Construction to restart under Alert Level 3

When New Zealand moves down to Alert Level 3, the construction industry can restart, along with professionals such as electricians and tradespeople undertaking work in people’s homes including repairs and installations.

Businesses only accessed by the staff, and without a customer facing function, such as building and construction or forestry can open under strict health and safety and physical distancing rules, Ardern said today.

“Protecting the health of New Zealanders is our primary focus but we also need to position the economy for recovery. Importantly the test for a business opening at Level 3 moves to it being safe, rather than being essential.”

ArchiPro founder Milot Zeqiri said the news was a welcome sign for the industry as a whole. “This news allows for the industry to effectively restart and widens the scope for a huge range of construction sector professionals to resume operations in line with health and safety requirements - it is the beginning of the road to recovery.”

Specific guidelines for industry sectors will be announced in the coming days, but the general health and safety rules outlined today require re-opening businesses to have at least one metre of space between workers, to record who is working should contact tracing be required, and to limit the interactions between groups of workers where possible.

Professionals like plumbers or electricians who work in people's homes will need to keep physical distance from their customers while undertaking work.

Inter-regional travel will still be restricted under level 3, meaning only essential workers or those with a special exemption will be allowed to cross regional boundaries for work. 

The government is expected to make an announcement on Monday 20 April about whether the country will move to Alert Level 3.