Governor Does Not Plan To Restrict Home Building In Latest Executive Order
Today, Governor Roy Cooper held a briefing and plans to issue an Executive Order which includes more restrictions both on our citizens and certain businesses as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. However, based on the Governor’s remarks at the briefing, these restrictions do NOT limit home building.
Since last week, NCHBA has been in almost daily communication with the Governor’s Office regarding a rumored “shelter-in-place” order which has been adopted in several other states. In addition to our formal letter of last Thursday to the Governor on the subject, we sent three subsequent supplemental emails to him (including one last evening) making the case that residential construction job sites are at low risk for transmission per OSHA standards; that the governors of those states issuing “shelter-in-place” declarations had, almost unanimously, exempted residential construction; and that other states operating under less restrictive declarations also exempted housing construction.
While a “shelter-in-place” order remains an option for the future, the Governor has not yet found it to be required for North Carolina. While your NCHBA senior officers and staff will continue to do all we can to keep you building, you must ensure that your worksites are as safe as possible for your employees, tradespeople, suppliers and building inspectors. We must take extra precautions to avoid the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
To that end, 2020 NCHBA President Mark Martin prepared this short video to highlight things you should be doing on your job site. Likewise, our partner, Builders Mutual Insurance Company, has prepared this excellent summary A Jobsite Response to COVID-19. We will continue to keep you informed of developments. Stay safe!
