COVID-19: PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Amanda White, PQS President, Foresight Atlantic Inc.
Daniel Josiah, PGDip, PQS, MRICS, GSC, ACIArb Director, Contracts & Commercial, Lakeland Consulting Inc.
Q: Do you see a change in the approach to preparing cost estimates? A: The approach to preparing cost estimates will include a higher level of consideration of the supply chain for materials and labour, and risk management for interruption. A key shift that is already happening is consideration for time. This is important, as we continue to integrate physical distancing on job sites. As a result, I would expect a jump in carrying costs and general conditions for upcoming tenders for projects set to start in 2020 / 2021.
Q: How are you dealing with working remotely or away from the office? A: Working remotely for most people means working from home and that can have its challenges and distractions. With a young family, the key for us was to make sure that some routine was in place, recognizing that we all have differing schedules. Taking turns to watch the children and switching workdays with weekends (where possible) has also helped.
Q: What do you think will be the impact on the prices of construction materials? A: We are facing a global recession and prices tend to fall during a recession. However, this is a simplistic theory and will depend on supply and demand scenarios or the state of the economy in places from where the materials are obtained. Costs of materials from China or India may increase as their GDP remains positive, according to the World Economic Forum. But it is too early to tell; if demand for overseas materials decreases, the pendulum could swing the other way.
Q: Will the COVID-19 crisis change how business is carried out in the future? A: COVID-19 has compelled businesses to change the way certain interactions are carried out. For example, web conferencing (Zoom, Teams, Skype) has allowed businesses to continue operations that would typically be carried out face to face. These tools have been available for some time, and some industries utilize these more than others, however; the up-take of such tools will no doubt accelerate due to COVID-19.
Q: How will remote working impact the demand on the commercial property sector? A: As tenants and landlords adjust to the changes in maintaining a safe environment for employees and clients, the size and layout of commercial spaces will likely change to accommodate a cultural shift. You may see corporate offices leasing smaller spaces as they start to permanently work remotely and only come to the office periodically. It will be interesting to see how retail adapts – they may need larger spaces to operate effectively or go, in part or completely, to online shopping.
Q: How do you think that social distancing will impact day-to-day activities on construction sites? A: As work on essential construction projects has continued, we have seen physical distancing and sanitation measures implemented. This has meant site labour has had to plan and ensure that they are maintaining physical distancing measures even prior to commencing and during daily work activities and sanitizing at regular intervals. This will have an impact on productivity levels.
12 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Summer 2020
