www.elpasobuilders.com
VOL 2020 ISSUE 3
BuildersOutlook PUBLISHED BY THE EL PASO ASSOCIATION OF BUILDERS: NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL HOME BUILDING INDUSTRY NEWS
Inside: Q&A with local building industry experts
Cornavirus hits home El Paso and other state home builder associations get to work for our industry, communities Safety for workers, customers and staff are top priorities but business is a close second EPAB
The El Paso Association of Builders and the Texas Association of Builders have been in the center of business trade groups working with government agencies during the Corona Virus spread into Texas. The EPAB as the trade group for members has been focusing on the issues at hand including safety, work allowances, and getting the important information the membership needs. While the Covid-19 (or as some call it the Wuhan Flu) has taken tolls in places like Washington state, New York City, Los Angeles it became clear very early that Texas was not immune. Our ability to work directly with Gregg Abbott governor of Texas as well as the local County Judge and El Paso Mayor was essential in providing them with our industry performance and concerns. That relationship developed over the years has given the political leadership confidence to name the residential and commercial builders as “essential services” during the pandemic. As local jurisdictions enacted order above what the Governor ordered we were prepared with information for those local leaders to ensure contractors and its supply line remain open. “It’s hard to imagine what we’re all going through” said Randy Bowling, President of the Texas Association of Builders. “Our team at
TAB, led by Scott Norman, was on this late February making sure we had a chair at the table with the Texas government,” he continued. Scott Norman added that it was all in the timing. “We have good working relationships with the politicians, and they need our input especially now,” he continued. Locally the EPAB began to work with elected officials and government employees to ensure that the building business operates during the stay in place order. That order was issued after other states and cities were guided by what doctors and scientist were recommending, stay away as much as possible from each other. The guidelines and the ability to enact emergency action is credited with subduing the flu in in other countries. All eyes are glued on the expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on the daily briefings from the White House. His insight is being used by all authorities including El Paso. Edgar Garcia, President of EPAB calls these as strange times. “We are having to be fluid to a point, and frankly working inside a new condition almost hourly,” he said. “We are continuing to monitor, to issue information, and to talk with leaders in business, politics and at TAB /NAHB, doing what we do best,” he concluded. FROM NAHB: 90 Organizations Urge DHS to Designate Residential Construction "Essential" In an effort spearheaded by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), 90 companies and organizations today called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
to designate construction of single-family and multifamily housing as an "Essential Infrastructure Business." In a joint letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Jack Wolf, the 90 organizations and suppliers said that this action is urgently needed to help stabilize the housing industry and its supply chain in the near term. "As cities and states issue declarations and public health orders as a result of the crisis, it is essential that communities have access to our professionals to build and maintain essential services including: building, plumbing, residential property management, rental housing operators, roofing, electrical, HVAC systems, waste/wastewater treatment plants and power generations," the letter stated. "Home construction, including those industries listed above, should be designated as 'essential' because it is necessary to maintain safety, sanitation and economic security." "As housing goes, so goes the economy," said NAHB Chairman Dean Mon, a home builder and developer from Shrewsbury, N.J. "Construction of single-family and multifamily housing is essential to the economy and should be allowed to continue under a remain in place order." To keep the housing sector running during this economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, DHS should take the following actions: • Permit government functions related to the building and development process, such as inspections, permitting and plan review
services, to be modified to protect the public health. This can be done in a way that allows these functions to continue and serve the construction of housing, such as allowing qualified private third-party inspections in case of a government shutdown. • Allow supply stores, distributors and manufacturers of building products necessary to serve the construction, repair and maintenance of housing to operate. • Let those working in building trades continue to maintain the essential operation of residences and other operating businesses. A large majority, if not all land development and residential construction job tasks, fall within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Lower Exposure Risk jobs. Working on a new unfinished home site occurs primarily outdoors and does not involve going onto a location occupied by residents or a public location, and there is minimal (if any) physical or transactional contact with customers compared to other customer/client relationships. "Housing is currently 14.6% of Gross Domestic Product and a major engine of the economy," the joint letter to DHS stated. "Keeping the men and women of the industry building must be a priority. If the construction industry and its supply chain is disrupted, it creates a domino effect leading to dire negative economic repercussions for an already-burdened economy."
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