Construction cost index

It comprises four indices: cost of private construction of buildings for housing, cost of materials, cost of labor and cost of overheads.

In the elaboration of the current methodology, in addition to the experience capitalized by INDEC, the practices of other countries were taken into account; both those in the region and those with more advanced statistical systems.

It is assumed that the techniques used in the construction of the models respond to traditional characteristics. That is, systems such as the industrialized are not considered.

The monthly valuation is done for each component of the cost: goods, services and labor inputs. The aggregation of these elements, weighted by their relative importance in the base year, allows us to arrive at results grouped by chapters (materials, labor and general expenses) and, from the same way, from the chapters obtain the General Level.

A similar calculation is made with an alternative grouping to that of the chapters, which comprises the main tasks that make up a work (denominated in the index as an item of work: earth movement, structure, masonry, etc.). The cost calculations do not include the purchase price of the land, construction fees, professional fees (by project, management and technical representation), administrative expenses, financial expenses and value added tax (VAT) .

Regarding the price survey, the selection of the informants who provide the prices of the elements that compose the index was made taking into account the modality with which it operates in the sector of the construction activity. Thus, the prices of the materials are requested from distributors, suppliers and in some cases from manufacturers, established in the Greater Buenos Aires region (Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires conurbation). The selection was made using specialized publications and information on other suppliers obtained from the companies surveyed.

Insurance prices are requested from insurance companies. In the case of subcontracts, in the absence of a register of specialized companies, the informants were selected with the information provided by the construction companies on their subcontractors, the payrolls associated with the corresponding chambers and specialized publications. The prices of certain services are requested directly from the companies that supply them.