CLEARER guidance has been issued by the Scottish Government over what is classed as “essential” construction work that should continue during the Covid-19 pandemic.
New guidance for the industry restates that work on sites should stop immediately with certain key exceptions.
The publication has been welcomed by the Scottish Building Federation (SBF) - which has also called for more economic support during the lockdown.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Construction industry in ‘quicksand’ as staff lay-offs surge
Projects allowed to continue include those creating or repurposing facilities for the Covid-19 response, or accommodating key workers.
"Essential public services" and the maintenance of "critical infrastructure" is also allowed to continue. However, workers on these sites must practice social distancing and adhere to other safety regulations, the Scottish Government said.
Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "We recognise that this is an extremely difficult time for businesses of all kinds, but the Scottish Government's priority is saving lives and fighting Covid-19.
"To this end, all construction sites should close unless they are essential to the health and welfare of the country during this crisis. I want to make clear our thanks to the construction workers who are continuing to work on these essential projects.
"This guidance offers clear and comprehensive advice on how the industry should respond in these unprecedented and difficult times."
She said unions and industry bodies had contributed to the guidance.
Ms Hyslop added: "In this public health emergency it is vital that all businesses act responsibly and align fully with the social distancing measures introduced to protect the nation's heath, well-being and economic future."
At the start of the lockdown, Nicola Sturgeon's advice to the construction industry went further than that of the UK Government.
Sites south of the border were initially told work could continue as long as staff stayed two metres apart. However, the First Minister said all non-essential construction work should be brought to a halt.
READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: Building sites told to shut down by Nicola Sturgeon
The construction industry has been badly hit by the response to Covid-19, with an industry purchasing managers' index reporting its biggest drop in more than a decade.
Vaughan Hart, managing director of the Scottish Building Federation (SBF), said: “We welcome this clarity today from the Scottish Government and fully appreciate that the safety and wellbeing of workers on construction sites must be the top priority during the current crisis.
“In light of this announcement we would urge the Scottish Government to work with SBF and others to examine ways in which the construction industry can be supported in a similar manner as other crucial economic sectors that have been asked to close during this difficult time.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here