Shore Construction Suffering Under COVID-19?

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COURT HOUSE – Executive Order 122’s ease, which stopped non-essential construction April 10, during the COVID-19 pandemic peak, seems to have had little effect on local builders because they’ve been working all along.
Several local builders and an architect interviewed for this story, all said they were following protocols outlined in the executive order and worked with local municipal officials to navigate the situation to ensure staff safety since the order was issued in April. Executive Order 142, issued May 18, lifted the stoppage but outlined 14 stipulations that apply to construction sites and workers.
“We saw a slight pause in the industry initially, but now that life is starting to get somewhat back to normal for everyone, we feel optimistic about the upcoming season,” said Brian Stuart, president of a construction firm that builds throughout the county. “We kept working as much as possible during the construction restrictions on jobs that were approved to continue, and observed that other contractors seemed to be doing the same.”
Another construction company owner, Tom Welsh, said staff were allowed to work following all the limitations and restrictions, so the impact “wasn’t really too bad. This is our busiest time of year, and while sales slowed a bit, we are busy to committed jobs. You would never know anything was going on differently.”
Brad Sotter, another construction company owner, said Easter to July 4 is the “busiest time of the year,” and this year was no different: There was no impact to his business caused by the pandemic and Executive Order 122.
“The pressure was taken off a bit, and we were able to get our projects completed,” he said.
Steven O’Such, an architect who manages an office in Avalon, said they didn’t experience any slow down either.
“None of the contractors stopped working,” he noted, “and our load of work on the books saw no impact. Sales didn’t slow down and we are still meeting with clients. In fact, we just had three new signed proposals come in this week.”
O’Such said “the change here was only phone and email contact. All plans needed to be mailed in for review.”
While the executive order listed “essential projects” ranging from healthcare, education, transportation infrastructure, utility, construction already under contract, and affordable housing projects, the order did not list what was considered “non-essential.” In some towns, such as Cape May, if a project was not included in the order, it was deemed as non-essential.
They also used guidance published by the state Department of Community Affairs Division of Codes and Standards, who oversees construction, that said “if a project is thought to be essential, then the owner or contractor has to provide documentation about why it should be considered essential.” The documentation also needed to include safety measures in place due to the virus.
For the construction companies, wearing face masks, maintaining the right number of staff on a jobsite, ensuring social distancing, and employees’ safety wasn’t always easy.
Welsh pointed out, “it’s hard doing construction wearing a face mask.”
“We followed all protocols outlined in the executive order and kept our staff apprised of the guidelines,” Stuart said. “We distributed hand sanitizer and masks to each of our employees and have been prioritizing everyone’s safety above all. Most other contractors are following them, as well.”
Municipalities were lauded for their interaction with the builders.
“The communication by the towns and with them has been great,” Sotter said. He builds mostly in Avalon and Stone Harbor.
“They have been working with us very well to help navigate the protocols of the EOs and the situation as a whole,” Stuart added.
 Welsh said while no building permits were issued, many of his company’s projects were started in the fall and were able to be completed. He works mostly in Avalon and Sea Isle City.
“None of the shore towns slowed down,” O’Such said. “Building kept on and no one enforced the shutdown rules. The construction sites were open, nothing really changed during the entire time, maybe toward the end contractors started wearing masks.”
His office does work in Avalon, Stone Harbor, Ocean City, Cape May, Wildwood, Middle Township and Lower Township.
In some shore towns, Memorial Day signals the stoppage of demolitions or other construction activity because of the impacts to tourists, higher volumes of traffic, and noise.
Commissioners in Wildwood Crest are allowing driving of pilings and demolition until June 19. Projects have been delayed due to coronavirus-related construction stoppages, according to Mayor Don Cabrera, who said this extension will allow business to get caught up.
In Cape May, City Council members extended the date allowing demolition and pile-driving to July 1.
O’Such and the others said they don’t foresee any negative effect from the pandemic in the coming months.
“We are optimistic that the construction industry will not experience long-term effects from the pandemic in the next six to 12 months,” Stuart said.
Welsh added that he also thinks with “people not traveling as much due to health concerns, there will be a strong building market looking to the future.”
“People haven’t been coming down to their homes, so they don’t know about that outside shower door that blew off or roof shingles that are missing,” said Sotter, referring to second homeowners and non-residents, who were asked by county officials to refrain from visiting the shore communities because of concerns about spreading the virus and the challenges on the county’s healthcare facilities and emergency services. 
“I think when they start coming down again, we’ll be busy as usual,” he added.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.