The past few years have brought along new challenges for everyone. With constantly updated guidance and regulations, it can be hard to keep up with current policy. Luckily, you’ve found the right place for your commercial construction and related COVID questions.
What Is Commercial Construction?
Commercial construction is what handles the building and renovating of businesses in the private sector. It includes offices, hospitals, retail stores, universities, and more. Companies like Diamond Contractors handle everything from construction and remodels to rollout projects and ADA upgrades.
What does “Critical Infrastructure” Mean?
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, is in charge of releasing guidance on this subject. CISA makes a list of what is or isn’t considered part of the critical essential infrastructure. Their guidance is meant to help State and local officials protect the community while maintaining functions for public health and safety and economic and national security. Critical infrastructure includes highways, roadways, railways, utilities, and buildings necessary to maintain normalcy in daily life.
There are currently 16 pillars of critical infrastructure according to CISA. A few of them include:
- Healthcare and public health facilities
- Food and agriculture industries
- Public works and infrastructure support systems
- Communications and information technologies
- Commercial facilities
- Critical manufacturing
It is essential that businesses from these industries, and the 10 other pillars, continue to function in these uncertain times. They support the supply chain, ensure our safety, and are critical to mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
Is Commercial Construction a Critical Infrastructure?
CISA’s version 3.0 states, “Workers performing housing and commercial construction-related activities […] such as inspections, permitting, and plan review services that can be modified to protect the public health, fundamentally should continue and enable the continuity of the construction industry.”
All of that to say that, yes, commercial construction is critical infrastructure. Supporting services like on-site property managers, building engineers, and service technicians are allowed as well. Without contractors and suppliers, every other critical sector would be missing essential, fundamental services.
The guidance from CISA is just that, guidance. It’s not a federal directive, and the list is not meant to be an exclusive list of critical infrastructure regarding the COVID-19 response. While most states are using this instruction when creating their protocols, be sure to check your state’s guidance for a more comprehensive list.
Choose the Diamond Standard
As part of the commercial construction sector, Diamond Contractors is dedicated to helping essential businesses. Your business is vital to our community. We know how important your space is to you and the communities you work with. Every day we strive to do our best and create a safe and healthy working environment no matter where we are. We work hard to build a solid rapport with our clients across the country. Diamond Contractors makes sure to give you excellent, individualized service with superb attention to detail from start to finish. We’re ready to help you create a safe and efficient business during these unprecedented times. Call us or go online for a quote today.