After a fortnight-long closure, the Victorian government has announced how the state’s construction industries will reopen on Tuesday with up to 25 per cent capacity of workers.
But the road to full capacity is a slow one and there are different rules depending on what type of construction is involved.
Here’s what we know about the rules and the timeline.
Construction workers must be vaccinated
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan made clear that any construction worker who wants to return to work must be first-dose vaccinated to be on site by Tuesday.
A dedicated and fully trained “COVID marshal” will be responsible for making sure their workers have had at least one dose of the vaccine and compliance checks from authorised officers will be made to ensure everyone is following the rules.
The dedicated COVID marshal must be in place, but can be an existing worker who has been trained rather than an additional staff member.
Workers who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to travel between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria to work on site.
Workers on critical state projects or large-scale construction will also be allowed to cross between metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria if they are first-dose vaccinated and take a COVID-19 test before they first cross the border, and then test twice a week until they are fully vaccinated.
All on-site workers must be fully vaccinated by November 13.
Can construction on my house begin?
Yes, from Tuesday all sectors of the construction industry can get back on the tools, but there are limits on the number of people allowed on site.
For small-scale construction such as residential construction, only five workers and a site supervisor are allowed on site.
Construction on greenfield developments can return with 20 workers per hectare.
Projects on the State Critical Infrastructure list are allowed to operate at 100 per cent capacity. Ms Allan said this was because most of those sites were outdoors.
Large-scale commercial construction can return with 25 per cent of the workforce.
That can be increased to 50 per cent of the workforce provided:
- all workers are fully vaccinated
- crib rooms meet best-practice guidelines on enhanced cleaning, additional ventilation and density requirements
Ms Allan said large-scale construction sites could return to 100 per cent capacity once Victoria reached its 70 per cent double-dose threshold, and caps would be lifted completely when the state reached its 80 per cent double-dose target.
Are the unions on board?
ABC News: Patrick Rocca
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Essentially yes, but they are calling for a few additional measures.
The Building Industry Group of Unions issued a statement welcoming the announcement.
The group said the reopening included several of its recommendations, including improved safety measures, stricter COVID-safe plans and the return of the smoko shed (or crib room).
But the group has called on the state government to introduce rapid antigen testing.
CFMEU Victorian construction secretary John Setka said while “a group of morons” managed to shut down construction, “the members of the building unions are the ones who got it open safely”.
Why can’t construction be at full capacity again?
Treasurer and Minister for Industrial Relations Tim Pallas said there were high rates of non-compliance within the construction industry before it was shut down.
He said in mid-September, inspectors found 73 per cent of construction sites visited were not compliant with Chief Health Officer directives.
Between August 5 and September 20, there were 337 cases of coronavirus connected with 154 building sites, he said.
The outbreaks were not all happening in large-scale construction sites and many were linked to residential construction, Mr Pallas said.
What happens if workers break the rules?
Mr Pallas said there would be a “zero-tolerance approach to non-compliance”.
Operators will have to attest their site is compliant and every site must have a vaccination register available for compliance checks.
Authorised officers will be checking sites and those found breaking the rules could face a fine of up to $10,904 for body corporates and $1,817 for individuals.
What’s happening with tea rooms?
Ms Allan said where possible breaks should be had outdoors but, tea rooms could be used with strict density requirements, additional ventilation and cleaning.
How many construction workers are vaccinated?
Premier Daniel Andrews said people were not asked what their profession was when they went to get vaccinated but he did say he would try and get the data.
“But there’s been a sea of fluoro, lots of tradies, older and younger, coming through and getting their first and second doses,” he said.
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