Wednesday, March 25th the SRBX Legal Committee hosted a webinar for "Coronavirus Construction Industry Update." To view the powerpoint slides, click here. To view the recorded broadcast click here for part 1, and click here for part 2.
Governor Newsom’s March 19, 2020 Stay at Home order (California Executive Order N-33-20) specifies construction is an essential industry in the State of California. For companies seeking language for documentation for their employees commuting back-and-forth to jobsites, a template is provided here.
Construction Exemption from Stay at Home Order
On March 19, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order for all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence. Businesses and organizations that provide critical infrastructure for the state are exempted, including health care and public health, public safety, food and agriculture and media. This past weekend, the California Office of Emergency Services provided additional guidance on exempt sectors. Guidance on construction activity was included in this document (page 11 in the link). Specifically: “Construction Workers who support the construction, operation, inspection, and maintenance of construction sites and construction projects (including housing construction)” “Workers such as plumbers, electricians, exterminators, and other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of construction sites and construction projects (including those that support such projects to ensure the availability of needed facilities, transportation, energy and communications; and support to ensure the effective removal, storage, and disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste) (SRBX emphasis added) Please note updates to this list of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce may be issued periodically. SRBX will provide our industry with necessary guidance, as warranted. While SRBX understands the importance of keeping jobsites moving forward during these difficult and unprecedented times, we are working with industry partners to encourage Cal OSHA and Federal OSHA to provide reasonable and uniform guidelines for our member companies who encounter days missed by employees due to illness related to COVID-19 (View letter here). We will continue to work with state and federal agencies to assist them as they develop more specific guidance regarding reporting.
The California Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response website contains up-to-date information regarding Governor Newsom’s March 19th Stay at Home Executive Order. The website recently posted this clarification on the order:
How does this order interact with local orders to shelter in place? Does it supersede them? This is a statewide order. Depending on the conditions in their area, local officials may enforce stricter public health orders. But they may not loosen the state’s order. SRBX will continue to work with our local coalition of construction, development and business associations to present the case for consistency in local orders across the Greater Sacramento region. With a regional construction workforce engaged in important works for the health of the Region’s citizenry and economy, it is essential that local Counties, Municipalities and Agencies operate off the same page. If your project is experiencing difficulty in securing permits, inspections or any other governmental approvals, please notify Tim Murphy or Damon Conklin at SRBX immediately. On April 20, XL Construction released an updated version of their Pandemic Response Plan. The plan is a comprehensive document developed as a tool for project teams, staff, trade partners, and clients. It outlines an emergency preparedness and business continuity plan in response to the COVID-19 crisis and addresses the CDC guidelines for hygiene, sanitization, social distancing, and illness protocols.
In sharing this document, former SRBX Board President and XL Project Executive Kelley Cowan said “We can only appreciate that the Governor’s Executive Order allows construction to continue if we know the work will be executed in a safe and healthy manner. Therefore, we are sharing this document for the benefit of our industry and the community.” A coalition of construction associations, including SRBX, determined a comprehensive response from the state was needed to address conflicting permissibility of construction operations in county public health orders/directives.
This coalition prepared and transmitted a policy recommendation which clearly established construction and related services as essential to the well-being of Californians to the Governor Newsom’s office the afternoon of March 19. On the evening of March 19, Governor Newsom announced his statewide stay at home order. Unfortunately, that order did not provide the sought clarity on continuing of construction operations, and regrettably created more confusion. SRBX and representatives of the construction industry immediately engaged with the governor’s office, and a clarifying statement was put on the Governor’s COVID-19 website last night at 11:22 PM stating construction is exempt from the stay at home order. Additional conversations with the Governor’s administration confirms ALL construction is exempt in the Governor’s order. However, our coalition has reports that some local jurisdictions have closed public counters. We are seeking a legal opinion that the Governor’s directive supersedes any order or directive from a County or Local Agency to ensure construction may proceed and is supported by necessary governmental functions (permitting, inspections, etc). SRBX will continue to post updated information on our COVID-19 webpage. Please check the site regularly for news and information important to our industry. Proceeding forward, there are several key points to remember:
Working with health and safety as the primary objective, our industry can continue to meet the objectives of our clients while providing for the economic well-being of our workers and the State of California. Build safe; Build healthy. Tim Murphy, CEO Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange Contractors State License Board Closing its Test Centers Statewide
The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) is announcing that all eight of its test centers throughout California will close, effective tomorrow, Thursday, March 19, 2020. The closure will last through April 16, 2020. Applicants can reschedule their exams via email at: exams@cslb.ca.gov. They can also reschedule by phone at: (916) 255-3498. (Email recommended) Most CSLB staff remain on-duty, either at its Sacramento headquarters or offices throughout the state, or through teleworking. Sacramento County Issues Shelter at Home Order; Goes into Effect at 11:59PM Tonight
Sacramento County has issued a formal shelter at home order for residents of Sacramento County. Based on input provided by SRBX and industry partners, construction has been listed as an exempt business. The order states: “For purposes of this Order, individuals may leave their residence to provide any services or perform any work necessary to the operations and maintenance of “Essential Infrastructure,” including, but not limited to, construction, airport operations, water, sewer, flood control, gas, electrical, oil refining, roads and highways, public transportation, solid waste collection, processing and removal, internet, and telecommunications systems (including the provision of essential global, national, and local infrastructure for computing services, business infrastructure, communications, and web-based services), provided that they carry out those services or that work in compliance with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in this Section, to the extent possible. SRBX continues to work with industry partners to address orders that may be issued from adjoining counties and the State of California. Information on these orders will be posted to SRBX’s COVID-19 Information webpage. Please check this resource frequently for current information regarding COVID-19 and the construction industry. |