How many brick houses are there, when were they built, what are the roofs made of, and where can there be asbestos? Four charts with figures from the Building and Housing Register (BBR) via Grundfast, updated every night — and what to watch out for when you read a register figure.
Introduction
The charts in this article are based on BBR, the Building and Housing Register. The figures are retrieved every night, so they match what is in the register today. Use them to understand where the bricklayer's work is — and read the section at the bottom before you use a figure in an assignment.
The building boom
The first chart shows all residential buildings by decade of construction. Notice that the 1960s and 1970s are the largest decades.
| Built | residential buildings |
|---|---|
| before 1900 | 149,767 |
| 1900–09 | 86,470 |
| 1910–19 | 63,783 |
| 1920–29 | 81,070 |
| 1930–39 | 99,292 |
| 1940–49 | 65,833 |
| 1950–59 | 119,775 |
| 1960–69 | 237,164 |
| 1970–79 | 290,104 |
| 1980–89 | 139,595 |
| 1990–99 | 66,061 |
| 2000–09 | 109,437 |
| 2010–19 | 75,012 |
| 2020–29 | 72,532 |
When were the homes you will work in built? The 1960s and 1970s are the biggest decades: more residential buildings were built then than in any other decade.
A block of flats counts as one building, not as many homes.
190 residential buildings have an unknown construction year and are not shown in the figure.
Total for all of Denmark: 1,656,085 residential buildings.
Source: BBR (Datafordeler) via Grundfast · fetched
The brick houses
The next chart shows only residential buildings with a brick facade. Compare it with the chart above: the shape is almost the same. In the big building decades, most houses were built of brick.
| Built | residential buildings |
|---|---|
| 1900–09 | 82,337 |
| 1910–19 | 62,231 |
| 1920–29 | 78,063 |
| 1930–39 | 96,249 |
| 1940–49 | 61,596 |
| 1950–59 | 97,951 |
| 1960–69 | 206,703 |
| 1970–79 | 268,563 |
| 1980–89 | 134,052 |
| 1990–99 | 62,154 |
| 2000–09 | 93,238 |
| 2010–19 | 63,355 |
| 2020–29 | 63,738 |
The brick houses from the 1960s and 1970s are the largest group. These are the cavity walls with wall ties that need inspecting, repointing and retrofit insulation — the trade's market is maintenance too, not just new build.
External wall material as registered in BBR. Buildings from before 1900 are not included.
Total for all of Denmark: 1,370,230 residential buildings.
Source: BBR (Datafordeler) via Grundfast · fetched
The roofs
The chart shows what the roofs of dwellings are covered with. Fibre cement, clay tiles and concrete tiles cover most of them. The clay tile roof is the work of the bricklayer and the roofer, and fibre cement can contain asbestos.
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