Covid-19 and the Construction Industry

31st December 2019 was the day that the World Health Organisation (WHO) was alerted to a cluster of individuals in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who were infected with pneumonia of unknown cause.

This pandemic situation has guided us to adopt revised good practice measures to improve our project planning for the delivery of construction projects to mitigate negative impacts

Subsequently a new coronavirus, Covid-19, was identified and announced. World economies were heavily impacted by Covid-19 for two reasons. Firstly, due to the disease itself and secondly due to the measures which were implemented to control the spread of infection. Such measures included restrictions on travelling, closure of businesses and mandatory quarantine.

As a result, the construction industry has experienced substantial difficulties including disruptions of established supply chains, added and unplanned financial burden and contractual-related issues. Adhering to agreed programme of works of ongoing projects posed a major challenge to civil engineers. This situation created hurdles for project teams who unexpectedly found themselves short of key team members. This affected the programme of works and work schedules thus resulting in contractual and legal issues as the projects struggled to keep within the agreed time-frames. An added concern for engineers was to ensure that the infrastructural works and the sites themselves remain safe and that the integrity of the works is not compromised.

Conflicting positions are abounding in respect of what and how ‘force majeure’ is defined in relation to the prevailing situation. Force Majeure is recognised by the Maltese Courts however, in relation to construction, provisos on how to deal with force majeure should be established in the contract itself.

Also, a degree of uncertainty has infiltrated future workloads fuelled by the socio-economic changes in the aftermath of the pandemic. The operational systems related to the supply chains and workforce of the construction industry are complex and widely interconnected. Lack of certainty in demand and sources of financing have serious implications and the measures adopted by Government in relation to purchasing incentives and wage supplements have cushioned the repercussions.

This pandemic situation has guided us to adopt revised good practice measures to improve our project planning for the delivery of construction projects to mitigate negative impacts. The importance of effective communication with all project stakeholders has become a critical aspect to ensure trust amongst all key players. It is imperative to establish project supply chains and to focus on the essential equipment and materials required. This helps to identify vulnerabilities and prioritise work processes throughout a Scenario Analysis exercise, which exercise is based on the use of technology and analytics, alternative construction sequencing and improved decision-making processes. Contingency plans play an important part in mitigating project risks through risk management analysis and robust project controls to be in a position to have sufficient advance warning of any problems related to project completion periods, costs incurred and contractual agreement matters.