Web-based questionnaire. The enterprise receives a letter the first time that it is interviewed with the username and the password to access to the web site and then it could fill in the questionnaire directly field by field or upload the XML file. There is a minimal validation process to consider the questionnaire sent and the process ended. The following times INE sends an email to the respondent reminding the contacts and the survey to be filled.
There is a free telephone number in the letter to contact with INE where the respondents could ask all their doubts and also request an excel questionnaire and email address to send it.
The sample is composed of around 28.000 units that they will be interviewed each quarter.The sample is distributed in three monthly sub-samples during the quarter, such that the first sub-sample is always interviewed in the first month of each quarter, the second sub-sample is interviewed in the second month of each quarter and the third sub-sample in the last month of each quarter. This way, each unit is interviewed for only four times a year instead of every month reducing the burden of the informants and distributing the monthly workload of INE provincial offices . At the end of the quarter data collected over the 3 months is aggregated to assess both costs and hours per employee per month during the reference quarter .
Construction
Data collection: In order to collect the information that construction companies must provide for the preparation of these statistics, a questionnaire designed to meet the requirements of European regulations is used:
REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing specifications and technical provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics Likewise, efforts have been made to ensure that the economic data requested are adapted to the General Chart of Accounts of construction companies and, to facilitate responses, reference has been made to the account, accounts or groups of accounts corresponding to the information. included with the requested variable.
Similarly, every effort has been made to ensure that the economic data requested are adapted to the General Chart of Accounts covering construction companies and, in order to facilitate responses, a reference to the account, accounts or groups of accounts corresponding to the information has been included with the variable requested.
Questionnaires for the following three months are sent to the reporting units with the relevant instructions for completing them. Responding undertakings can reply by post, fax, email or on the website.
The most recent data indicate that response methods are as follows:
METHOD OF SUBMISION
%
POST
0.01
EMAIL
0.05
FAX
0.03
WEBSITE
99.91
TOTAL
100.00
18.4. Data validation
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The process of carrying out the statistics has established controls to detect and correct errors in order to ensure the quality of it since the beginning of the process. The collection, recording and validation phases are key development stages of any statistical research . The collection of questionnaires and the recording thereof are carried out in the provincial offices of the INE .
Before processing the information is carried out a comprehensive control over the data provided by the reporting units to ensure their validity .
The received data are double-inspected:
A first debugging, is made simultaneously with the recording in the provincial offices to detect incomplete and erroneous questionnaires and ensure the consistency of the recorded data.
A second control is made in the central office in order to avoid inconsistencies between related variables and time-series combined.
In any case, if something wrong or inconsistent data is found , the responsible provincial office of the questionnaire established telephone contact with the informant to clarify information .
Overall debugging focuses on the following aspects:
Detect incomplete questionnaires: partial non-response is not allowed.
Ensure consistency of data: The data must respect the legal limits in terms of working hours, minimum wages, etc. .. On the other hand , the questionnaire is divided into five distinct blocks but closely interrelated among which should be some consistency . Thus, for example , quesionnaires with overtime data are not supported without overtime payments; there can not be dismissed workers and not include his compensation, nor vice versa;etc.
To ensure the temporal coherence of the main study variables: The aim is to identify possible errors in the data by comparing the main variables for the same in previous quarters.
Construction
During the completion stage, a system to detect inconsistencies is used to alert respondents and ask them to confirm or amend the information provided.
When the information is entered, a checking system alerts users to any inconsistencies that may emerge. During this process, if any data contain discrepancies the staff member responsible for gathering the information contacts the respondent to ask them to confirm or amend the information provided.
Once the information has been compiled, the coverage of the information is checked to guarantee that the data entered are complete and to detect duplications and gaps in coverage, missing responses, etc.
Specific software is used for all of these processes.
18.5. Data compilation
Industry, Retail trade and Services
In cases of empty units (produced either by incident or by non-response) imputations are made of questionnaires to increase the quality of quarterly estimates. Two methods are used:
The application of the wage rise established in collective agreements to those questionnaires with response in the same quarter of the previous year.
The imputation of the average value in the strata to those units that never have responded.
Partial non-response is not allowed.
To obtain grossing-up estimations separate ratio estimators are used based on the number of employees in the Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions as the auxiliary variable.
Once the data are estimated, the index is calculated from the results obtained from the survey comparing its value directly with the base period average value.
Construction
Once the information has been received, the process of screening the data can begin. This process consists of two phases: during the first, micro-screening or screening of micro-data takes place, while the second consists of an analysis for various aggregation levels or macro-screening.
