Construction as Essential
On March 16, President Donald Trump issued a “Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response”. On March 28, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued additional clarification of construction’s role in supporting essential critical infrastrucure (see attachment, below).
On March 19, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-33-20 directing all residents immediately to heed current State public health directives to stay home, “except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors and additional sectors as the State Public Health Officer may designate as critical to protect health and well-being of all Californians.”
Both orders provided the following definition of “Essential”:
- Workers who support the operation, inspection, and maintenance of essential public works facilities and operations, including bridges, water and sewer main breaks, fleet maintenance personnel, construction of critical or strategic infrastructure, traffic signal maintenance, emergency location services for buried utilities, maintenance of digital systems infrastructure supporting public works operations, and other emergent issues