Property Council urges construction workers to adhere

As construction sites reopen across most of Greater Sydney today following advocacy from the Property Council, it has implored workers to do so inline with the new guidelines.

Acting NSW Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia, Lauren Conceicao said the property industry has taken the responsibility of re-opening safely very seriously.

“It’s fantastic news that construction work can go ahead outside of those eight LGA’s and that thousands of jobs will be saved, but it was imperative the industry followed the strict new health measures,” Ms Conceicao said.

“We are confident that the vast majority of those operating from Saturday will adhere, as no one enjoys the stress of being out of work.

“Police now have the powers to shut down any site that is not following these new guidelines.”

Ms Conceicao said the new the guidelines involved anything from on-site trade limits to contactless deliveries.

“There are now limits on the trades on-site to one at any time, caps on the number of sites visited by trades person in any week to five sites and contactless deliveries and invoicing where practicable.”

Ms Conceicao said she backed the decision to reopen.

“Construction is a vital part of the economy and the sector has demonstrated in the past that it has been able to operate safely throughout the pandemic, including during Victoria’s long second lockdown and their recent Delta lockdown,” Ms Conceicao said.

“The industry supports the additional health measures announced, which should give the people confidence that taking this action will not present an unacceptable health risk to the community.

“The Property Council has been working extremely closely with the NSW Government to ensure that the construction industry was able to restart this weekend.

“We thank the NSW Premier and her Government for their collaborative approach to get to this safe reopening of the construction industry keeping almost 3,000 jobs afloat.

The areas as identified by the NSW Government where construction will be prohibited include Fairfield, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool, Cumberland, Blacktown, Parramatta and Georges River Local Government Areas.

Media contact: Aidan Green | M 0491 030 028 | E [email protected]