New York has ordered that all construction can resume in all regions throughout the State, now that all regions have met the New York Forward Plan health metrics established based on guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of State, and other public health experts. The Governor’s previous Executive Order banned any non-essential construction except for emergency construction. Residential and commercial construction is now permitted to resume, and as of June 9, 2020, all ten State regions have achieved the New York Forward Plan Metrics necessary to reopen (see link below). Please note that all construction work, including any work that was deemed essential and allowed to continue under the prior ban, must be performed in strict compliance with the State’s requirements for workplace safety (see links below). 

Regional Monitoring Dashboard
Safety Guidance – Summary Version
Safety Guidance – Full Version

 

We recommend that customers evaluate their ongoing work on a project-by-project basis. The Executive Order issued in New York states that “[a]ll non-essential construction must shut down except emergency construction (e.g. a project necessary to protect health and safety of the occupants, or to continue a project if it would be unsafe to allow to remain undone until it is safe to shut the site).” 

Essential construction is allowed to continue and includes roads, bridges, transit facilities, utilities, hospitals or health care facilities, affordable housing, and homeless shelters.  The Order contains an exception for any construction that involves only a single worker who is the sole employee on a job site.

If a specific project does not involve essential construction or does not fit the “emergency construction” exception, you may petition the Department of Economic Development for “essential” status for that project through the following form: 
https://esd.ny.gov/content/request-designation-essential-business-purposes-executive-order-2026

NOTE: The form requires you to acknowledge that your work is NOT essential or emergency construction.  We recommend that you review the guidance carefully to confirm whether your project involves essential or emergency construction before submitting a petition to the Department: https://esd.ny.gov/guidance-executive-order-2026.