Construction permits

10 April 2020

The construction industry has been given updated advice on how and when they are able to work.

Non-essential construction activities which only involve one or two people, and which have safe operating procedures, can operate without requiring Government permission, provided that social distancing instructions are adhered to at all times.

The conditions for being able to work are:

the guidelines on social distancing and good hand hygiene must be adhered to at all times, including travel
no more than two people can be undertaking the work
the work is not within an occupied dwelling (i.e. work in gardens and to the exterior of buildings can be done, but work which involves being inside an occupied property cannot)
the guidelines for safety relating to lone working (i.e. procedures for working safely alone) must be followed
this work is classed as non-essential work therefore no worker should carry documentation asserting that they are engaged in essential work. Police and other enforcement agents will be monitoring for abuse of essential worker status closely.

Emergency home and building repair and maintenance continues to be classified as essential work, and can be carried out inside people’s homes where it’s necessary, provided that the tradesperson is well and has no symptoms.

No work should be carried out in any household which is isolating or where an individual is being shielded, unless it is to remedy a direct risk to the safety of the household.

The Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Senator Lyndon Farnham, said: “I have announced financial support for a number of areas within the construction sector, but I recognise that the industry wants to work rather than rely on Government support.

“This clarification should enable small businesses which are involved in the construction industry to continue to work, if they feel that it is safe and appropriate for them and their employees to do so. My advice to all businesses, however, is to respect the bank holiday and consider the nuisance that might be caused by their work.

“Businesses should understand that our highest priority remains the control of the spread of coronavirus, and they must ensure that at no time do they compromise social distancing between themselves, their staff, their customers, and anyone else.

“Should I, or any other Competent Authorities Ministers, on advice of officials and the Medical Officer for Health decide at any time that there is too much activity and therefore too much social contact increasing the risk of spreading COVID-19, this sector of the construction industry may be stopped.”

Construction activity which involves more than two people must remain closed, and a permit system will be introduced to enable it to restart, but only once the Medical Officer for Health is satisfied it can be done without the risk of the spread of coronavirus.

Permits have been granted to 30 sites, which are considered essential. The sites have been given posters to display, enabling Islanders to know that they have permission to operate, provided that they apply social distancing.

Senator Farnham said: “More information on the permit system will be announced once we are satisfied that the measures which are being put in place on the most essential construction sites are effective.”

Permits have been granted to the following sites, all of which should be displaying posters confirming that they have been granted permission. Some permits are granted with conditions on the time or type of activity. The list is live and changes regularly, and so is for illustration only.

Category of work	Client	Premises	Parish
Cat A	Health and Community Services	General Hospital	St Helier
Emergency	Parish of St Helier	Municipal Services Depot	St Helier
Critical	Parish of St Helier	Westmount Day Nursery	St Helier
Essential Cat B	Andium/JPH	Hue Court	St Helier
Cat A	Health and Community Services	All health properties
Cat A	Growth, Housing and Environment	Tanker import facility/cavern	St Helier
Emergency		Halkett Place	St Helier
Emergency		Highfields Vineries	St Saviour
Emergency		Longbeach	Grouville
Emergency		Furze Cottage	St John
Emergency		Holmside	Grouville
Emergency		20 West Park	St Helier
Emergency		Heytesbury	Grouville
Cat A	GHE civil works	sea wall, St Ouen's bay	St Ouen
Cat A	GHE civil works	Hermitage breakwater	St Helier
Cat A	GHE solid waste	La Collette reclamation site	St Helier
Cat A emergency	Christians Together Jersey/Gov	8 Lempriere Street	St Helier
Cat A emergency	Andium Homes	25 Oxford Rd	St Helier
Cat A emergency	Andium Homes	70 Journeaux Court	St Helier
Cat A emergency	Andium Homes	42 Vauxhall Gardens	St Helier
Cat A emergency	Andium Homes	Landscape Grove	St Helier
Cat A	GHE Engineering and Development	Island-wide pumping stations
Cat A	Building renovations	3 La Collette Villas	St Helier
Cat A	GHE Civil works	Fort Henry
Cat A	Health	Nightingale Hospital	St Lawrence

Sites will be categorised, and the granting of permits will be prioritised A, B and C:

Category A: sites which provide critical national infrastructure and services which keep the Island's residents and environment safe and secure. These sites and working areas include:

critical maintenance of sewerage, sea defence, roads, telecommunications, gas, water, harbours and airport, electricity generation and supply
emergency maintenance of the public estate including health, education and all publicly-owned assets
emergency maintenance of all the parish estates
emergency maintenance of public and private assets that support the Island

Category B: sites and services which provide services to the public which can operate safely in accordance with the site operating procedures. They include Les Quennevais School and the Sewage Treatment Works
Category C: all other sites and services which are currently operating and can operate safely in accordance with the site operating procedures.