CONSTRUCTION LOCKDOWN JAN 2021

Metric Tensor · 09-01-2021 3:17pm

I think every client/owner needs to decide (after getting appropriate advice) if their projects meets the requirements set out in legislation.

Whether the contractor is obliged to continue if the client deems the project essential is probably a contractual matter and would depend on the form of contract.

I believe the CIF are advising their members to get a written confirmation from their client and to provide a copy of this confirmation to the local Garda station whilst noting their intention to continue.

I would also personally advise any contractor to also confirm with their insurer.

Polkadotpjs · 11-01-2021 12:33pm

House beside us is undergoing a complete refurbishment and lads are back on site this morning. A whole team of them, lots of vehicles and not a face mask between them. Anyone know for sure that this isn’t allowed? Was hoping for a break from the constant noise with WFH but no such luck.

Biker1 · 11-01-2021 12:37pm

Polkadotpjs wrote: »

House beside us is undergoing a complete refurbishment and lads are back on site this morning. A whole team of them, lots of vehicles and not a face mask between them. Anyone know for sure that this isn’t allowed? Was hoping for a break from the constant noise with WFH but no such luck.

Simple. They are breaking the rules!!!

ZeroSum76 · 11-01-2021 12:38pm

Hard to say without knowing the circumstances.

Is it due to complete before 31st January? Is it social housing? If the answer to both is no then I would guess it probably shouldn't be going ahead but it's hard to say for sure.

If it's going ahead against the guidelines then that's grossly unfair on the likes of me, with a wife and 2 small kids, who faces the prospect of having nowhere to live in May because we're [us and our building contractor] doing the right thing.

sydthebeat · 11-01-2021 12:41pm

Polkadotpjs wrote: »

House beside us is undergoing a complete refurbishment and lads are back on site this morning. A whole team of them, lots of vehicles and not a face mask between them. Anyone know for sure that this isn’t allowed? Was hoping for a break from the constant noise with WFH but no such luck.

in addition to the above questions...

is it works subject to a housing adaptation grant ??

there are some reasons why work can continue..
but there are obviously unscrupulous builders and clients out there who will ignore public health advice.

Polkadotpjs · 11-01-2021 12:45pm

ZeroSum76 wrote: »

Hard to say without knowing the circumstances.

Is it due to complete before 31st January? Is it social housing? If the answer to both is no then I would guess it probably shouldn't be going ahead but it's hard to say for sure.

If it's going ahead against the guidelines then that's grossly unfair on the likes of me, with a wife and 2 small kids, who faces the prospect of having nowhere to live in May because we're [us and our building contractor] doing the right thing.

Absolutely not is the answer to both of those questions. It’ll take months for them to finish, it’s still a shell. Agreed it’s totally unfair for those like you who are playing by the rules.

I guess the question is, do I want to be that nosey so and so who reports them and upsets the neighbours? Possibly not....

ZeroSum76 · 11-01-2021 12:49pm

Nothing wrong with a 'tentative enquiry'. But I know what you mean. I wouldn't be sure myself. Maybe they have a valid reason. If so then they should welcome someone making an enquiry as it gives them the opportunity to clear the air and dispel any misunderstanding about their right to go ahead.

BryanF · 11-01-2021 3:08pm

Some off topic posts removed.

The next poster who takes this thread off topic will be banned

There are other forums for discussing the state of covid/ people ignoring the government advise etc

Speakerboxx · 11-01-2021 5:12pm

My neighbour pouring floors today for his house. Thought that wasn't essential. Some people just wont abide by the law.

sydthebeat · 11-01-2021 5:16pm

Speakerboxx wrote: »

My neighbour pouring floors today for his house. Thought that wasn't essential. Some people just wont abide by the law.

to be fair, if they are pouring them because they already had the insulation / pluming pipework installed before the notification of the lockdown..... and leaving it that, that then i wouldn't be too hard on them.

no point leaving expensive insulation to get destroyed in the rain for 4 weeks.

if they have a block layer out after, then thats a different story though.

Speakerboxx · 11-01-2021 5:25pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

to be fair, if they are pouring them because they already had the insulation / pluming pipework installed before the notification of the lockdown..... and leaving it that, that then i wouldn't be too hard on them.

no point leaving expensive insulation to get destroyed in the rain for 4 weeks.

if they have a block layer out after, then thats a different story though.

