Managing construction sites during the Coronavirus pandemic

None of us had ever, certainly, found ourselves in a situation like the one into which the Coronavirus has suddenly plunged us in just a few days.

Fortunately, none of us has ever experienced real conflict in our lifetime either—those involving bombs, raids, and roundups—that directly impact our daily lives.

It is nevertheless understandable the sense of shock and disorientation that this situation is creating across all productive sectors.

The reality I have known for over thirty years of work, as a designer and PM of complex systems, is that of industrial construction.

It is precisely in these contexts that I can share, almost like a reality show, the experience we are living together with our colleagues at Planex in managing complex industrial construction sites.

Over the past 20 days, I have witnessed and experienced a growing sense of concern among all operators.

The concern and the resulting level of attention shown by the Project Managers of Clients and Contractors were immediately focused on people’s health, certainly without losing sight of work schedules or cost control, but nonetheless placing health protection first.

The first measures adopted, even before the Prime Ministerial Decree of 8 March, concerned the management of coordination meetings, which were rescheduled to avoid more than five people gathering in enclosed spaces.

With the spread of the epidemic and the consequent evolution of containment regulations, the first step we took, together with the Clients’ PMs, was to agree with the Safety Coordinator during the Execution phase (CSE) on the prompt update of the Safety and Coordination Plan.

The Safety and Coordination Plans were supplemented with prevention measures suitable for combating COVID-19.

Once people have been made safe, how should the (almost) inevitable suspension of works be managed, protecting the Client’s interests as effectively as possible without compromising the interests of other parties?

A primary objective is to prevent contractors from having grounds to submit claims for damages and/or cost increases and/or additional charges against the Client under any title.

It is therefore essential that the suspension request comes from the contractors and is not granted spontaneously by the Client.

Once the suspension request has been received from the Contractors, the Construction Supervisor, in close and constant coordination with the Safety Coordinator during the Execution phase and with the Client’s Legal Department, examines the request.

The Supervisor then assesses whether the construction site can nonetheless proceed, irrespective of external impediments such as logistical issues or supply and subcontracting problems described in the request.

If the Construction Supervisor and the Safety Coordinator determine that the site could still proceed, even by revising the work schedule, two possibilities arise:

1. Reject the contractor’s request, providing detailed justification of which activities can continue and under what conditions, and therefore not grant the suspension of works.
2. Assess the overall situation and grant the suspension of works.

In the latter case, it is essential that the Construction Supervisor issues a service order clearly stating that:

1. the requested suspension does not derive from objective impediments, “considering that the works may continue in strict compliance by all companies with the contagion containment measures set out in the Prime Ministerial Decrees issued to date—interpersonal distancing of at least 1 meter, use of respiratory protection masks, use of gloves against biological risk, and hygiene rules”
2. The reasons provided in the extension request are deemed not entirely acceptable
3. A clear duration of the granted suspension is established
4. The new deadline for completion of the works and/or intermediate milestones is clearly defined and indicated
5. It is established that, by signing the service order, the contractor accepts the non-compensation clause, under any title, against the Client for any damages, additional costs, or charges that the contractor may claim as a result of the granted suspension.

A precaution that an experienced Construction Supervisor always adopts is to collect the contractor’s signature first and only afterward affix their own.

At this point, attention must turn to the restart phase. Because we will certainly emerge from this emergency.

Once the suspension of works has been granted, it is appropriate to convene a coordination meeting as soon as possible, requesting contractors to:

• Jointly prepare with the Construction Supervisor a record of the status of the works as of the date of suspension
• Provide the status of issued orders for subcontracts and supplies relating to activities not yet completed or soon to begin
• Contact subcontractors and suppliers, requesting them to provide an outline plan for resuming activities once the emergency has ended
• Issue an updated work schedule taking into account the information received from subcontractors and sub-suppliers, assuming a plausible date for the resumption of activities following the end of the emergency
• Keep the work schedule updated on a weekly basis, adapting it to the evolution of the emergency and related legislative measures for its containment

This is daily life in these days—if not hours—this is real, live experience.

What I describe are methods guided by common sense, by continuous sharing with highly capable partners and clients, and by experience gained over decades of working on complex projects, always and exclusively alongside the Clients.

Without forgetting, indeed increasingly learning, that clarity and the absence of conflicts of interest bring value to Clients in full respect of the interests of all other stakeholders in a complex project.