Micro-screening involves checking the validity of the data from each undertaking, taking account of the historical series provided by it. The analysis establishes month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons.
The second part of the screening takes place once the combined data have been processed. The aggregated information goes through a centralised screening process, where errors detected in the main variables are corrected manually and other variables are screened automatically. Where information is available from other sources, the consistency between these and the results of the survey is checked.
Estimators: Estimators or extrapolation coefficients are the factors which, from the data obtained in the sample, enable results for the population as a whole to be obtained. The transition from sample to population data is made using a matrix of extrapolation factors for each activity group and occupational stratum. The variable used to obtain the extrapolation factors was the number of undertakings in the DIRCE (population group).
The coefficients applied are an attempt to resolve the problem presented by the Directory in relation to incidents on site: stoppages, periods of inactivity, and activities other than building work, etc., since the basic premise is that undertakings that do not respond have the same structure when it comes to incidents.
18.6. Adjustment
Industry, Retail trade and Services
In order to allow a full interpretation of the results, the index series are obtained in the following ways: a) gross Series: the original series. b) working-day adjusted series (including the effect of Easter).
The method used is the Regression correction method using as a regressor an specific serie obtained from the QLCS data.
The adjustment of these indicators has been performed according to Standard of INE to correct seasonal and calendar effects and it is available in the section Methods and standards of the INE website.
This standard is the result of the working group of Seasonal adjustment in INE, which was created by the Board of Directors of INE in May 2012, and follow the recommendations of the European Union included in ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment
To allow a complete interpretation of the results, the series of indices are obtained in the following ways: a) Gross series: the original series. b) Series corrected for business days (including the effect of Easter and national holidays).
The method used follows the recommendations of the European Union included in the ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment (Standard for calendar effects in short-term series).
Wages and salaries in the industry, Retal trade and Services.
Wages and salaries are defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable to all persons counted on the payroll.
Wages and salaries include the values of any social contributions, income taxes, etc. payable by the employee even if they are actually withheld by the employer and paid directly to social insurance schemes, tax authorities, etc. on behalf of the employee. Wages and salaries do not include social contributions payable by the employer.
The source of the data is the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS).
Construction
The Wage and Salary Index corresponds to that defined according to the regulations: REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing technical specifications and provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by the repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics
Wages and salaries: The remunerations - fixed and casual - paid in cash and in kind by the undertaking during the reference month.
Wages and Salaries are obtained via the Encuesta de Índices de Producción de la Industria de la Construcción (Survey of Construction Industry Production Indices, EIPIC), which is a statistical investigation conducted at regular intervals to evaluate and analyse trends in the main economic variables of companies primarily engaged in construction activity. The aim of the survey is to obtain a complete, consistent and homogeneous set of quantitative data on the behaviour of the “Construction” sector in the business cycle.
Main characteristics measured by the survey:
Construction undertakings provide information on a monthly basis on a series of economic variables related to their activity: contracting, works carried out, operating revenue, subcontracts, etc., and variables relating to employment: wages and salaries, staff numbers and hours worked.
4 June 2025
Industry, Retail trade and Services
Wages and salaries They are the whole economic perceptions accomplished to the employees, in money or in kind, by their work; they remunerate the actually work, or the periods of time not worked but paid for statutory, contractual or voluntary basis. The questionnaire distinguishes also between payments for overtime and bonuses.
Wages and salaries also include taxes, social security contributions and other amounts payable by employees and withheld at source by the employer.
Construction
Staff costs
Autonomous workers are not included.
Wages and salaries: The remunerations - fixed and casual - paid in cash and in kind by the undertaking during the reference month.
Compensation: The amounts paid to staff of the undertaking in compensation for any damage suffered. This specifically includes compensation for dismissal and early retirements.
Social security contributions made by the undertaking: This includes the amounts paid by the undertaking to social security bodies for the various services they provide.
Contributions to the supplementary pensions system: Amount of contributions paid into pension plans or other equivalent system providing cover for retirement, invalidity or death, in relation to the staff of the undertaking.
Other social costs: Social expenditure in compliance with a legal provision or on a voluntary basis by the undertaking (subsidies for staff restaurant, company store, childcare facilities, etc.).
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The unit used is the "account of contributions". It is an administrative concept that companies use to pay the social contributions of their employees and usually coincide with the local unit.
Construction
The information unit is established according to: REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing technical specifications and provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by the repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics
In practice, the statistical units to be investigated are “the undertakings included in the scope of the survey”.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The population is formed by all local units (the accounts of social security contribution) with independence of their size, included in the General Regime of the social security, in the Special Regime of the Mining of the Coal and in the Special Regime of the sea workers related to maritime transport.
