CHARTERED surveyors throughout the country are reporting a steady growth in work thanks to confidence in the construction industry.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reports that growth is up for the the eighteenth quarter in succession.

Surveyors in most regions reported an increase in workloads with the exception of London, where reported workloads remained practically the same.

As in the last quarter, surveyors are cautious for prospects in the short term in most regions but, in Wales and the North in particular, they were more upbeat for the next 12 months.

Bob Monaghan, spokesman on construction for the North-East RICS, said: "The health sector, education and lottery-based funding of projects continue to raise the level of expectation in the industry in the North-East.

"A growing level of work will, however, put increased pressure on the skilled workforce available in the North and contractors could find wage costs increasing to tempt workers to remain in the region. We already have shortages in particular trades and it is something the industry must address."

The RICS Construction Market Survey looks at the workload of charteredsurveyors across the UK. They are among the first to detect trends in construction because of their early involvement on proposed projects.

Construction industry confidence is falling increasingly in line with the country's wider economic outlook and the outlook over the next year remains one of optimism, given the announced government public spending plans and the prospect of lower interest rates.

However, surveyors are less positive about the employment expectations in the short and medium term. The net balance of surveyors expecting rising employment over the next quarter fell to 24 per cent, from the 31 per cent of the last quarter, although this is stronger than in the same quarter last year.

Overall skill shortages remain a concern for the future, returning to the same levels as in the same period last year, after easing in the second quarter of the year, with 46 per cent of chartered surveyors reporting recruitmentdifficulties in the quarte