Last lockdown my house roof timbers were exposed for 12 weeks and i couldnt do anything about it.

Speakerboxx · 11-01-2021 5:25pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

to be fair, if they are pouring them because they already had the insulation / pluming pipework installed before the notification of the lockdown..... and leaving it that, that then i wouldn't be too hard on them.

no point leaving expensive insulation to get destroyed in the rain for 4 weeks.

if they have a block layer out after, then thats a different story though.

Thats where the rules dont mean jack.

the_pen_turner · 11-01-2021 9:38pm

whats the consequence for these guys breaking the rules

Bonzo Delaney · 11-01-2021 11:37pm

the_pen_turner wrote: »

whats the consequence for these guys breaking the rules

I'm not exactly sure ... and there lies the problem the guidelines are so open to interpretation its a joke really.
My own set up is with out any mortage relief this time around I have to work these few weeks some how as safe as possible.
All the bills still have to be paid

RubyXI · 12-01-2021 10:55am

I'm seeing a lot of places open that I thought would have come under the construction and manufacture category and that they should be closed. I don't see them as essential. The company I work for is still open and I don't believe we are essential. The boss has said some of the work we do is essential so everyone is in work. Part of me feels I should report it but maybe I am misunderstanding the guidelines.

Tilikum17 · 12-01-2021 11:18am

Hi All,

Are builders allowed into houses to finish a job at the moment? We a small refurb job going on over 6 months now.

sydthebeat · 12-01-2021 11:37am

housing construction and
completion works ongoing on the 8
th day of January 2021 where
such works are scheduled to be
completed by the 31st day of
January 2021 and will render the
home under construction capable
of occupation by that date;

so only if you are going to be occupying the house by 31st Jan

sydthebeat · 12-01-2021 11:38am

https://assets.gov.ie/118351/73909ef6-59a8-4eb2-88f6-202e4438c035.pdf

this is the relevant legislation

ECO_Mental · 12-01-2021 12:01pm

My plan to finish off the roof in my house and secure it for the lockdown has taken a bit of setback as one of the chippies on site got COVID....its out there people.

AndOne · 14-01-2021 6:07pm

4 Positives on one of the -snip- sites.

I personally talked to a safety officer yesterday from one of the sites that has a roaming role were he is over several sites including ours and he has since tested positive.

Stuff like that is careless nobody should be on multiple sites anymore.

Also overtime on our site has been ramped up and we have took in men from sites that have been closed.

Not sure why they bothered if they're going to cram them onto otherwise safe sites.

scwazrh · 15-01-2021 2:36pm

Anyone know who is enforcing or monitoring site lockdowns? We’ve all our staff off for the rest of the month as our work is all private sites but noticing plenty of similar sites open locally.Plus half the staff have taken on nixers for while they are off work .
pointless lockdown if it’s not enforced

BryanF · 15-01-2021 2:39pm

I reckon the hsa May retrospectively get involved.

Be interesting to hear from anyone dealing with hsa currently.

ZeroSum76 · 15-01-2021 2:47pm

It doesn't seem as though anything is being monitored. I could easily have gone ahead with our home renovation job as it's 3 lads - and don't expect anyone would have actually pulled us up on it. It's unfortunately up to people to be responsible and do the right thing but as we know, that doesn't happen in a lot of cases. As is always the case, some people comply and some simply do not. It's no different here.

The legislation is clear in my opinion. I don't think it's that open to interpretation. It's pretty clear cut. If someone is determined to go ahead they will try to twist their interpretation of the legislation until it fits their agenda. But they are likely not compliant and it's an insurance risk possibly if something unfortunate occurs.

Ironically, arguably the most dangerous phase of a private job is the last few weeks where the house is sealed up and you'd have multiple different contractors on site finishing up. That's allowed to continue.

17larsson · 15-01-2021 7:15pm

scwazrh wrote: »

Anyone know who is enforcing or monitoring site lockdowns? We’ve all our staff off for the rest of the month as our work is all private sites but noticing plenty of similar sites open locally.Plus half the staff have taken on nixers for while they are off work .
pointless lockdown if it’s not enforced

As far as I can see construction is still open everywhere except for private housing estates which makes no sense to me

the_pen_turner · 15-01-2021 7:18pm

ZeroSum76 wrote: »

It doesn't seem as though anything is being monitored. I could easily have gone ahead with our home renovation job as it's 3 lads - and don't expect anyone would have actually pulled us up on it. It's unfortunately up to people to be responsible and do the right thing but as we know, that doesn't happen in a lot of cases. As is always the case, some people comply and some simply do not. It's no different here.

