Bellway and Higgins Group announce a return to construction, as Build UK says that its contractor members have opened almost half of their housing sites.
Following a slew of housebuilders who returned to building work last week, Build UK have reported that its contract members are continuing to reopen sites, with almost 70% of their sites now open in England and Wales.
The majority are construction (81%) and infrastructure (78%) sites, with members that include housing in their portfolios confirming that less than half of their housing sites (46%) are open for business.
Productivity on construction and infrastructure sites is averaging 67%, with London construction sites proving to be a particular challenge at just 56% output being achieved.
Information from Build UK Partner, Builders’ Conference, which collects data on construction contracts across the UK, is showing the impact of coronavirus on the number and value of contracts awarded.
During the five weeks since the lockdown started, a total of 613 contracts have been awarded, which is a 22% reduction on the previous five-week period (789 contracts) and a 31% reduction on the same period last year (884 contracts).
The value of contracts during lockdown has actually increased, with a total of £10.4 billion being awarded compared to £8.4 billion in the five weeks prior to that. However, the lockdown period included a single contract award for a £2.2 billion infrastructure project, which is one of the largest ever recorded by Builders’ Conference.
Since the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme opened for claims last week, more than 500,000 claims have been received to the value of £4.5 billion, protecting more than four million jobs. To help businesses submit a claim, HMRC has made available a recording of its webinar which sets out step by step what they need to do. The Government has confirmed that furloughed workers planning to take paid parental or adoption leave will be entitled to pay based on their usual earnings, rather than the furloughed pay rate.
This week, the government also announced that coronavirus testing has been extended to anyone who goes into work because they cannot work from home and is showing symptoms of coronavirus. This includes construction workers.
“We are in exceptional circumstances, and are doing our utmost to keep construction sites operational wherever it is practical and safe to do so,” Build UK said. “Whilst the guidance from Public Health England may change in future, for the time being construction sites of any size that are operating during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic need to ensure they are protecting their workforce and minimising the risk of spread of infection.”
To implement the Government’s social distancing recommendation, the Construction Leadership Council published Site Operating Procedures.
“We strongly recommend that these procedures are implemented by every operational construction site, with the aim of us having a standard approach across the industry that all firms and workers can adopt,” Build UK said. “It is also vital that the health and safety requirements of any construction activity must not be compromised at this time. If an activity cannot be undertaken safely due to a lack of suitably qualified personnel being available, or social distancing being implemented, it should not take place.”
