Work worth a total of £2,574m was granted planning permission.

Balfour Beatty has secured the biggest annual order book in Scotland.

This workload includes schemes expected to start on site in the next 12 months such as the £80m redevelopment and refurbishment of Caithness General Hospital in Wick. 

The outlook for the hotel and leisure sector has improved after a strong start to the year, with a 77% rise in the value of work approved compared to the initial quarter of 2024.

Major hotel projects due to help future workloads include the £100m Project Luna development in Edinburgh.

Workload from the education sector is also strengthening with projects worth a total of £174m granted planning permission in the first quarter of this year.

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That total is 174% greater than for the same period in 2023.

The value of approved work in the social housing sector boomed by 41% in the first quarter, driven by a swathe of student accommodation developments that will lift workloads in the next 12 months.

Glenigan’s construction market research shows that work will begin on the £70m Albany House development at the University of St Andrews in July, while a £127m redevelopment of the former Tynecastle High School in Edinburgh into student housing should start next January.

The work gaining approval will support all levels of the industry as the total value of work approved at an underlying level, which is projects valued at £100m or below, rose by 20% on a year ago.

With projects coming on stream in a range of sectors, the outlook for Scotland’s construction industry is improving.