Year-on-year, total construction output fell 2.6% in Q3, against the previous quarter.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics show falls in seven of the nine construction sectors in the third quarter of 2012 in just three months.
Private commercial output fell the furthest at 8.2%.
However, new infrastructure showed the largest quarter on quarter increase at 9.9%.
Steve McGuckin, UK managing director of the global programme management consultancy Turner & Townsend, commented: “The fragility of business confidence has taken a toll on private commercial construction. At 17.4% down on the same time last year, it has now fallen past even the low it reached in the 2009 recession.
“Infrastructure is showing some signs of life, returning to growth after falling earlier in the year. But it represents just 18% of new work, and the industry as a whole is still walking wounded.”
