Overcoming Pandemic Delays in Buffalo: City Scoop
Value of new construction contracts expected to edge higher in 2021
The non-residential and non-building sectors are expected to strengthen, while residential continues to weaken.
City Grill
Frank L. Ciminelli II
President and CEO
Arc Building Partners
COVID-19 still worries construction firms in Buffalo and Niagara Falls region. “All of our clients remain concerned about the pandemic’s potential impacts on their projects,” including supply chain disruptions and productivity loss, Ciminelli says. “By applying lean principles to planning our two-week and one-week look-ahead schedules, we have avoided trade stacking and remained prepared for contact tracing in the event of a positive COVID test.”
Arc’s process is detailed. “We graphically map out trade movements in our superintendent meetings,” which helps the firm “better communicate and track supply movements to maximize social distancing,” Ciminelli says. “Additionally, we’ve been proactive in the preconstruction phase to filter out materials from our supply chains that are at a higher risk of delays.”
With that strategy, the firm has managed “more than 950 units under development across our active projects,” he says.
Above all, Ciminelli says, “Your workforce’s health and safety should be the top priority.”
