Construction’s road to recovery:

Details of the plan to help construction bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic will be unveiled today.

We recently wrote about how major contractors are now working on 86% of sites in England and Wales as the return to work on construction and infrastructure sites gathers pace.

However, it goes without saying that in addition to re-opening major construction sites, developers will need a clear medium and long term strategy for negotiating the many practical challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

BuildUK said the so-called Roadmap to Recovery will “restart, reset and reinvent” the sector and is set to be published on Monday.

Issuing structural warranties safely and securely during lockdown:

Advantage Home Construction Insurance has continued to work with our clients to issue structural warranties throughout the epidemic, rapidly updating our practices to serve our clients safely and securely both on and off site. During this time, we’ve seen first hand the determination of developers to adapt and innovate, and to make plans for the future even while tackling day to day challenges.

Recovery planning:  

Speaking as part of Building’s Construction’s return to work webinar last week, Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, revealed some details of the organisation’s emergency recovery planning.

Berry is leading on the repair, maintenance and improvement sector of the recovery planning for the Construction Leadership Council.

The four streams of the recovery plan, which also include housing, infrastructure and commercial, were considered by the CLC’s board last week.

BuildUK also revealed imported goods and materials bound for construction sites were not expected to be affected by the introduction of the new measures at the UK border which from 8 June are designed to protect against a second wave of coronavirus infections. It said:

“While anyone entering the UK will be required to undergo 14 days self-isolation, the shortlist of exemptions includes road haulage and freight workers to ensure that the supply of goods is not impacted, as well as anyone moving from within the Common Travel Area, covering Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.”

It said the new measures would apply across the UK but that each of the four nations will determine how they are enforced within their jurisdiction. They will be reviewed every three weeks.

Construction professionals take an optimistic view of the future:

As reported by PBC Today this week, 92% of construction professionals across the world expect their business to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)

The survey was taken by more than 500 construction professionals from Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom and the USA.

56% of survey respondents said their organisations were keeping all or some sites open. While 76% said their employees were able to observe social distancing on their way into work, and 84% said they were able to observe social distancing onsite.

We’ll be back soon with more construction-related news. To contact us about structural warranties, please pay a visit to our home page.