April 2, 2020
GREYHAWK stands ready to support your operations, from coordination and logistics to COVID-19 response, mitigation, and recovery strategies. Our professionals remain accessible to help you navigate what’s happening now and prepare for what’s next.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has significantly impacted the New Jersey construction industry. Some supply chains have been affected, and the availability of some materials has become a concern. The typical working culture of construction sites has changed, as guidelines for social distancing and enhanced health and safety recommendations are implemented. We expect that the construction workforce may be reduced as a result of workers becoming ill, or being absent from the work site as they tend to family matters.
GREYHAWK has compiled quick tips to help you prepare for potential change orders and claims related to the pandemic. As is almost always the case with claims, the side that does the best job documenting pandemic impacts on business operations will have an advantage. We will continue to update this list frequently as pandemic conditions continue.
1. Review your contract in regard to ‘Acts of God,’ labor shortages, material shortages, government-ordered shutdowns, etc. and pay special attention to any notice requirements that may apply to those clauses.
2. Take photographs and video to document the state of the work at your jobsite at the time of any shutdown.
3. If your job gets shut down, make sure the site is well secured and take photographs/video of any materials stored on site. If materials become scarce, the ones on your site may be appropriated or your contractor may divert them to another project that is still active or more critical.
4. Document everything. Dedicate physical and electronic storage to COVID-19 into which all of the individual problems and impacts related to the pandemic (e.g. changes in means and methods, shortened or increased work hours, manpower shortages, material shortages or late deliveries, schedule impacts, wage and material escalation costs due to shortages and/or schedule delays, changed or extended insurance coverages, etc.) can be tracked.
5. Once any shutdown orders are lifted, document any startup in similar detail.
Also, as this disaster wanes and life starts to return to normal, we can assist you in assessing the challenges that your organization faced as a result of the pandemic, and in preparing an all-hazards continuity of operations plan to increase your organizational resilience for the future.
GREYHAWK professionals are available to help navigate the logistics and legalities of construction projects put on hold, and to support any agency or firm that needs professional facility, project, or construction management or consulting assistance.
