Victoria Receives Construction Green Light

From Wednesday onward, Melbourne’s construction section will reopen after news from the Premier that the next stage of easing of restrictions will go ahead.

After 2 consecutive days with zero new cases recorded in Victoria, Daniel Andrews today announced that as of 11:59pm tonight, Tuesday 27 October, the third step of easing restrictions will come into effect, meaning building sites across the state with return to 100 percent capacity and site limits imposed on specialist subcontractors removed.

Still, those on construction sites will need to observe several steps.

• Having a site specific High-Risk COVIDSafe Plan
• Complying with Construction Industry Guidelines (Revision 8) including mandatory wearing of face masks; pre-start declarations of health for all workers and visitors; temperature screening upon site entry; mandatory wearing of approved PPE and training on correct use; cleaning and hygiene systems, scheduled and audited; Physical distancing practiced throughout site in common and work areas; minimising work activities in restricted spaces; controls for occupancy of hoists/lifts and waiting areas; staggering of start/finish times and meal/crib breaks; staggering of work shifts (where used) to avoid overlap and include cleaning time between starts
• Workforce mapping and contract tracing
• COVIDSafe Marshals on site
• Procedures for site inductions and toolbox meetings
• CALD resources and messaging

See summary of operational requirements… https://udiavic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Open-Requirements-once-declared-161020.pdf

The green light also paves way for strong progress on over half a billion dollars’ worth of new construction projects now set to proceed as in light of recent Victorian Government approvals.

These include:

• A $130 million, 13-storey office building with ground floor retail at 462-482 Swan Street in Richmond
• A 15-storey, $85 million, 5-green star commercial development at 36-52 Wellington Street in Collingwood
• An 8-storey office and commercial building at 12 Balmoral Walk, Frankston worth $116 million
• A 72-megawatt solar farm on Wangaratta-Kilfeera Road in Laceby, valued at $93 million
• A $24.2 million mixed use development at 69-75 Mortlake Road Warrnambool
• Two 4 storey apartment complexes including 53 social housing units in Reservoir valued at $74 million.