Collection from businesses

Attachment E

_C-700-L1A

(12-2011)

A Message from the Director, U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau produces monthly statistics on the value of construction put in place using data obtained from owners or builders of sampled projects. These statistics provide the only comprehensive measure of construction activity at the national level and are used in the computation of the Gross Domestic Product.

The enclosed "Construction Project Report," Form C-700 or C-700(R), identifies and describes the project that we selected for inclusion in this survey. To limit cost and respondent burden, we survey only a small sample of projects that are identified from public records. Therefore, your cooperation in this voluntary survey is especially important. This survey has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and given an OMB approval number. This number appears in the upper right-hand corner of the form. If this number were not displayed, we could not conduct this survey or request your participation.

We recognize that completing any report requires some work, and we try to reduce the reporting burden on our respondents. On the initial report, we ask for the start date, total cost estimates, and monthly figures on the value of work done from the start of construction through the previous month. It is particularly important that you give us your best estimate for Item 5c. We estimate that it will take approximately 30 minutes to provide this information. Thereafter, each month we ask for only a single figure on the value of work done in the previous month. If this number is not readily available from your records, your best estimate is acceptable. We estimate that this will require 10 minutes of your time. If you have any comments regarding these estimates or any other aspect of this survey, including suggestions for reducing the burden, send them to Paperwork Project 0607-0153 (Forms C-700 and C-700(R)), U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Rm. 3K138, Washington, DC 20233.

You may e-mail comments to [email protected]; use “Paperwork Project 0607-0153” as the subject.

You may submit your survey by mail or fax (1–800–845–8245) within 7 days, even if the project has not started.

To assist you further in your reporting, you may now submit your data via the Internet. The enclosed Form

C-700 or C-700(R) displays the User ID and Password that you need to access the questionnaire via the Internet at www.census.gov/econhelp/cprs

If you have any questions, call our toll-free number (1–800–845–8246) Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time). A supervisor may monitor the call to ensure accurate and courteous service. For your information and use, already published construction spending data are available online at www.census.gov/constructionspending

We are conducting this sample survey under Title 13, United States Code, which states that your report to the Census Bureau is confidential by law. Information provided by each respondent is aggregated to use for statistical purposes only. Only persons sworn to uphold the confidentiality of Census Bureau information see the responses provided in these voluntary surveys. Copies retained in your files are immune from legal process.

Thank you for your cooperation.

_Enclosure