Why are domestic builders carrying on completely as normal?

[pinbinpin]

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?

Construction sites (of all sizes) are encouraged to continue but under guidance with social distancing, masks and extra washing facilities. They come under cannot work from home category.
The problem is there is little enforcement on small domestic sites so it's up to the individuals, owners or other professionals to ensure they are following the published guidance.
All my domestic sites have been running pretty safely under the guidance (plus I had to produce a policy of my own for my professional insurance this year) and I haven't had to remind many people they need to take care. It's a little tricky with things like manual handling but with planning it's very doable to work on site especially if it's not yet closed so has a lot of fresh air cycling.
I have seen other sites that aren't following the rules though.

@Em777

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.

This sector gets "special treatment" because it "employs" 2.5m people - a large portion of which are self-employed and the government does not want to help them out.

Construction also contributes something like £120 million to the UK every year.

We had builders working on our house in August. They never came in the house and kept at least a 2 meter distance when we had to talk outside. We've been very cautious and it wasn't worrying at all.

Not one job has been cancelled so far, people seem to have no issue with the jobs going ahead as usual and no one has requested extra precautions.

I wouldn't cancel, if they had accepted the job then I would presume they were happy to come, nor would I request extra precautions.

@neron If you’re a therapist working with the vulnerable (and not medically qualified) then the balance of probabilities has shifted - the risk of you or a customer becoming seriously ill is much higher, and the risk of you spreading it is higher, because you’re working with a wider range of the general public.

Everything is a risk but the industries that have been curtailed during the pandemic have been selected for a reason based on expert advice.

I’m with you OP. I don’t know why this sector gets special treatment

What special treatment do you perceive them to have had? It's work from home UNLESS YOU ARE UNABLE TO DO SO. I'm not sure how you expect people in the building trade to WFH?

There are lots of sectors that are unable to which are still having to go out to work, not all of them are key workers but their jobs still can't be done from home.

Because sadly they can't build an extension or fit a new kitchen while working from home. Be great if they could.

“Tradespeople”
Get you 🤣
Sorry, should I have gone round the back?

I had a new toilet fitted during lockdown- you have no idea of the circumstances surrounding th\t.

Lockdowns - A luxury afforded by the rich.

This pandemic really has highlighted how people are aware of people less well off than them.

Some people are not able to stop working, as they can not afford to feed their family if they do.

Stop being a curtain twitcher and do something useful.

@onedayinthefuture how sad and vile are you, you sound incredibly bitter and miserable - what a life to live. I'll take a leaf from your book and say I hope your DH is enjoying the rain and freezing cold on his building site while I'm working from my comfy home office and those supermarket 'plebs' are nice and toasty in the warm.

@EatSlugs

I’m with you OP. I don’t know why this sector gets special treatment

What special treatment do you perceive them to have had? It's work from home UNLESS YOU ARE UNABLE TO DO SO. I'm not sure how you expect people in the building trade to WFH?

There are lots of sectors that are unable to which are still having to go out to work, not all of them are key workers but their jobs still can't be done from home.

There are many other sectors in which this is the case, though, and they haven’t been protected from being affected.

I would perhaps feel less negatively if I’d ever seen a tradesman in my area wearing a mask. My street has been a hive of renovation activity since the pandemic started. I don’t understand why people are taking this risk (those commissioning the work) when many can’t even send their children to school today.

@Em777

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.

You might not consider building work to be necessary, not that whether something is 'necessary' is relevant, but many people do.

What about the people who need to replace outdated, leaky windows that makes their house drafty and expensive to heat, or needs their roof replacing, or have outgrown their property and need to extend?

Your neighbours having a garden office built would have been done by people working entirely outside, so little risk to them or anyone else, plus they are very likely to have needed it, due to having to work at home, after all, who spends thousands on having work done that's not necessary?

Yes they could be more careful but they simply cannot stay apart for 2 metres at all times. Is there room for 6 different vehicles?

Can they carry stuff alone? Balancing a ladder etc.

I have to go to work and the room is very small with no windows and shared equipment.

