NJBA Member Update Regarding COVID-19
March 17, 2020DCA Issues Guidance to Municipal Building Code Departments
March 25, 2020On March 21, Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order 107 which orders NJ residents to remain at home, orders all non-essential brick and mortar retail businesses to close and sets parameters for other industries including the construction industry. Governor Murphy also signed Executive Order 108 which invalidates any municipal or county ordinances that conflict with Executive Order 107.
Executive Order 107 effectively permits the home building industry to continue provided that certain measures are met. Specifically, section 11. states “To the extent a business or non-profit has employees that cannot perform their functions via telework or work-from-home arrangements, the business or non-profit should make best efforts to reduce staff on site to the minimal number necessary to ensure that essential operations can continue. Examples of employees who need to be physically present at their work site in order to perform their duties include, but are not limited to, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and other first responders, cashiers or store clerks, construction workers, utility workers, repair workers, warehouse workers, lab researchers, information technology maintenance workers, janitorial and custodial staff, and certain administrative staff.”
NJBA will be seeking further clarification regarding the essential public services that are necessary for the construction industry to operate, i.e. municipal and county government bodies.
Additional COVID-19 information can be found on NJBA’s newly created resource page.