The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has designated the construction of single-family and multifamily construction as essential infrastructure business. The DHS’s second version of its Advisory Memorandum on Identification of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During COVID-19 Response also includes building product manufacturing and the construction supply chain as essential critical infrastructure.
The designation will enable many home building firms to keep their businesses open during the coronavirus pandemic. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) commended the DHS for “heeding the urgent concerns of the housing community,” according to chairman Dean Mon.
Despite the designation from the DHS, it is not a federal order on what is essential business and states still can make their own determinations. The DHS wrote the advisory list “is not intended to be the exclusive list of critical infrastructure sectors, workers, and functions that should continue during the COVID-19 response.”
The National Lumber and Building Materials Dealers Association (NLBMDA) classified the designation as another victory. The recognition is critical towards encouraging state and local governments to maintain construction and building product manufacturing operations, as essential, according to the NLBMDA.
“NLBMDA made a strong case to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) that construction activity is critical for both the COVID-19 response and the U.S. economy as a whole,” NLBMDA president and CEO Jonathan Paine said in a public statement. “We are pleased to see this recognition and will be urging state and local governments to follow the CISA guidance on construction to ensure LBM dealers and their supply chain can continue operating to help their communities and the domestic economy.”
Pennsylvania and New York have made determinations different from the DHS designations. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf stopped all non-life sustaining businesses and ceased construction projects across the state on March 21. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo halted non-essential construction, including residential construction, over the weekend. Both states still permit the operation of LBM dealers during the coronavirus pandemic despite the bans on non-essential construction.