Within each account, all the employees associated with the account are investigated (employees with obligation of contributing at least one day in the reference period, with independence of the type of contract and the length of the working day).
Construction
The statistical population consists of undertakings with paid employees whose main activity is construction, both on their own behalf and for other parties.
The main activity of an undertaking is considered to be the one that provides the highest gross value added at factor cost.
According to the National Classification of Economic Activities for 2009 (CNAE-2009), activities relating to construction are those listed in Section F, "Construction", as follows:
41.1 Development of building projects: development of projects for the construction of residential and non-residential buildings.
41.2 Construction of buildings: residential and non-residential.
42.1 Construction of roads and railways, bridges and tunnels: roads and motorways, railways and underground railways, bridges and tunnels.
42.2 Construction of utility projects: utility projects for fluids, electricity and telecommunications.
42.9 Construction of other civil engineering projects: specialised construction activities.
43.1 Demolition and site preparation: demolition, site preparation, test drilling and boring.
43.2 Electrical, plumbing and other construction installation activities: electrical installation, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning installation and other construction installation.
43.3 Building completion and finishing: plastering, joinery installation, floor and wall covering, painting and glazing.
43.9 Other specialised construction activities: roofing activities and other specialised construction activities.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The geographic area includes the whole national territory. All units located in all regions of the country are researched in the survey. Only national activities are covered. Activities outside the geographical coverage are not included.
Construction
It covers all legal units registered in Section F of NACE 93 Rev. 2 Central Directory of Companies of the National Statistics Institute of Spain.
The Statistical Operation of the Central Business Directory contains aggregated information of the local companies and units operating in the territory of Spain. It is updated once a year, generating a new information system on January 1 of each period.
Data for the study> Comprehensive framework> all companies with more than 99 employees. Sampled frame> companies with fewer than 100 employees.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The reference period for the data asked in the questionnaire is the calendar month. The results are presented as quarterly average.
Construction
Reference period for the publication of the results of the Survey: Monthly.
Reference period for gathering information: Monthly.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The design of the sample attempts to minimize sampling errors and the various processes of the survey are intended to eliminate or reduce as far as possible the errors both in the collection phase (response rate and debugging control) as in subsequent stages of editing and imputation.
Construction
The statistics used in the production of the EIPIC are designed in such a way as to guarantee the reliability and accuracy of the indices and data calculated.
Validity checks and analyses of the information take place at all stages of the process of obtaining the indices and data. Errors and missing responses are addressed, resulting in high levels of statistical reliability with low error rates and bias.
The accuracy of the statistics is determined by the accuracy of the information sources from the Structural Survey of the Construction Industry and the Central Directory of Undertakings of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística that are used in compiling them. The sample design attempts to minimise sampling errors and the different survey processes aim to eliminate or reduce errors in it as far as possible, during the collection phase (response rate and debugging check) and subsequent stages.
Industry, Retail trade and Services and Construction
Data are transmitted to Eurostat as indices.
In the case of Industry, Retail Trade and Services, the data published on national level are the Labour Cost Index. In Construction, data at the national level are published in indices not adjusted for employment or seasonality.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
In cases of empty units (produced either by incident or by non-response) imputations are made of questionnaires to increase the quality of quarterly estimates. Two methods are used:
The application of the wage rise established in collective agreements to those questionnaires with response in the same quarter of the previous year.
The imputation of the average value in the strata to those units that never have responded.
Partial non-response is not allowed.
To obtain grossing-up estimations separate ratio estimators are used based on the number of employees in the Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions as the auxiliary variable.
Once the data are estimated, the index is calculated from the results obtained from the survey comparing its value directly with the base period average value.
Construction
Once the information has been received, the process of screening the data can begin. This process consists of two phases: during the first, micro-screening or screening of micro-data takes place, while the second consists of an analysis for various aggregation levels or macro-screening.
Micro-screening involves checking the validity of the data from each undertaking, taking account of the historical series provided by it. The analysis establishes month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons.
The second part of the screening takes place once the combined data have been processed. The aggregated information goes through a centralised screening process, where errors detected in the main variables are corrected manually and other variables are screened automatically. Where information is available from other sources, the consistency between these and the results of the survey is checked.
Estimators: Estimators or extrapolation coefficients are the factors which, from the data obtained in the sample, enable results for the population as a whole to be obtained. The transition from sample to population data is made using a matrix of extrapolation factors for each activity group and occupational stratum. The variable used to obtain the extrapolation factors was the number of undertakings in the DIRCE (population group).
