Everyone talks about the construction industry’s COVID-19 new normal, but what exactly should that be? A construction jobsite is neither a fine-tuned symphony orchestra nor a freestyle musical jam session. That workplace, comprising numerous employers in a variety of fields with many differently skilled professionals, is not as regimented as a meatpacking plant, but it’s not a totally disorganized competition for space and resources either.
With the project as focus, the owner and prime contractor determine cost and schedule, manage the different elements and set the overall tone. Each company involved must keep abreast of work progress, staffing levels, billings and payments. The pandemic emergency again proves the importance of professionalism from all participants in tracking costs so the bottom-line impact of added safety measures is clear up and down the project management chain. The question of who will pay for these—and for what has been and could continue to be a slower pace of work—will be tough to answer.