The legislation is clear in my opinion. I don't think it's that open to interpretation. It's pretty clear cut. If someone is determined to go ahead they will try to twist their interpretation of the legislation until it fits their agenda. But they are likely not compliant and it's an insurance risk possibly if something unfortunate occurs.

Ironically, arguably the most dangerous phase of a private job is the last few weeks where the house is sealed up and you'd have multiple different contractors on site finishing up. That's allowed to continue.

thats the part that doesnt make sense.
i have a house to roof. everything is there ready to role but we arnt alowed to do it. basically 3 guys in the middle of a field hundreds of yards from the next house. but i could go work on an almost finished house with loads of guys on site and not a bit of ventilation or social distancing
i have 2 weeks work i can do aswell 2nd fixing a house. im not allowed because they wont moving in for a while. its madness. im sitting at home colecting money when i could be out making money and doing so perfectly safely

ZeroSum76 · 17-01-2021 11:45am

What are people's thoughts about the possibility of a potential easing of restrictions on Construction? The Indo were speculating a 50 50 chance of restrictions carrying on until March!!

Personally I am hoping against hope they allow private residential jobs to go ahead

Stateofyou · 17-01-2021 12:17pm

ZeroSum76 wrote: »

What are people's thoughts about the possibility of a potential easing of restrictions on Construction? The Indo were speculating a 50 50 chance of restrictions carrying on until March!!

Personally I am hoping against hope they allow private residential jobs to go ahead

This came out of the Sunday Independent:

Senior govt figures say that a decision on whether full school and construction reopening at the start of February will depend on 3 critical factors
1. Reducing case numbers to significantly low numbers
2. Cutting ICU numbers to around 50 at any one time
3. Vaccinating as many of the 700,000 of the most vulnerable and frontline healthcare workers

1. Not sure what number is significantly low but I assume under 1000. Won’t happen by Feb 1st.
2 - definitely will not happen by Feb 1st . There are currently almost 200 and rising
3. Not a hope

(reposted)

ZeroSum76 · 18-01-2021 1:19pm

Thanks. If that's true then it's really going to test people's resolve to comply.

LCD · 26-01-2021 11:54am

Looks like the lockdown for construction is going to continue into March. Not that you would notice here in Louth. Two private houses have continued & 3 housing estates, 1 of which though is social housing. One developer has even gone to the trouble of putting black material over the scaffolding and black bin bags up on the windows. You can still see the guys in their hi viz vests!

very frustrating as I have a build on hold.

Don keebals · 26-01-2021 1:54pm

Have they said construction will not open until march? I haven't heard anything about construction reopening I thought they would review it at the end of January , I am trying to plan my work schedule and if this isn't happening I can do something about the house if I know I'm not working for the next few weeks.

sydthebeat · 26-01-2021 1:59pm

Don keebals wrote: »

Have they said construction will not open until march? I haven't heard anything about construction reopening I thought they would review it at the end of January , I am trying to plan my work schedule and if this isn't happening I can do something about the house if I know I'm not working for the next few weeks.

no they have not said construction is closed till march

they have said that construction is one of the sectors they are still considering for a different approach

ZeroSum76 · 26-01-2021 2:44pm

LCD wrote: »

Looks like the lockdown for construction is going to continue into March. Not that you would notice here in Louth. Two private houses have continued & 3 housing estates, 1 of which though is social housing. One developer has even gone to the trouble of putting black material over the scaffolding and black bin bags up on the windows. You can still see the guys in their hi viz vests!

very frustrating as I have a build on hold.

Same here. They can obviously get away with it.

mickey15ie · 26-01-2021 11:00pm

For houses that remained open on the basis of them being habitatable for 31st Jan, where the project did not achieve that date due to delays can they remain open next week?

scwazrh · 26-01-2021 11:17pm

mickey15ie wrote: »

For houses that remained open on the basis of them being habitatable for 31st Jan, where the project did not achieve that date due to delays can they remain open next week?

