PA Governor Tom Wolf released THIS DOCUMENT, written to provide guidance to both non-residential and residential contractors. These guidelines are expected to be adhered to in order for construction to resume May 1, 2020.
Excerpts Include:
- All commercial construction projects including new construction, renovation, and repair are authorized to conduct in-person operations; however, enclosed projects or portions of enclosed projects, may not permit more than four persons on job sites of 2,000 square feet or less, and
- One additional person is allowed for each additional 500 square feet of enclosed area over 2,000 square feet. These numbers are inclusive of employees of both prime and sub contractors, but not inclusive of delivery persons, code inspectors, or similar persons who require temporary access to the site and are not directly engaged in the construction activity. Enclosed square footage shall include all areas under roof that are under active construction at the time.
- Identify a “Pandemic Safety Officer” for each project or work site, or, if a large-scale construction project, then for each contractor at the site. The primary responsibility of the Pandemic Safety Officer will be to convey, implement, and enforce the social distancing and other requirements of this guidance for the protection of employees, suppliers, and other personnel at the site.
- Commercial construction firms should consider strongly establishing a written Safety Plan for each work location containing site specific details for the implementation of this guidance to be shared with all employees and implemented and enforced by the designated Pandemic Safety Officer.
- Businesses in the construction industry may wish to refer to PennDOT’s COVID-19 Guidance for Restarting Construction Projects which provided a process for restarting construction projects that were suspended in response to COVID-19 mitigation. The guidance is available here.