Scottish construction output experienced a record year in 2015, it has been announced.

New figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals output rose to more than £14 billion over the 12 months to September this year.

Previously, the figure stood at over £13 billion.

Scottish Building Federation (SBF) MD Vaughan Hart said that major infrastructure projects were the main driving factor behind output numbers.

However, he added this growth is "not sustainable in the long term".

"Unfortunately, growth is not balanced across different sectors of the Scottish construction industry," he said.

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"As an overall percentage of Scottish construction industry output, infrastructure has risen from around £1.5 billion or 13% of total industry output over the 12 months to September 2008 to almost £4 billion or 28% over the 12 months to September 2015. As a comparison, new housing was worth around £2.5 billion or 22% of total industry output in 2008 but is now worth £2.2 billion or 16% of total industry output. Private commercial activity has also declined over that period from £3.1 billion or 26% of total output seven years ago to £2.4 billion or 17% today.

"Based on this analysis, I have to agree with the assessment that current rates of output growth in the Scottish construction sector are not sustainable and suggest an over-reliance on the infrastructure sector of the industry as the main source of this growth.

"In making future investment decisions, there needs to be a continued focus on balancing the industry's performance across different sectors so as to put the industry's recovery on a more sustainable footing for the longer term."

(LM/MH)