One Post Office Square in downtown Boston's massive renovation was one of the many projects paused by the COVID-19 crisis. Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Large-scale construction sites in Boston began reawakening this week in the first phase of Gov. Charlie Baker’s reopening plan for the Massachusetts economy, but with new rules that could delay project completions.
At Bulfinch Crossing, construction companies John Moriarty & Assoc. and AECOM Tishman are implementing new work rules including temperature testing, bans on group meetings and limits on numbers of workers allowed in elevators and enclosed spaces. One building, the 45-story Sudbury residential tower, was scheduled to begin move-ins this spring, while the 1 million-square-foot One Congress office tower is due to welcome anchor tenant State Street Corp. by January 2023.
Effects on project timelines could go well beyond the direct delays caused by the two-month moratorium, depending upon how the new work rules affect productivity.
“There’s no way you can suddenly go back to the same pace you were in the beginning of March,” said Thomas O’Brien, managing director at developer HYM Investment Group. “With the new work rules and social distancing, you may have to rethink what we get for productivity on the site.”
HYM has had discussions with the mayor office about switching to a two-shift schedule, “but it’s still not clear what productivity we can get out of that,” O’Brien said.
Gov. Baker’s plan for phase one reopening, announced Monday, clears the way for resumption of construction as soon as contractors comply with a series of new safety procedures and self-reporting requirements.
Businesses are required to complete a written COVID-19 control plan, based upon a sample two-page template posted on the state’s COVID-19 response site. Contractors’ COVID-19 officers are required to submit daily reports to owners on compliance.
Boston, which has had a stricter construction moratorium than the state guidelines since March, will allow work at schools, hospitals, small residential projects with three or fewer units and open-air construction until May 25. After May 25, the city will allow all types of construction at sites where contractors have submitted a COVID-19 safety affidavit and safety plans to the city’s inspectional services department.
Construction firms already have been updating their procedures in anticipation of new workplace safety standards designed to limit COVID-19 transmission rates.
Boston-based Shawmut Design & Construction this month rolled out a self-certification system in which employees fill out daily health surveys through a software program developed in-house, and is using camera and artificial intelligence technology to enforce social distancing on job sites. A new tool developed in response to COVID-19 screens employees’ body temperatures, and the firm plans to pilot wearable devices that sound alarms if workers come within six feet of one another.
