<p>Construction designers will have more work this year, prices will rise.</p>

Prague - Construction designers will have more work this year, estimating an increase of 4.8 percent. One third of companies expect higher margins, and prices for project work are also rising. This is evident from the latest Quarterly Analysis of Czech Construction Q1/2015 prepared by the analytical company CEEC Research. Next year, the volume of project contracts is expected to grow by another four percent.
    Growth will be mainly driven by public institutions, which last year prepared tender procedures for project contracts worth 3.5 billion crowns, which is twice as much money as in 2013. Moreover, work for designers and architects will also increase from the private sector.
    "The results of our latest research with the directors of project companies indicate that the sector will grow by 4.8 percent in 2015. The basis for this will be the large volume of ongoing tender procedures from the public sector. The volume of contracts assigned by SŽDC already increased last year, and in 2015, this positive trend should also be joined by ŘSD - approximately 30 tenders for new projects worth nearly one billion crowns have been announced," declared Jiří Vacek, director of the analytical company CEEC Research.
    The market could be slightly better, according to companies preparing projects for engineering construction (5.1 percent). Firms specializing in building construction expect a market growth of 4.7 percent. "Since the beginning of this year, we have finally seen an increase in demand for project work after years of stagnation. This is reflected in both the number of new projects and in projects that had been paused for a longer time, which clients are now reviving. For this reason, we have already begun hiring new employees and expect to continue doing so throughout the year," noted Martin Ďuriš, director of PBA International Prague. The market growth driven by public investments is also expected by Martin Höfler, director and chairman of the board of Pudis.
    Similarly positive developments are anticipated by Karel Řezníček, executive director of PPP. "After years of decline and stagnation, we expect a very mild recovery this year for the first time," estimates Řezníček. Jaroslav Kupr, director of the Intar Prague studio, emphasized the influence of private investments, which are also expected to grow slightly. "I believe that private investments will influence the market along with a slight increase in public investments," stated Kupr.