Covid-19 - advice for the construction industry

Our daily series of guides designed to offer practical advice to support your business.

Work on site has resumed. But many Directors, Executives, Managers and Head Office based personnel remain working at home. This applies to Main Contractors and Sub-Contractors alike.

These are challenging times for the construction sector. Some sites remain open, others have been temporarily closed. This article seeks to provide both a legal and practical guide to ways to minimise risk under the JCT DB Sub form of sub-contract in relation to the impact of the coronavirus.

The “golden ticket” or “silver bullet” for the Main Contractor is to be able to claim both time and money. The Main Contractor is, therefore, looking for a Relevant Event and a Relevant Matter.

The construction industry has a number of vocal supporters but, nonetheless, we must keep pushing government to do more. Liquidity and cashflow have never been more important.

We are facing unprecedented times at the moment. It is very difficult to assess where the current situation will end, but food is a critical resource at the present time and the importance of the British farm community cannot be underestimated.

Preserving your supply chains in the wake of COVID-19: the construction industry and builders merchants. On Monday evening, the Government announced the latest raft of restrictions that would apply to businesses and individuals to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Materials coming from China are likely to be in limited supply given the two or so months of limited to zero production from some plants but, as the virus spreads through Europe, the impact will become more wide-reaching.

In these uncertain times, we are aware that parties operating within the construction industry at all levels need reassurance on how to manage the problems they are likely to face in the near future.

We have a dispute. We need to resolve it quickly and flexibly. We are not really sure how”. We are going to be hearing this a lot as the country emerges from the COVID-19 shutdown.