4 Ways That COVID-19 Has Changed Commercial Construction in San Francisco
Written By: JoAnne Tobias
As commercial contractors, we hoped and planned for this day, and now it’s here. The restrictions are lifting, and the Source crew is finally getting back to its second home- the construction site.
But even before commercial builders got the official green light, we mentally rehearsed what we’d do to get our employees and general contractors safely back in action. We studied what other countries were doing to keep their commercial construction sites safe and scoured every document we could get our hands on, from federal guidelines to news briefs that the CDC and Cal OSHA put out for commercial construction and general contractors alike.
This planning paid off; anticipating the changes to come to commercial construction in commercial office spaces allowed us to take proactive safety measures so that Day One held the sweet sounds of loud tools doing major tenant improvement.
Here’s what’s changed:
Sanitation to the Nth degree. In addition to the constant handwashing and surface scrubbing, we partnered with sanitation experts, so all commercial construction job sites are professionally sterilized. We outsourced it so that it would get done to code and to remove any additional burdens from our hardworking general contractors.
Using more technology. As commercial builders in San Francisco, Source needs to collaborate. We love planning before the tenant improvement job begins and solving the challenges that naturally arise in commercial construction once it starts. Thanks to COVID, commercial construction sites in San Francsico won’t allow general contractors to huddle together over blueprints, but that won’t stop us from putting our minds together. Now we connect via Facetime, PlanGrid, and Zoom for problem-solving and use Slack as a constant source for all the inside jokes and camaraderie the commercial builders of Source can’t seem to do without.
Adjusted Schedules. Historically tenant improvement schedules in commercial office spaces had trades overlapping. Plumbing and electricians would start work, just behind the carpenters. Now, unless the square footage is large enough, we’re not able to stack the schedules for commercial builders. This does affect the timeline, but we try to minimize the impact on tenant improvement projects by carefully planning the schedules and constantly looking ahead to prevent any delays.
Contract Tracing. Health orders require you to log and limit the number of people who enter the commercial construction job site and have their info available for contact tracing. We also don’t want people standing in line next to each other so we did all the onboarding and paperwork electronically and well ahead of time.
As you know, we’re all coming back into a world that looks and acts different than it did five months ago. But Source is committed to keeping commercial construction sites productive and safe so your tenant improvement projects can continue.
What questions do you have about your commercial construction project and the future of commercial construction? Contact us and let us know!