Coronavirus and the construction industry

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. On 12 January 2020, it was announced that a novel coronavirus had been identified.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by coronavirus (CoV), and can affect people’s lungs and airways. Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. COVID-19 is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans. There is currently no specific treatment available.

COVID 19 has had a significant impact on world economies, both as a result of the disease itself, and from the measures that have been introduced to reduce the rate of infection. This has included travel restrictions, the closure of events and some businesses, and the isolation of at risk or infected populations.

Measures intended to mitigate the impact on business were announced in the 2020 Budget on 11 March, and a further £330bn package of support was announced on 18 March.

On 23 March the UK entered a period of strict lockdown, during which people were only permitted to leave home once a day for the purposes of exercise or essential shopping, or if their job was essential and they could not do it from home.

On 26 March, the chancellor announced a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) scheme to support the UK’s self-employed affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Ref

Lockdown began to lift through a phased process in England on 13 May 2020.

The construction industry has been seriously affected, from supply chain disruption to absences from work, contractual implications, financial strain and long-term design implications. There has also been a degree of confusion about whether construction sites and builders merchants should remain open.

Articles about coronavirus on Designing Buildings Wiki include:

• Acoustics in the workplace.
• Beyond the pandemic.
• Budget 2020.
• Business advisers to offer free services to small firms.
• Business and Planning Bill.
• Building services and health risk resilient buildings.
• CIOB urges construction industry to share PPE with healthcare providers.
• Construction sites urged to integrate test and trace.
• Coronavirus and force majeure.
• Coronavirus impact survey.
• Coronavirus job retention scheme.
• Designing HVAC to resist harmful pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria and viruses such as influenza and 2019-nCov)
• Engineering services bodies issue coronavirus site safety guides.
• England housing market resumes operations.
• Furlough.
• Government to support businesses through Trade Credit Insurance guarantee.
• Hospital isolation rooms.
• Keeping commercial premises safe during extreme times.
• Maximising maintenance budgets after lockdown.
• New deal for infrastructure 2020.
• New domestic electrical work video.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA.
• Plan proposes to reinvent construction industry.
• Plexiglass.
• Re-starting construction in a COVID-19 environment.
• Social distancing compliance marshal.
• Social distancing on construction sites.
• Survey records business projections after coronavirus storm.
• The future of the coronavirus furlough.
• The use of infrastructure systems - insights into the new normal.
• Understanding mental health in the built environment.