Single-family housing starts exemplify the construction economy’s COVID-19 heartbreak in the first quarter of 2020. Total 2019 residential starts were 1.4 million units, just 0.3% above 2018, with single-family starts down 1,000 and multifamily up 1%.
“We expected 2020 single-family starts to decline mildly again,” Richard Branch, chief economist with Dodge Data & Analytics told webinar attendees on April 9. “But Q1 was the best quarter since 2007 – 940,000 units (seasonally adjusted annualized rate)." Then March became a tale of two months; Dodge expects Q2 single-family home sales could fall by 50%, to Great Recession depths, but begin to recover quickly in 2021.housing starts growing early as the construction season unfolded, in line with March of 2019. And then the virus hit. Construction moratoria and stay-at-home orders in the last week doused so much work. Click here to read entire article.
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Contractors will be required to pay a hefty sum for failing to abide by new Covid-19 construction safety measures. Police are required to monitor construction sites in Florida's Miami-Dade County, for example, and will shut down any site that fails to enforce distancing requirements.
According to The Lien Zone, distancing requirements include attending morning meetings 10 at a time (and holding them outdoors), not sharing tools, leaving work boots at the site, and staggering shifts. Most importantly, construction employees are required to keep six feet apart. Click here to read the entire article. Confidence among U.S. construction industry leaders generally improved in January, consistent with the burgeoning momentum of the U.S. economy during the early weeks of 2020, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Confidence Index released last week. While the reading for sales expectations edged lower for the month, confidence pertaining to sales, profit margins and staffing levels remain well above the threshold of 50, signaling expected growth in those three metrics.
As of January 2020, nearly 72% of contractors expected to expand their staffing levels over the next six months, while more than 68% expect their sales levels to increase. Approximately 51% expect their profit margins to increase, a reflection of skills shortages that have driven costs higher and stunted profit margin growth among many contractors. That said, fewer than 10% of contractors expected profit margin declines over the next two quarters. Click here to read the entire article. One crisis facing healthcare professionals and other workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic is having enough PPE to protect themselves against the virus. OSHA has issued interim guidance to help address nationwide shortages of disposable N95 filtering face piece respirators (N95 FFRs).
The guidance advises employers to reassess their administrative controls, engineering controls and workplace practices to identify any changes that could lead to a decreased need for N95 respirators. Click here to read the entire article. When life-or-death conditions are part of your job, and people across many parts of your organization rely on your leadership and expertise, stress management becomes an essential skill that many in this profession are used to deploying with ease. But sometimes, the unexpected happens, life gets scary, and even the strongest and bravest among us feel the weight of it.
In these situations, it’s OK to admit you’re overwhelmed. In fact, it’s often the first step toward feeling better. Here are 10 free resources that could help you alleviate stress and refocus your energy. In ways great and small, we all play a part in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19. A new OSHA poster highlights 10 measures employers and safety professionals can take to foster a cleaner, healthier workplace and help prevent workers from contracting the virus. Click here to read the entire article.
With the goal of preventing COVID-19 transmission by adhering to quarantine rules and dealing with “stay at home” guidelines, construction projects nationwide are currently being shuttered. According to AGC’s most recent industry snapshot, almost 30% of companies surveyed have been directed by an owner, government agency or official to halt or delay work on any projects that are either active or expected to start within the next 30 days.
In an unprecedented series of events that have unfolded as the result of the outbreak, businesses must also recognize the importance of project restart strategies once such restrictions are lifted. Click here to read the entire article. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced today that it has postponed the 7th annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, originally scheduled for May 4-8, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be rescheduled this summer. Click here to read entire article.
The United States Department of Homeland Security has issued guidance on what and who makes up the "essential critical infrastructure workforce." While not meant to be an all-inclusive list, the advisories identify workers who conduct operations and provide services that are essential to the U.S. infrastructure, which include: workers who support crucial supply chains, those who maintain and repair critical infrastructure, construction work, etc.
Here's some of what's now included pertaining to construction work:
Click to read the entire article. CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) IN CONSTRUCTION: LIABILITY, RECORDABILITY, AND FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS4/7/2020 Over the past few weeks, it’s become clear that the world is facing a remarkable health crisis.
The coronavirus pandemic has now been detected in most countries worldwide, creating personal, practical, and legal implications for those in the construction industry. To address business considerations of the COVID-19 threat, employers should consider multiple categories of concern:
Recordability, EMR, and Insurance Costs A recent publication from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has confirmed that COVID- 19 is a recordable event; this means that employees who contract the virus while at work must be recorded on an employer’s OSHA300 Log. These cases may be compensable under Worker’s Compensation if it can be proven that the virus was contracted on the job (which is fairly simple to uphold if multiple employees become infected at the same time). In other states, it has already been decided that Worker’s Compensation will be extended to workers exposed to COVID-19 on the job and will be inclusive of time in quarantine, medical testing, medical expenses, and indemnity payments while out of work. Considering the long incubation and recovery periods associated with COVID-19, these recordable events are likely to have high levels of “Days Away From Work” and “Restricted Duty”; furthermore, due to the contagious nature of the virus, there is significant potential for multiple cases within a company after the first case appears. An employer’s Experience Modification Rate (EMR) is calculated based upon both of these figures (number of claims and severity of claims). This means that a COVID-19 situation in the workplace has the potential to make a company’s EMR, as well as the corresponding insurance premiums, skyrocket. These figures are kept on a company’s record for a total of three years, thus impacting the ability to bid and receive work long term. Legal Considerations When thinking about the legal implications of COVID-19, employers should consider the regulatory requirements outlined by various parties. A few of the regulatory agencies most pertinent to the construction industry, as well the standards which apply to the COVID-19 pandemic, are outlined below: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Financial Considerations Due to COVID-19’s impact on global supply chains, it is likely that the spread of the virus will result in delays and cost overruns in the construction industry. China, one of the world’s largest exporters of building materials, is currently experiencing a 17.2% decline in exports. The party that bears the risk and the losses resulting from construction delays and increased costs associated with materials shortages will be dictated by contract. Contractors would be wise to review contracts currently underway and consider making revisions to contracts soon approaching.
The data surrounding coronavirus spread in the United States is staggering, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) are encouraging continued adjustments and accommodations in the work setting. As business leaders, it is important to consider all categories noted above while navigating this chaotic period. The importance of emergency action planning, business continuity, and remote work/alternate revenue sources cannot be over stressed. Written by: - Julia Kunlo, Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Vice President of Evolution Safety Resources - Ashley L. Felton, Senior Counsel, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP - Adam P. Banks, Senior Counsel, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP |