Though deemed ‘essential’ work and, thus, able to continue, the business of the construction industry has not been immune to COVID-19. Contractors, subcontractors, designers, architects, engineers, and specifiers are now prioritizing the safety of workers at job sites, dealing with schedule and material delays, working through various stay-at-home orders and determining necessary personnel, and analyzing legal issues of contracts. These are just a few of the many areas now being juggled to help ensure work continuity.
First and foremost, protecting people is the top priority. “Running a project in what has become the ‘new normal’ requires contractors to follow the guidance from the CDC, DHS-CISA, OSHA and others for keeping a project safe under these extraordinary circumstances,” stated Melinda Gentile and Jerry Brodsky of Peck & Abramson.1 According to construction finance platform Rabbet, maximizing employee safety and taking steps to prevent significant financial impacts will be a tight balance, and some construction sites may have to reduce the labor to a safe number to help prevent spreading the virus and completely overtaking a project.2 “The industry’s workforce may be vulnerable given that most of the work must take place on-site and cannot be done remotely. Additionally, companies may need to find ways to impose social distancing through smaller crews and longer, staggered shifts,” stated Jeff Sorensen and his partners at international accounting firm PwC.3
At Crossville, we’re a family-owned and operated company, and our focus is on our exceptional employees, as well as the needs of our customers, during this difficult time. We are following OSHA and CDC guidelines, and we have created and continue to hone the responsive systems and solutions that allow everyone to remain safe as they continue to work—whether at our plants, our company-owned distribution locations, or from their homes. In our facilities, we have increased our cleaning operations, using cleaners targeted to kill viruses and bacteria. Most positions have been altered to ensure a minimum of 6′ distance between employees. For our company-owned Crossville Studios distribution locations, curbside pickup has been implemented, and the showrooms have changed to a by-appointment-only schedule with virtual meeting options to respect social distancing standards.
The challenges faced by the new “work from home” business model are immense. Most of Crossville’s sales and support teams are working remotely. We’ve developed new, centralized marketing hubs for the sales team to use. Because needs are different than the standard 60-minute lunch and learn or CEU, we have adapted our materials for everything—from those web presentations to 15-minute phone calls. We are learning to be social virtually and creating “after-hours” with virtual cocktail parties and lunches. Our goal is to be reverent to where we are as a society today, while still enjoying one another, even if we can’t be face-to-face.
Although we are still in full production, we recognize the significant problems that some contractors are experiencing receiving materials. The global supply chain has been greatly impacted by the virus progression in China, as well as Spain and Italy. “Contractors are increasingly substituting materials where specified materials are no longer available,” stated Bill Tryon of Partner Engineering and Science Inc.4 According to a report from Construction Dive, Richard Branch, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics, “estimated that 30% of building products in the U.S. are imported from China, making it the nation’s largest single supplier. While China seems to be slightly rebounding from the disease, its decreased manufacturing output is still expected to impact construction in the United States.”5
With our American-made tile, designers and contractors can trust our corporate-managed supply chain is in production mode. Our products are made in Crossville, Tennessee, from raw materials sourced within a 350-mile radius of our facilities. We are still actively receiving sample requests for new commercial and residential projects, and we are able to supply samples and keep projects moving forward. We may serve as a nimble alternative should specifications need to be altered because other materials are no longer viable in order to meet project timelines.
We have spoken with many designers, specifiers, contractors, and installers who are working hard managing these unanticipated burdens trying to keep people and projects safe. Their goal is to keep projects moving forward, and we’re determined to help in every way possible from product delivery to service support. Crossville was your partner before the pandemic, and now we’re your family throughout COVID-19—we’re in this together and we’ll be stronger because of it.
3 https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/coronavirus-impacts-engineering-construction.html
