The New Year has been ushered in by an alarming surge in hospitalisations and sadly a dramatic increase in deaths from the ongoing pandemic. The Government was under increasing pressures to take action. Consequently, the Prime Minister has on 3 January announced another national lockdown, with measures which became law on Wednesday 6th January 2021.
To read the full text of this blog post by Duane Morris attorney Vijay Bange, please visit the Duane Morris London Blog.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has released interim guidance regarding construction in New York state. These guidelines apply to both nonessential construction businesses in regions that are permitted to reopen and essential construction businesses throughout the state that were previously permitted to remain open.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
On May 15, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Orders 202.6 and 202.8, which stopped all nonessential work in New York, will expire. New York will then shift to “New York Forward,” the state’s plan to reopen nonessential businesses and return people to work, without triggering renewed spread of COVID-19 or overwhelming the healthcare system.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
Last week we discussed, in light of the encouragement from Robert Jenrick MP (Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government) for the construction industry to remobilise, the government’s apparent reluctance to provide confidence and clarity for the construction industry in respect of the safe operation of sites.
In the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on 10 May 2020, he re-stated that encouragement for the construction industry, where possible, to return to work.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris attorneys Steve Nichol and Matthew Friedlander, please visit the Duane Morris London Blog.
The construction industry in the UK has been afforded the freedom to continue work where it is safe to do so since the lockdown was implemented. It is a freedom that the sector has done its best to exploit where it can, with significant works continuing on a variety of essential and less essential projects. A number of leading construction companies and housebuilders have continued or recommenced work where they are able to do so, and a number of high profile projects are apparently progressing well. Build UK has reported that its members, who comprise some of the largest contractors operating in the UK, are now working on 73% of sites (up from 69% last week). However, the issues for the industry facing the prospect of full remobilisation to all sites have not changed.
To read the full text of this post by Steve Nichol and Matthew Friedlander, please visit the Duane Morris London Blog.
By Owen Newman and Chris Chasin
Who is in the best position to sustain the loss? And what outcome is in the overall best interests of industry, economy and the public at-large? Governments will grapple with these issues in the context of COVID-19 in the months and years to come. And the construction industry, willing or not, will find itself at the core of these debates as it deals with COVID-19 related cost and schedule impacts caused by work stoppages, disruption of labor resources and productivity, disturbed supply chains and varied safety requirements. Continue reading “Construction Industry at Core of Post-COVID-19 Debates”
As more and more states and localities shut down entire industries and order workers and citizens to stay home and shelter in place, many companies are asking “How does this affect my operations?” In this Alert, we focus on the construction industry and how “essential” is being defined across the federal, state and municipal level.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, many states are implementing increasingly strict measures to prevent further spread of the virus. These measures include travel restrictions, extended school closures and requirements that individuals stay at home except as necessary to provide certain essential business and government services. Until recently, New York state considered construction to be an essential business, as outlined in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.6.
In the wake of pressure from various labor organizations and community groups, however, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.13, dated March 29, 2020. The new Executive Order states, in pertinent part, as follows:
Executive Order 202.6 is hereby modified to clarify that construction which was an essential service not subject to the in-person work restrictions is modified to provide only certain construction is considered exempt from the in-person restrictions as of March 28, 2020.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
COVID-19 precautions continue to impact construction by delaying material shipments and reducing labor availability, as well as governmental orders to halt many construction projects. Some ongoing or planned construction projects are at risk of being suspended or terminated because of reduced demand in various sectors, such as hospitality or oil and gas, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many engineering and construction companies have shifted tasks to remote working arrangements and must invest in IT infrastructure and training to limit efficiency losses. Some companies have been forced to lay off employees because of delayed and canceled construction projects.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
In an industry of seemingly ever-tighter margins across the board, it is perhaps unsurprising that the construction industry has fought to continue through the current coronavirus crisis as much as it has. However, many in the industry have stopped work and shut down sites and, despite the current and perhaps somewhat over-optimistic view from the government that work can continue whilst still complying with social distancing rules, it seems inevitable that all non-essential work will stop very soon. Continue reading “Coronavirus and Construction in the UK: The Time to Talk Is Now”
