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Covid

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Original poster

Why are domestic builders carrying on completely as normal?

168 replies

pinbinpin · 04/01/2021 11:56

We're in a T4 area, cases going up etc etc. Everyone is getting on with the boring restrictions, none of the neighbours appeared to have anyone round over xmas and NY etc.

My immediate neighbours are building an extension - 3 different vans/vehicles turned up today, each with 5/6 people in them, different contractors, no one wearing masks. All of them yelling at the tops of their voices all day and blowing smoke right underneath my office window. All of them using one portaloo.

I know people are allowed to work but shouldn't there be some restrictions on building work like everywhere else? Shouldn't they be taking some covid precautions? If I went into my office in London when we were in T3 I wasn't allowed in the building without a mask and hand sanitising. Same at all the GPs/hospitals I've visited over the period. Everyone had to sit apart with chairs/desks removed in between. Two of them are young builders mates, look about 17, it really doesn't seem like a "covid-safe" workplace for them. Are the rules really just "carry on as you were lads" for builders and tradespeople?

OP posts:

onedayinthefuture · 04/01/2021 12:00

I'm sure if you were in the middle of a build, you'd want it to carry on as living in a building site isn't very nice. It could mean no windows, electricity or gas to name a few inconveniences. Further, a builder has every right to carry on earning a living because the self employed help is frankly shit.

WalkingOnStarshine · 04/01/2021 12:00

Construction has been encouraged to continue working through the entire pandemic. They should be taking some precautions however, social distancing where possible, although I imagine with some tasks involved it would be unsafe to distance (when lifting heavy equipment, for example).

annevonkleve · 04/01/2021 12:02

Because they are legally allowed to. Same goes for gardeners, window cleaners etc.

Original poster

pinbinpin · 04/01/2021 12:03

The owners aren't there. They have moved into a 4 bed house a few towns over for 6 months. They are travelling between areas to come and look at their house every few days - which also seems ill-advised to me.

OP posts:

onedayinthefuture · 04/01/2021 12:05

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LouiseBelchersBunnyEars · 04/01/2021 12:05

Because they can’t work from home, and things need to be continued to be built.
Any comparison with you going into a office is irrelevant

Orf1abc · 04/01/2021 12:06

@onedayinthefuture This is nothing to do with finishing off work already started, construction work has been permitted for all but the very beginning of the first lockdown. Also plenty of other self employed people are prohibited from working, what makes construction different?

It's ridiculous OP. They were initially allowed after pressure from large property developers (mates of Conservative ministers), so I guess that's what it comes down to. If you've got enough power, you get what you want.

Original poster

pinbinpin · 04/01/2021 12:07

I know they are legally allowed to work - that is not my question.

My question is are they subject to any rules about mask wearing and social distancing etc and how come 5 or 6 of them can travel in one van from different households when nobody else can.

If we are going into T5 I hope this will be addressed. I know on commercial building sites they are taking the usual covid measures. My brother works for one of the companies working on cross-rail and they all have to wear masks, canteen times staggered, tables spread apart, social distancing, in and out arrows etc. Why are domestic projects carrying on as normal and completely unregulated? Seems a gap in the coronavirus measures to me. There are 4 or 5 domestic building sites on my road alone.

OP posts:

Original poster

pinbinpin · 04/01/2021 12:08

@pinbinpin you must live in a very nice area and your neighbours are lucky to have the luxury of moving out whilst many of us have to live in our houses with work going on. Wind your snooty neck in and get on with your own life.

Not particularly, they are builders themselves and have moved into one of their developments. I'm sorry your life is so shit at the moment that you need to project on strangers that you know nothing about - can't be nice. Hugz.

OP posts:

onedayinthefuture · 04/01/2021 12:09

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Em777 · 04/01/2021 12:09

I’m with you OP. I don’t know why this sector gets special treatment. Our neighbours two doors down had a crew working on a backyard office, shouting and coughing all day long.

