The volume of new orders increased from £5.6bn for the same period last year to £6.2bn this year.
Large infrastructure contracts contributed to the increase, with infrastructure orders for the quarter valued at £1.4bn compared with £1bn for the third quarter of 1999.
The DETR reported a fall of 4% in new housing compared with last year, with £1.2bn in new housing orders for the third quarter of 2000 compared with £1.3bn in 1999.
The DETR's figures came at the same time as a slew of other reports.
Chartered surveyors reported steady growth in activity, with workloads up for the 18th quarter in succession.
The RICS construction market survey showed a balance of 20% of chartered surveyors reporting a rise in workloads in the third quarter of 2000, compared with a balance of 17.2% for the same period last year.
The outlook for workloads is healthy, as a balance of 26% of chartered surveyors expect activity to rise in the next three months. This is only slightly lower than the same quarter last year, when the balance was 32%.
Total industry activity for October was above average but was a slight drop on last month, according to the BuildOnline/Chartered Industry Purchasing Managers index. The seasonally adjusted figure for October was 56, compared with 58.9 in September.
The overall volume of new orders received by construction companies rose in October, with an index reading of 58.1 compared with 58.5 in September.
