Mike S. Decker: The New Normal: Commercial Construction Continues in Unprecedented COVID-19 Times

Englewood commercial construction

Bill Di Santo - Englewood Construction — Bill Di Santo, president, Englewood Construction”

This is undoubtedly an unprecedented time in our country as efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) are impacting all of us on both personal and professional levels. We are in uncharted territory, but amid this “new normal” Englewood Construction remains open and committed to serving our clients — while also following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as industry associations, to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, subcontractors and project partners.

As a national commercial construction firm with active projects across the country, we are monitoring this situation on many fronts and in many markets. Currently, construction sites are open and work is continuing in most states where we have projects underway — including our home state of Illinois where construction is deemed an “essential” business exempt from the current stay-at-home directive put in place by our governor. In addition to our construction operations, our Facilities Management team also continues to be active, helping clients address urgent maintenance issues and plan for ongoing maintenance work in this new landscape. We also have a pipeline of projects in preconstruction services or under negotiation, and those functions continue uninterrupted.

We are counseling clients about special considerations during this time, including:

Extra precautions on job sites to follow guidelines for social distancing and cleaning/sanitization of work areas
Planning additional time for permitting and inspections in areas where municipalities are closed or operating with a limited staff in compliance with shelter-in-place orders
Potential delays of material deliveries due to products coming from overseas or manufacturing shut-downs in areas with shelter-in-place orders

Our Englewood Construction executive team has decades of combined experience in this industry, and we are drawing on that depth of expertise and perspective to serve our clients, staff and industry partners in this new landscape. Our country has been through challenging times before, but if there’s one thing I know to be true, it’s that we work in a resilient industry. As noted in this recent Slate article: “Seven million Americans work in construction, nearly three times as many as work for the federal government … If there’s one thing that keeps our country moving, it’s building.”

As always, we truly appreciate the relationships we enjoy with our clients, subcontractors, suppliers and other partners in this industry. We look forward to continuing to work with you now and into the future.