A Message to Our Customers:
Important Information on Permits & Inspections
March 18, 2020
I couldn’t be more proud of the way our team has stepped up in the face of the COVID-19. We have a very high demand for deliveries to jobsites right now. Our teams are working overtime and will be at this 7 days per week to meet your requests. Our job is to keep you working.
While this virus has had some devastating effects on some individuals and families, we are most fortunate to be in an area that has seen relatively few cases. Our industry is an extremely important one to the local economy. And as long as we stay aware of and change some of our normal habits, it also offers one of the safest working environments in terms of social distancing and safe work practices. Minimizing contact with others is the key to preventing further outbreak. Using proper protection and disinfecting ourselves regularly can really increase safety. Safety requires planning and sticking to proper protocol.
The biggest risk to our industry and our economy could be the shut-down of local governments. Frankly, at a time when we need them most. Governor Baker has made the decision to allow local Boards of Health to make the call.
Click here for a quick overview from the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod on how the towns on the Cape are handling permitting and inspections. These are the key to our industry’s ability to function.
Our feeling is that with changes in protocol, such as social distancing and increased use of electronic communication, inspectors should be able to operate safely and keep you in business. We also believe a jobsite is potentially a safer place than being out in the general public. However, it all depends on how we conduct ourselves and stay aware of safe practices.
You can see from the HBRACC Building Permit & Inspection Overview, not every town is taking the same approach. We know that taking the extra step of communicating with inspectors and helping them understand how we are prepared to ensure their safety on the job can go a long way to building their confidence. It can also help prevent temporary work stoppage and the inevitable log jam of accumulated permits and inspections that will come later.
Our inspectors are in the position of defining how they can safely make inspections and handle permitting. We think you can help them by offering to work with them on this. This could help our industry continue to function safely and keep your workers working. An inspector should not have to put themselves in an unsafe situation and our commitment should be to ensure that they do not have to put themselves at risk. A good example is Nantucket, which initially put a stoppage on permits and inspections from 3/17 until 3/30. They are now reconsidering that position, thanks to input from the builder community. Please share your voice with your town officials to help them come up with a safe and sensible approach to this.
Above all, we need to stay rational, thoughtful, and calm. This too shall pass.
Sincerely,
Tony Shepley
