Massachusetts – City of Boston

Beginning on May 5, 2020, the City of Boston will allow previously banned construction to resume in phases, subject to certain additional safety protocols.  Up until now, the City has banned nearly all commercial and residential construction except for emergency repairs, public works projects, or projects receiving a specific waiver by the Inspectional Services Department.  According to Mayor Walsh, the schedule below is designed to incrementally expand the categories of allowed construction to align with the broader categories of construction permitted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which deemed nearly all residential and commercial construction to be essential.  Contractors working on projects that were previously banned in the City, including commercial and residential roofing projects, should take immediate steps to satisfy new safety requirements and prepare jobsites for compliance so that they may resume work on May 18 under the following schedule:

• May 5 – Construction that is deemed essential under the broader Massachusetts order is authorized to prepare the jobsite with project-specific COVID-19 safety measures, provided that owners/contractors have filed with the appropriate regulatory agency the approved COVID-19 Safety Plan and signed COVID-19 Safety Affidavit required by the City of Boston.  The plan and affidavit requirements were put into effect for ongoing, permitted construction in the City as of April 27, and will now be applicable to phased-in construction.  They can be found here: COVID-19 Safety Plan and COVID-19 Safety Affidavit.
• May 18 – The City will allow essential construction to resume on jobsites that meet the following criteria: (1) Projects are permitted and in compliance with safety protocols, and have filed a Safety Plan and Signed COVID-19 Affidavit; (2) Jobsites are sufficiently prepared to adhere to all criteria of their safety plan; and (3) the work is for hospitals, public schools, residential buildings [1-3 units], road and utility work, or other outdoor/open air-work such as steel erection, roofing and constructing foundations.
• May 26 – The City will allow all essential construction projects to resume work in adherence to their safety plans, including complex, large-scale development.  The City advises that complex, large-scale construction must wait until May 26 (instead of May 18) so that owners/contractors have an opportunity to educate their workforce, safely remobilize and implement their site-specific Safety Plan. 

Note that any construction that is not deemed essential by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will still be banned in the City of Boston, and that the Department of Public Works and Inspectional Services Department inspectors will continue to enforce the Covid-19 Safety Plans for Construction.  Failure to abide by the COVID-19 Safety Plan may result in suspension or termination of work in progress or revocation of the City’s permit for such work.

The City also announced that COVID-19 testing services for construction workers will be made available at the Tufts COVID-19 Screening Clinic at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School located at 885 Washington Street in Chinatown.  The site is located at the intersection of Washington Street and Marginal Road next to the Tufts/New England Medical Center Orange Line MBTA station. 

Additional information regarding the City’s requirements can be found here: https://www.boston.gov/news/temporary-guidance-construction-city-boston

NOTE:  Several cities just outside of Boston, such as Somerville and Cambridge, previously joined Boston in banning nearly all commercial and residential construction. We anticipate that these cities will begin allowing private construction to resume in phases on a timeline similar to the schedule outlined above. For example, the City of Somerville recently announced that private construction can resume effective June 1, 2020, provided that contractors work with the City’s Infrastructure & Asset Management (IAM) department to complete a Jobsite Hazard Analysis (JHA) and prepare a Site Specific Safety Plan (SSSP) in accordance with state and federal guidelines on COVID spread prevention.
City of Somerville

Similarly, the City of Cambridge announced its own phased schedule and safety requirements for reopening construction, with existing private construction permitted to resume on June 15, and newly permitted private construction to begin in June 29.
City of Cambridge

Contractors with projects in cities immediately surrounding Boston should continue to check with local authorities to understand the schedule for resuming work on projects in those cities.