The Global State of Construction during COVID-19

The state of industries and social norms have changed worldwide in a drastic way in the past few weeks. Entire countries have encouraged people to just stay at home, borders are closing and we are bombarded with daily news updates about infection rates as the number of deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rise.

The Construction industry in Singapore was amongst the first affected by COVID-19, with contractors reporting difficulties in getting a plant, equipment, and personnel out from China after the Chinese New Year.

Nonetheless, things have gone from bad to worse and, except for some projects which are deemed essential, all building works in Singapore have now ceased for the “Circuit Breaker Period” from April 7th to May 4th, 2020, except for some exempted works such as maintenance of structural safety, vector control, and environmental protection, certain shipyards which are key economic sector. 

The construction industry hit during the pandemic period

The spread of the COVID-19 has started impacting ongoing construction projects with workers increasingly not reporting at the sites even as most developers have kept the work on for now. More than 40% of construction workers are staying away from work sites due to fear of COVID-19 infection and many of them may have returned to their respective countries. Contractors are also not keen on pushing them either.

The last impact on supply chains to the industry could slow projects down in a way that cannot be controlled by project managers or governments. Even if projects do continue to work through this pandemic period, the ability to secure materials to keep projects moving on time could get difficulties and very costly impact on the project. 

Positive and Negative Economic Impacts. 

The COVID-19 outbreak is expected to bring several long-lasting and short-term negative consequences. These may include disruptions to work or cancellation of projects; potentially less demand for non-essential projects like offices, entertainment, and sports facilities; reduced/missed payments by owners; and a slow economic rebound across many industries. On the positive side, those cited selected new projects to respond to the crisis, like healthcare and accommodation including dormitories; substantial price reductions for commodities like fuel; and a slow rebound for commodity prices.

Thinking “Long Term” Solutions

With many areas of the world at different angles in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic, there is much to be learned from how other countries are reacting and what the possibilities are. As we can see from China, there is a light at the end of the tunnel is possible as they have lifted cities on the restriction movement orders after months of lockdown. 

The only thing we can know for sure is that what is “true” today may be different in a week, a day or even an hour. As a global community, it is our responsibility to work together to support each other in the construction industry and other industries. What is important is to put the work in now, to protect those we can and to keep ourselves healthy, socially responsible, be safe to ensure that we all come out on the other side of this illness.