The coefficients applied are an attempt to resolve the problem presented by the Directory in relation to incidents on site: stoppages, periods of inactivity, and activities other than building work, etc., since the basic premise is that undertakings that do not respond have the same structure when it comes to incidents.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The source is the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS). It is a sample survey. The population is formed by all employees working for an employer. The framework used for the selection was the General Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions, held by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. An Account of Social Security Contribution is an administrative concept that companies use to pay the social contributions of their employees and usually coincides with the local unit.
The procedure for random selection of units corresponds to stratified sampling with optimal allocation, in which the sampling units are the accounts.
The stratification criterion is accomplished attending to three variables: Autonomous Community (17 regions), the economic activity (division level of NACE rev.2, from B to S) and eight size intervals. The size of the unit is the number of employees in the unit.
The following groups are considered for the stratification:
1-4 employees
5-9 employees
10-19 employees
20-49 employees
50-99 employees
100-199 employees
200-499 employees
500 and more employees
The stratum eighth was researched exhaustively.
Within each stratum, the units are selected through systematic sampling with random start.
The sample is composed of around 28.000 units that they will be interviewed each quarter. The total sample is split into five groups of rotation so that in the first quarter of each year the oldest group is replaced such that one-fifth of the sample is replaced.
An exception is made for the units in the exhaustive strata (units of more than 500 employees and those belonging to strata so small that their sampling size necessarily coincides with the population), that are not renovated unless they cease to exist. These units account for 28% of the sample.
There is only one questionnaire format for the whole survey population. The questionnaire is revised periodically. It changes when the labour legislation makes it necessary. No changes are currently planned.
The survey is carried out by postal questionnaire, web questionnaire, etc.
Separate ratio estimators are used based on the number of employees in the Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions as the auxiliary variable.
The index is calculated from the results obtained from the survey comparing its value directly with the base period average value.
Construction
Directory: The framework for the survey is the Central Register of Undertakings (Directorio Central de Empresas, DIRCE) which includes information on undertakings with their identifying details, location and territorial distribution, and their classification by size and economic activity.
Size and design of the sample: The selection of the sampling units (undertakings) was made by strata defined by the size of the undertakings and the activities in which they are engaged in in accordance with the National Classification of Economic Activities for 2009: at national level, an exhaustive selection was made of all undertakings with 100 or more workers and a random sample was taken of those with fewer than 100 workers, with optimum allocation within each stratum. The size of the sample is approximately 4 000 units.
Rotation system: Approximately 20% of the units sampled change each year.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The frequency dissemination of the data is quarterly.
Construction
The data are disseminated on a monthly basis.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The QLCS results refer to quarter t are published at t +80 days. The same day the STS indicator is sent to Eurostat.
Construction
The EIPIC is published 55-60 days following the reference month. Advance data are made available to Eurostat within the regulatory timeframes.
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The availability of a methodology, a design and a common process for collecting, filtering, editing and elevation throughout its geographic scope, ensures comparability of results between the different regions.
Regarding the international comparability of the survey, the methodology follows the concepts and definitions of Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of the Council of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and labor costs, in turn based on the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). It also follows current international recommendations on labor statistics (ILO). Therefore international comparability is assured.
Construction
The survey is designed to be homogeneous across the geographical area taken into account in terms of methodology, design, method of collection of information, analysis and verification and screening of data.
In addition, at European level, comparability between countries is guaranteed by the regulations: REGULATION (EU) 2019/2152 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of November 27, 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics EXECUTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1197 OF THE COMMISSION of July 30, 2020, establishing specifications and technical provisions in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics by repealing ten legal acts in the field of business statistics
Industry, Retail trade and Services
The results broken down by sections and divisions of NACE-2 for activities included in Idustry are comparable in time since 2000. For economic activities included in Retail Trade and Services the data are comparable since 2008.
Construction
The EIPIC was published for the first time in 1988, when it was known as the ECIC (Encuesta Coyuntural de la Industria de la Construcción, Seasonal Survey of the Construction Industry). The changes made since then (changes in periodicity, changes to the sampling framework, change to CNAE, changes to the basis, etc.) have gradually modified certain methodological aspects of the survey, resulting in a degree of interruption to the series, which has been addressed to ensure linked series whenever possible.
Seasonal Survey of the Construction Industry (Encuesta Coyuntural de la Industría de la Construcción - ECIC). Quarterly series 1988-2005.
Construction Industry Production Indices (Índices de Producción de la Industria de la construcción - EIPIC - NACE 93 Rev. 1). Monthly series 2005-2008.
Construction Industry Production Indices (Índices de Producción de la Industria de la construcción - EIPIC - NACE 93 Rev. 2). Monthly series from January 2009 onwards.
