CONFIDENCE in the Scottish construction sector has reached a record high, according to a report published today.

The Scottish Construction Monitor, compiled quarterly from the views of members of the Scottish Building Federation, said the confidence reading showed a balance of 29 for the first three months of this year.

That was up three points on the rating recorded at the end of last year and at the highest level since the research began in 2008.

It means confidence in the industry has been positive for seven consecutive quarters stretching back to 2013.

Scottish Building Federation managing director Vaughan Hart said: "It's good to see confidence within the Scottish construction industry up once again for the first three months of 2015.

"We continue to monitor the industry's performance carefully since certain sectors of the industry still offer significant scope for improvement over the coming months.

"In order to be sustainable, it's important that the industry's recovery is suitably balanced across all sectors."

The Monitor, compiled from the responses of more than 60 Scottish businesses of all sizes, suggested new health and safety requirements for domestic projects which come in next month are likely to add costs.

Almost all firms said they were aware of the Construction (Design and Management) regulations, which include the provision of on-site welfare services for employees, however 35 per cent expect to have to pass additional expense on to clients with 28 per cent planning to absorb any increase themselves.

Separately, confidence in the financial services sector across the UK has risen to its highest level since 2013.

While the CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey found volumes in the industry continue to increase the pace of that growth was the slowest for a year. While overall profitability had risen employee numbers were down, mainly as a result of banks cutting jobs.