Accept, then act
Well, where do we even start? I refuse to reiterate the words unprecedented, crisis or disaster and certainly won’t be using the ‘C’ word in this little piece.
I will, however, give rise and kudos to the Construction Industry and the flexibility, problem-solving and all-round grounded attitudes that make our industry what it is.
By our very nature, we duck, weave and avert and do manage to deliver projects and successfully build in all manner of difficult circumstances. Project Management in full effect here.
In three short weeks, projects across the board have paused. Operational sites have fallen by the wayside day after day as changing measures and government directives were issued to protect our people and protect the NHS. The enormity of the global situation unveiled itself in what felt like slow motion, day by day with a resulting changing tide that we all had to ride. Never before have we had to be so fluid, accepting and gracious to the world at large.
We all stopped. We all went home. We all processed.
The government directives for the industry are clear. But not in the way you would expect. On Monday 23rd March we all watched in wait at 8pm to see Boris Johnson announce a UK wide lock down. A historic occasion. Even I put the TV on and that’s unheard of in this house.
Everyone must work from home, if possible. If outside of our homes, everyone must remain two metres apart from others. No gatherings of more than two people at any one time, unless persons of the same household. We all know the rules, shopping, exercise, only go out if necessary. The unseen enemy is everywhere!
On Tuesday 24th March, the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) issued its directives for the industry and launched its task force. The guidance? ‘we are doing our utmost to keep construction sites operational wherever it is practical and safe to do so’. A surprising and confusing stance. ‘How do we even?’ the same thoughts rang out in 6 million heads as we tried to understand how we could change the way we live to stay safe and simultaneously continue to work within a construction site environment. The industry is a financial backbone to society, we know this, but grouping it up there with supermarkets, supply chain, health care, and emergency services. Even I was baffled.
In Redshell world, our two live construction sites closed during the week that followed. We implemented the necessary measures, labour did arrive and then one by one the resources and the materials dried up, citing safe travel, safe distancing and lack of materials gave no choice - maybe in panic or maybe not.
We all went home. We spent time with our children and families, we baked, we played, and we tried to find balance in ourselves and our surroundings as we adjusted to the immediate situation.
A week later the rise of the Zoom meeting fell upon us. Construction projects are still live and pipeline projects and feasibility studies continue. Consultants and designers have set up shop remotely and our network has begun to gather. We are talking, considering and strategising.
The confusing guidance given to continue working on-site has left clients and consultants a little unclear on the actual situation in hand. Are we in a Force Majeure event or not?. Can we pause a project and offer an extension of time (EOT) to cover the period of closure without a Government directive to cease work on-site?. It is unclear and probably Contractually incorrect to do so. What is clear is that all parties involved in a project are committed to working together, to finding resolutions to the immediate and longer-term issues arising from this situation equitably and respectfully. This I like. We are all in this together. Will I be advising my clients to offer EOT under a Force Majeure relevant event regardless, I suspect so. Remember, it’s for the good of the project guys.
The Government guidance continued in its unclear way by issuing Site Operating Procedures version 2 on the 2nd April 2020, then promptly withdrawing a day later following a backlash from the industry. Version 1 was re-instated and remains in place as of today.
We are, of course, well versed in working within ever-evolving health and safety guidelines and safe operating procedures identified at a site-specific level. Our Principal Design Advisors and HSE lead the way in a progressively changing and fundamentally dangerous industry. The inclusion of a new set of rules and safe working practices should easily be incorporated within our psyche. The fundamental physical changes to each construction site will take a little longer, requiring more thought and careful consideration.
During a Zoom progress meeting for a residential site in London last week, the green shoots of acceptance, understanding and a tactical and pragmatic approach to project delivery, sprung.
There will be a re-sequence of the next few activities on site. A re-design of details to the external envelope and we are off. Complete mechanical installations internally, but without the windows yet installed means the closing-up of partitions and boarding will be held. We’ve all been up against it on projects, challenged to think and deliver out of sequence. This is nothing new and believe me these suggestions are not ground breaking. We have bricks on site, a correction; we have some bricks on site. We can construct the external envelope an elevation at a time. Start at the rear, consider the levels we can rise to and crack on. Ibstock is shut the Contractor cried, but interestingly Velfac is open. Windows arrive the week after next. The Contractor is to include the relevant and full adherence to the current safe working practices within the Construction Phase Plan. The outcome? Site re-opens on the 20th of April.
Did the Contractor need their hand holding a little through this conversation? Absolutely they did! Concerned that if they didn’t follow the original sequence and agree to work in stages they’d face the financial and time consequences that will arise. A bully boy stance from the client will not be welcome here and nor should it. A combined team effort of shared pain but for the good of the project is how we will get through. Let’s all hold hands here, but from a safe distance of course.
Productivity will be slow and likely we will deliver in piecemeal. The cost of materials and regularity of deliveries will fluctuate. The number of site operatives in attendance will fall and rightly so. Under no circumstances will we place productivity and profit over lives, but, we are and will need to move towards a world that still operates to a fashion living along-side the virus until eradicated.
We have all been in a place of resounding shock, fear and anxiety since the recent events have unfolded. I wouldn’t expect anything else at this time. However, as we move towards acceptance of our new reality we will start to see the new creative ideas and necessary problem-solving skills bourne from these challenges. Allowing the wheel to turn again, albeit slowly for now.