Land, Building, Construction and Real Estate | Census and Statistics Department

A main contractor is one who enters into a contract directly with a property developer or the client party of a project, as distinct from a sub-contractor who accepts orders from the main contractor or another sub-contractor for specific tasks forming part of a main contract.

A construction site refers to a demarcated locality (of an appreciable area at the least) where one or more major stages or processes of building/construction works are being carried on.

Construction works at locations other than sites refers to those construction work performed at minor new construction work locations and erected buildings and structures.

A real estate development project is concerned with the development of land and/or redevelopment of existing premises into a new form of property for sale or lease. A development project is not regarded as active if the works that have been initiated relate only to pre-construction preparation.

An establishment is ideally an economic unit which engages, under a single ownership or control, in one or predominantly one kind of economic activity at a single physical location. In the context of construction, the requirement of a single physical location is relaxed for practical purposes. Where separate figures relating to different activities or different locations under the same management are not available, a combined return is accepted and in this case, the reporting unit is treated as an establishment.

For the Industry Group of Architectural, Surveying and Engineering Services :

Compensation of employees
= wages and salaries (including share-based payments) + payments in kind and employer's social security expenditure (including contributions to Mandatory Provident Fund schemes, messing, medical expenses and premiums for employees' compensation insurance)

Gross additions to fixed assets
= acquisitions of fixed assets – proceeds from disposal of fixed assets

Gross surplus
= total receipts – consumption of sundry supplies; fuels, electricity and water, and maintenance services – architectural, surveying and engineering design and consultancy fees – miscellaneous operating expenses – compensation of employees

Miscellaneous operating expenses
= rent, rates and government rent for land and buildings + rentals for machinery, equipment and vehicles + interest payments + transport and travelling expenses + newspaper and magazines, and communications expenses + postal and courier service expenses + insurance premiums + administration charges paid to related companies + cleaning expenses + advertisement and business promotion expenses + accounting, audit and legal fees + other professional and business services fees + entertainment expenses + expenses in maintaining representative offices outside Hong Kong + payment for royalties for the use of patents, trademarks, copyrights and franchises owned by others + staff training expenses + other operating expenses

Miscellaneous operating expenses do not include bad debts, donations to charities, fines, direct taxes, obsolete stocks, depreciation charges and insurance excesses.

Number of persons engaged
= number of working proprietors and active business partners + number of employees

Other business receipts
= receipts from royalties for licensing others to make use of an establishment's patents, trademarks, copyrights and franchises + interest income + dividends + rental income from letting overseas land and buildings + gain/loss from trading of financial assets + other income

Total receipts
= service income + other business receipts

Value added
= service income + other income – consumption of sundry supplies; fuels, electricity and water, and maintenance services – architectural, surveying and engineering design and consultancy fees – miscellaneous operating expenses + interest payments

For the Industry Section of Construction :

Compensation of employees and payments to labour-only sub-contractors
= remuneration to direct employees (comprising wages and salaries to operatives and other employees; payments in kind and employer's social security expenditure as well as any share-based payments) + payments to labour-only sub-contractors

Gross additions to fixed assets
= acquisitions of fixed assets – proceeds from disposal of fixed assets

Gross surplus
= total receipts – payment for sub-contract works rendered by fee sub-contractors – consumption of materials and supplies; fuels, electricity and water, and maintenance services – miscellaneous operating expenses – compensation of employees and payments to labour-only sub-contractors

Gross value of construction works performed
= construction works performed as main contractor at (i) construction sites; (ii) other minor new construction works locations; and (iii) erected buildings and structures + construction works performed as sub-contractor at (i) construction sites; (ii) other minor new construction works locations; and (iii) erected buildings and structures

Miscellaneous operating expenses
= rent, rates and government rent for land and buildings + rentals for machinery, equipment and vehicles + interest payments + transport and travelling expenses + newspaper and magazines, and communications expenses + postal and courier service expenses + insurance premiums + administration charges paid to related companies + cleaning expenses + advertisement and business promotion expenses + accounting, audit and legal fees + other professional and business services fees + entertainment expenses + charges paid to banks, deposit-taking companies and other financial institutions + expenses in maintaining representative offices outside Hong Kong + payment for royalties for the use of patents, trademarks, copyrights and franchises owned by others + staff training expenses + payment for disposal of construction waste + architectural, surveying and engineering design and consultancy fees + other operating expenses

Miscellaneous operating expenses do not include bad debts, donations to charities, fines, direct taxes, obsolete stocks, depreciation charges and insurance excesses.

Number of persons directly engaged
= number of working proprietors, active partners and unpaid family workers + number of direct employees, comprising operatives and other employees

Other business receipts
= interest income + dividends + rental income from letting overseas land and buildings + other income

Total receipts
= gross value of construction works performed + other business receipts

Value added
= gross value of construction works performed + other income – payment for sub-contract works rendered by fee sub-contractors – consumption of materials and supplies; fuels, electricity and water, and maintenance services – miscellaneous operating expenses + interest payments

For the Industry Section of Real Estate Activities :

Gross additions to fixed assets
= acquisitions of fixed assets – proceeds from disposal of fixed assets

Gross margin of real estate development projects
= value accrued to project – total project expenses + interest payments to finance real estate development projects

Gross surplus
= total receipts – consumption of sundry supplies; fuels, electricity and water, and maintenance services – miscellaneous operating expenses – interest payments to finance real estate development projects – compensation of employees

Miscellaneous operating expenses
= rent, rates and government rent for land and buildings + rentals for machinery, equipment and vehicles + interest payments apart from those for financing real estate development projects + transport and travelling expenses + estate management expenses + newspaper and magazines, and communications expenses + postal and courier service expenses + insurance premiums + administration charges paid to related companies + cleaning expenses + laundry and dry-cleaning services expenses + advertisement and business promotion expenses + accounting, audit and legal fees + other professional and business services fees + entertainment expenses + charges paid to banks, deposit-taking companies and other financial institutions + payment for royalties for the use of patents, trademarks, copyrights and franchises owned by others + staff training expenses + architectural, surveying and engineering design and consultancy fees + other operating expenses

Miscellaneous operating expenses do not include bad debts, donations to charities, fines, direct taxes, obsolete stocks, depreciation charges and insurance excesses.

Number of persons engaged
= number of working proprietors, active business partners and unpaid family workers + number of employees

Total receipts
= gross margin of real estate development projects + service and rental income + other business receipts

Total project expenses
= payments to contractors + building materials and fittings supplied outside the contract price + architectural design and technical consultancy fees + interest payments to finance real estate development projects + other project expenses

Value accrued to project during reporting period
= { [ (P1 - L1) + (P2 - L2) ] / 2 } x (C2 - C1), where P = market value of the property as if completed; L = market value of the underlying land lot; C = percentage of project completion; Subscript 1 = the beginning of reporting period; Subscript 2 = the end of the reporting period.

Value added
= gross margin of real estate development projects + service and rental income + other income – consumption of sundry supplies; fuels, electricity and water, and maintenance services – miscellaneous operating expenses + interest payments apart from those for financing real estate development projects