Coronavirus update for construction: 22 July

As part of the easing of lockdown restrictions, people may now use public transport in England for any journey, although they are still being encouraged to consider alternative means of transport where possible. Face coverings are mandatory on public transport in England and travellers should maintain social distancing where possible.

Transport for London (TfL) continues to encourage people to avoid using the network during peak times (05:45 – 08:15 and 16:00 – 17:30) and has published a construction toolkit with guidance for businesses.

With hotels reopening across the country, the Open Doors website will now only be used for areas of localised lockdown to ensure construction workers can still find accommodation in these areas and the site currently provides details of five hotels in Leicester.

Construction sites in Scotland have been given the go ahead to progress to phase 4 of the Construction Restart Plan, which is steady state operation with physical distancing being maintained or controlled close working with PPE. Following confirmation that the supply of medical-style PPE to the NHS and social care is assured, the guidance from Construction Scotland is that the wearing of medical-style PPE can be added to the range of control measures available.

From 1 August 2020, people in England who are clinically extremely vulnerable will no longer be advised to shield. Individuals will be able to go to work as long as the workplace is covid-secure and they can maintain social distancing in their role, although they are advised to carry on working from home if they can.

Companies House has introduced a temporary service enabling UK-based businesses to request to have an authentication code sent to an active officer’s home address instead of the registered office.

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) will launch the construction talent retention scheme on Friday with the support of minister for business and industry Nadhim Zahawi. Construction Enquirer will be hosting a webinar on the new online service on Tuesday 28 July from 2:00pm – 3:00pm to demonstrate how the scheme works and you can register via email.

Businesses should continue to follow the most up-to-date government guidance and for the latest updates please follow Build UK on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you have any construction-specific queries or feedback on what is happening within the industry, please contact Build UK.