No -
Have to have practical completion for the 31st

dollylama · 26-01-2021 11:28pm

What's the situation with quarries? Are they delivering as normal or are they limited to essential works only?

mickey15ie · 03-02-2021 8:16pm

has anyone else heard that if cases stay below 1000 for a number of days that construction will be allowed to reopen?

Frozen Veg · 03-02-2021 10:01pm

mickey15ie wrote: »

has anyone else heard that if cases stay below 1000 for a number of days that construction will be allowed to reopen?

No didn't hear that.

There is so much Construction going on that I don't see the government changing it.

ZeroSum76 · 03-02-2021 10:17pm

Frozen Veg wrote: »

No didn't hear that.

There is so much Construction going on that I don't see the government changing it.

Surely there's more stopped than going on?

mickey15ie · 03-02-2021 10:42pm

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40217615.html

Frozen Veg · 03-02-2021 10:53pm

ZeroSum76 wrote: »

Surely there's more stopped than going on?

Not many construction workers idle from what I can see.

Most are working away at something.

Wildly Boaring · 05-02-2021 12:54pm

ZeroSum76 wrote: »

Surely there's more stopped than going on?

We work across the residential, commercial, FYI and public works.
70% of our sites closed

screamer · 05-02-2021 12:58pm

mickey15ie wrote: »

has anyone else heard that if cases stay below 1000 for a number of days that construction will be allowed to reopen?

Yes heard that a few days ago. I think MM said it, but I don’t believe anything they say these days till they actually do it. To be honest construction should never have closed down, it’s absolute bull, and just a populist move.

Stateofyou · 05-02-2021 3:12pm

screamer wrote: »

Yes heard that a few days ago. I think MM said it, but I don’t believe anything they say these days till they actually do it. To be honest construction should never have closed down, it’s absolute bull, and just a populist move.

Why do you think they never should have shut down? You don't agree with the associated risks from the sector?

Frozen Veg · 08-02-2021 10:35am

Noticed alot of work going on this morning on numerous sites. All outdoor work and no public health risks.

Government need to take the finger out and revise the construction lockdown. Restrictions for the sector are ridiculous in their current format. And costing the taxpayer a fortune on PUP payments.

Outdoor Construction work that be done in accordance with public health guidelines should return asap.

Gumbo · 08-02-2021 12:09pm

Frozen Veg wrote: »

Noticed alot of work going on this morning on numerous sites. All outdoor work and no public health risks.

Government need to take the finger out and revise the construction lockdown. Restrictions for the sector are ridiculous in their current format. And costing the taxpayer a fortune on PUP payments.

Outdoor Construction work that be done in accordance with public health guidelines should return asap.

Social housing can continue.
Key infrastructure projects.

And one key thing that a lot of small builders missed, any works that are close to complete could continue.

ZeroSum76 · 08-02-2021 12:43pm

Frozen Veg wrote: »

Noticed alot of work going on this morning on numerous sites. All outdoor work and no public health risks.

Government need to take the finger out and revise the construction lockdown. Restrictions for the sector are ridiculous in their current format. And costing the taxpayer a fortune on PUP payments.

Outdoor Construction work that be done in accordance with public health guidelines should return asap.

Hear hear. Ridiculous. I have a builder who had to down tools in Jan and didn't want to. Was going to be him and his son doing some outdoor rock breaking work but not allowed under the guidelines. Ridiculous and so bloody frustrating.

clayfarm1234 · 08-02-2021 6:37pm

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/construction-sites-to-reopen-from-march-5th-1077420.html

I was expecting them to open it much earlier

sydthebeat · 08-02-2021 7:52pm

clayfarm1234 wrote: »

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/construction-sites-to-reopen-from-march-5th-1077420.html

I was expecting them to open it much earlier

i wouldnt pay any heed to that article

its a minister being door-steeped and all hes done is spout the party line.

i can guarantee of the numbers are consistently below 1000 for the next week or so, there will be huge clamour by the lobby groups to get construction back going.

mickey15ie · 09-02-2021 9:30pm

if numbers stay like today i imagine construction will be open before the 5th March

scwazrh · 09-02-2021 10:18pm

Gumbo wrote: »

And one key thing that a lot of small builders missed, any works that are close to complete could continue.

Where did you get this information from?

CONSTRUCTION LOCKDOWN JAN 2021

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