Construction orders for the year to May rose 7% to £24bn, according to figures from the DTI.
Infrastructure orders rose 14% in the year, and private commercial orders rose 16%.
However, the shorter-term picture is not so good: in the three months to May, infrastructure orders fell 30% and private commercial orders were only 4% up on a year ago.
Public housing and housing association orders remained steady, but private housing orders fell 7% in the year to May, compared with the same period a year before. Private industrial orders fell 5%.
The figures come a week after QSs and economic forecasters warned that the UK construction sector is likely to undergo a slowdown in the next two years.