I don’t consider building work something that is necessary at a time like this. We haven’t had any tradespeople in our home since the pandemic began.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 04/01/2021 12:09

The work still needs doing. My neighbours are getting their roof repaired (and I will be soon). In an area of older houses there is a constant stream of plumbers, carpenters, roofers etc just keeping buildings in good repair.

Alexandernevermind · 04/01/2021 12:10

They cannot afford not to work. No one is going to pay endless furlough to self employed builders. Thw risk is greatly reduced for people working outside. They have probably been told to take precautions like only one into the portaloo at a time and washing hands, keeping windows open if travelling together and reduced time in the works cabin when back at their yard.

onedayinthefuture · 04/01/2021 12:14

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Original poster

pinbinpin · 04/01/2021 12:15

That's not what this is though. We're not talking about 1 or 2 contractors coming in for essential maintenance and repairs. Which seems fine to me - they wear masks and socially distance. This is a couple who are "property developers" who bought a house at the beginning of the year and started an extension to sell on for a profit in the middle of the second lockdown. This isn't essential work. Why can they and their contractors a) carry on working when self-employed hairdressers, dog walkers, cabin crew etc that I know can't and b) if we accept that they should be allowed to work, when lots of other self employed people can't (and many of them aren't SE), why are they literally the only people in the country who don't have to wear masks or socially distance in any way, apparently.

OP posts:

rosie1959 · 04/01/2021 12:15

Perhaps they need to do something called earning a living

Gooseygoosey12345 · 04/01/2021 12:15

Are you going to pay them to stay at home, OP? They're allowed to work. Maybe keep your nose in your own house. You must be very bored to be so interested.

iswhois · 04/01/2021 12:16

Work still needs doing and people still need to earn a living. We are having new floors laid next week as we have none in the house we bought (walking on concrete)

As this drags on and on how long are we reasonably supposed to go on walking on concrete floors with dust all over the place

AgnesNaismith · 04/01/2021 12:16

I live on a building site. There is no social distancing. We had to kick two tradesmen out of the house last week as they refused to wear masks - too difficult for them apparently.

iswhois · 04/01/2021 12:18

Also if they are property developers and do this for a living presumably they need to get the work done to sell up and make an income for themselves?

Given that they don't even live there I really don't see the issue

Lochroy · 04/01/2021 12:20

I think there's a lot of irrelevance in the OP which clouds the issue or brings out prejudice and preconception. It doesn't matter who owns the house or where they are now.

The fact is the builders are allowed to work. The problem is they are not doing so in a Covid safe manner. Everyone's getting on high horses about children mixing in schools so why is this ok? It's not.

Original poster

pinbinpin · 04/01/2021 12:22

Oh that's ok then, as long as the people making all the money are safe, that's fine.

Let's not worry about the two 17 year old lads or the other workers, or the vulnerable people in the areas they are coming into / going back to. Or the covid ward in the local hospital a couple of streets away.

Bizarre what we find acceptable when, as a PP said, someone is making money.

OP posts:

somewheresorted · 04/01/2021 12:22

Don’t believe that even on big sites they are following Covid rules. I live on a new build estate and throughout the last lockdown very few of the workers wore masks or socially distanced and it was quite usual to see up to 6 workers in a small terraced house. It’s all about the economy!

SpreadeagledSquire · 04/01/2021 12:23

You sound jealous of your neighbours and overly involved/nosey with regard to the builders. Maybe stop curtain twitching and then relaying everything to the internet (presumably with the hope of an outcry in order that you feel vindicated and ideally encouraged to report them). How’s that going?

Original poster

pinbinpin · 04/01/2021 12:24

The fact is the builders are allowed to work. The problem is they are not doing so in a Covid safe manner. Everyone's getting on high horses about children mixing in schools so why is this ok? It's not.

Exactly. And that is exactly what my post was about. Why are they the only people working that aren't taking precautions?

OP posts:

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