Bay Area Construction Resumes Today With Stringent Safety Rules
The new shelter orders impose strict requirements on how construction activities may proceed, specifically, requiring the jobsite to comply with the state shelter order and a specific Construction Safety Protocol.
SAN FRANCISCO—A new shelter-in-place order announced last week will allow construction job sites to reopen with stringent safety and physical distancing requirements. Under the new order, which went into effect at midnight last night, all construction will be allowed to resume as long as workers use social distancing practices and wear protective gear, among other restrictions. The order will restart commercial and residential projects throughout the Bay Area.
“Future easing of restrictions requires that each jurisdiction and various sectors continue to rapidly build critical infrastructure and systems to respond to and control the spread of coronavirus infections and to ensure the healthcare system’s ability to meet demand,” the statement read in part.
The six Bay Area counties and Berkeley issued new shelter orders allowing all construction to resume as an essential business. Earlier orders only permitted certain types of construction projects such as affordable housing projects to continue.
“While the new shelter orders allow all construction to resume, they do not allow a return to business as usual,” Michelle Akerman, partner with Hanson Bridgett, tells GlobeSt.com. “The new shelter orders, which are largely the same, impose numerous strict requirements on how construction activities may proceed. Generally, they require the jobsite to comply with the state shelter order and a specific Construction Safety Protocol.”
The Construction Safety Protocols, attached to each of the new shelter orders include the following requirements among many others:
- Post a site-specific health and safety plan at the job site
- Post a notice with social distancing requirements set forth in the Construction Safety Protocol
- Provide appropriate personal protective equipment to those working on the jobsite
- Implement strict social distancing requirements listed in the protocol including staggering shifts and trades to limit the number of workers at the jobsite at any one time, prohibiting gatherings, controlling choke points at the jobsite and placing wash stations throughout the jobsite, among other requirements
- Assign a COVID-19 safety compliance officer to the jobsite to oversee implementation and compliance with the Construction Safety Protocol
- Assign a third-party jobsite safety accountability supervisor to the jobsite with certain minimum experience to verify compliance with the Construction Safety Protocols
- Where work is being performed in an occupied residential unit or in the common areas of an occupied residential or commercial building, seal off the work area from the remainder of the unit/common area.
“Owners, developers and contractors looking to resume construction of their projects should carefully review the new shelter order for the city or county in which their project is located, the state shelter order, and OSHA and Cal-OSHA regulations to develop a compliance plan before resuming construction,” Akerman tells GlobeSt.com. “Violation of or failure to comply with the new shelter orders is a misdemeanor and is punishable by fine, imprisonment or both.”
When the sheltering in place edicts were first introduced, four US states including California and several cities had initially banned non-essential construction. In Europe, construction is still paused in many countries, but restrictions on manufacturing and construction are among the first to be slowly rolled back in countries such as in Spain.
The perception of increased lease-up risk has caused many owners to shelve planned speculative projects including those in the pre-construction phase, according to a report by Prologis. Sharply reduced capacity and increased risk perception during the stay-at-home economy will continue to influence development activity in the recovery stage.
According to a survey conducted in early April by the Associated General Contractors of America, some 40% of construction firms have furloughed or terminated workers because of the impacts of COVID-19. Construction financing is likely to remain difficult to secure, limiting new speculative projects. Until a vaccine is available for broad distribution, increased safety measures on construction sites could further extend timelines, says Prologis.