As mean as I sound some of us have to work, the economy cannot simply collapse and money needs to be pumped into the system to pay for the cost of this. Unless thy furlough all if us on full pay until it's over.

the problem is not the building work. The problem is the dumb fuck attitude of the builders who are not taking even elementary precautions. They could take precautions and still work.

also a lot of dumb fucks on here who don't get that.

I have seen this many times. Builders going in and out with no masks or distancing. One person I know tested positive and her builders still came in every day!
Those who are saying ‘oh they need to earn a living’ SO??? What about my friends who work in the wedding reception industry who haven’t been able to work since March?? What about the 6 people I know who work in entertainment who haven’t earned? What about the dozen or so people o know who run after school kids clubs and have only been able to run a few sessions for almost a year!!?? What about my daughters piano teacher who has been able to provide 5 weeks lessons since March???
Plenty of self employed people haven’t been able to work or have had to severely change the way they work this year. Why on Earth are builders so special?

We run a construction company and are incredibly busy at the moment with people contacting us wanting work done asap. Lots of our work is outside but that’s more or less ongoing but most of the contacts now are from homeowners wanting upgrades on their homes.

I do understand what you are saying op as we have seen other trades not seeming to take any notice of the pandemic However, all our staff wear PPE when working and travel independently to site and I am picky about what work we take on and if other trades are there at the same time. Dh is shielding so can’t go out to work but the others are happy to and if they were reluctant I would review it straightaway.

In the first lockdown all work dried up and nobody contacted us for 10 weeks but it doesn’t seem to bother anyone anymore as they are all happy to have trades in their homes...

@pinbinpin

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?

So all builders are doing this?

Or is it just the case that the builders who are yelling and smoking up the air by your window are pissing you off, so you're tarring them all with the same brush?

If you see people breaking COVID restrictions and you want to do something about it, report them.

Don’t see the issue with this personally. It’s within the rules and any economic activity that can reasonably continue should do so.

@XVmama not quite correct. I work alongside osteopaths, chiropractors and physiotherapists. I wear full PPE, have done from the start. I have breaks between each person, where I ventilate and throughly clean everything, including the floors. Every single time. I don't do anything differently then they do. They see 2 people for every 1 I see, and my work directly reduces pressure on the NHS, and I treat people within the NHS and emergency services.

The argument is, why is it ok to other non essential areas to work without adhering to covid best practices? Nobody has to have their cleaner in. No one has to have building work done right now, with the exception of emergency work. Why should people like me lose everything, not qualify for any help, not be able to afford to feed myself?

These people without masks and appropriate measures or precautions, as per the OP, what happens when they then visit the supermarkets, or go into the next persons house?

Your neighbours having a garden office built would have been done by people working entirely outside, so little risk to them or anyone else, plus they are very likely to have needed it, due to having to work at home, after all, who spends thousands on having work done that's not necessary?

They had a perfectly good office they built a year or two ago which they chose to demolish and replace. Whatever, I don’t care, except that hoard of people they brought in coughed and sneezed in close proximity to my house for weeks. This is in a tier 4 area. It just seemed so unnecessary at a time like this. I’m obviously not talking about people repairing their roof.

@Polyxena

Cant help thinking the OP would be more sympathetic if the owners hadn’t moved into a 4 bed elsewhere. Perhaps a hovel might garner more sympathy? Or maybe if the owners were desperately poor.

Yep. To be honest OP, reading you I understand that you are mainly annoyed about the building noise and less about Covid risk. Fair enough, everybody hates building work, but stop the fake compassion for the 17yo you see on site, realistically if work stopped they would just be unpaid so I'm quite sure they are happy to continue as it is.

Why are they the only people working that aren't taking precautions

They are not the only ones - car showroom near me is still doing test drives - tier 4

I really sympathise @neron , because some of the decisions taken seem so arbitrary.

It’s a juggling act of risks, checks and balances and imperfect hurried decision making.

But we have to keep the economy running and taxes paid, and those who can work easily with minimal contact need to do so.

@murbblurb

the problem is not the building work. The problem is the dumb fuck attitude of the builders who are not taking even elementary precautions. They could take precautions and still work.

also a lot of dumb fucks on here who don't get that.

Fully agree.