May 5 Update
Construction Restart: Phase 1
On April 24, 2020, Governor Inslee announced a plan to restart some residential construction, which had mostly been shut down as part of his Stay Home, Stay Healthy order issued last month.
As we return to production work, we draw on our 40 years of experience in helping clients navigate the home remodeling process. As always, our first priority is the safety of our staff, clients, and the community at large. Here are the precautions we are taking, in accordance with state and local guidelines.
Remote work, whenever possible
Even though we are now authorized to do work in our clients' homes, we continue to do the following to reduce in-person exposure:
- Giving employees the option to work from home whenever possible, including our designers and office staff.
- Conducting meetings with clients and prospective clients via video conference.
We are carefully following the governor's Phase 1 Plan to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
- Weekly toolbox talk: We will be conducting mandatory weekly safety talks for employees to educate them about the new safety precautions. Talks will take place via telephone when possible.
- Social distancing: All workers must maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between them. Staging areas will be created for the safe transfer of items between workers.
- Attendance log: All workers and visitors entering the jobsite must sign in, and these logs will be kept by our lead carpenters/jobsite supervisors.
- Safety and cleaning: We are providing hand washing stations with water, soap, and disposable towels. In addition, we are providing hand sanitizer.
- PPE: In addition to regular equipment, such as hard hats, fall protection, and hearing protection, we are providing PPE, including gloves, safety glasses, and face masks.
- One subcontractor at a time: Whenever practical, we are allowing only one trade or sub on the jobsite at a time, and all subs must maintain proper social distancing.
- Screening workers: All workers will be screened at the beginning of their shift. We are taking temperatures and asking about symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, headache, etc.). Symptomatic workers and subcontractors will be sent home immediately and cannot return to work until evaluated. Any worker with a COVID-19-positive family member must follow quarantine requirements established by the Department of Health.
- No sharing: The sharing of tools, food, or rides is discouraged. Tools must be sanitized before being passed to another worker.
- Jobsite sanitation: We are providing disinfectants and requiring our workers to sanitize the jobsite when they arrive, before they leave, and throughout the day. High-touch surfaces are being sanitized frequently. We are also providing tissues and trash cans. Trash will be emptied regularly.
- Physical barrier: We are continuing to use plastic sheeting and active HEPA filtration on our jobsites to avoid any potential contamination of non-work areas.
- Posting information: We are posting our mandatory COVID-19 safety protocols and safety plans at our jobsites.
Potential impacts on schedules
- CRD's production schedules are delayed only slightly. We are reaching out to clients individually to alert them of any potential production delays.
- Our design schedules have not been delayed, as our designers have been able to continue working from home.
- We will do everything we can to try to stick to our schedules as closely as possible, but due to the added restrictions and safety protocols, we will have to slow our production schedule slightly.
- None of our employees has tested positive for COVID-19, but if one or more of our lead carpenters gets sick, there may be a pause as we reassign work loads to minimize the delay in the schedule.
- If clients themselves get sick, we will have to pause work in the home until the client is no longer contagious, after which we will work with the client to adjust schedules to see if we can make up any of the time that was lost.
- The safety of our staff and clients is our primary concern, and we will take all precautions to ensure it.
- We put a high priority on clear and open communication, and we will reach out to our valued clients immediately if anything changes or delays are expected.
CRD is open for business and ready to serve you
Despite this environment of uncertainty, we are working remotely but remain operational. We are taking active and extensive precautions to keep our staff and clients safe and to do our part to help prevent the spread of the virus. While implementing these measures, we are continuing to serve the Seattle community to the best of our abilities.
Our core values are more important than ever
Since our founding in 1980, we have striven to serve our community with integrity, creativity, innovation, craftsmanship, and excellence. During these trying times, we continue to let these values be our guide, as they will be for decades to come.
Thank you for your patience as we resume operations during these challenging times. We are so grateful for the trust our clients put in CRD. Please know that we are doing everything we can to serve their needs, while keeping everyone safe.
If you have questions about these new policies, or about potential scheduling impacts, please don't hesitate to contact us. We are always happy to address your questions or concerns.
We invite you to view an example of our Phase 1 Jobsite Safety Plan. An individualized plan will be created for each of our active jobsites.
We're all in this together
We continue to meet via video conference with prospective new clients to find out how we can serve their remodeling needs. We are so grateful for the members of the Seattle community who have continued to support CRD and other local, family-owned businesses during these trying times.
We want to extend our most sincere thanks to our loyal customers, and we want to pledge our continued commitment to you and our entire community. Stay well, and thank you for your support.
