Builders and tradies remain open for business

The Prime Minister has confirmed that building is an essential industry and is being kept open but there is some confusion in the community about how this is applied to the home.

Safe Work Australia advises that a workplace includes a private home or dwelling, which means building workers and tradies should do everything to follow social distancing and strict hygiene practices while working at your home.

For home and property owners it is important to know that you don’t need to pull the plug on current work.

According to Master Builders Australia, whether you’ve been planning a new build, a renovation job or you’ve been planning to talk to your builder about getting the ball rolling for this kind of project, you can still have your builder on your premises for purposes of work and be confident that they are complying with the rules and that you are doing the right thing.

There is no need to put kitchen or bathroom renovations, plumbing or electrical work or landscaping on hold.

It’s also important for home and property owners and the community to know that Safe Work Australia has produced information for in-home workers and tradies, containing a range of practical information about client interactions, householder checks and other ways to reduce or eliminate risk.

There are nearly 370,000 residential building businesses in Australia, including thousands of mum and dad businesses. The survival of these businesses is essential to the livelihoods of the builders and their families but also the state economy which is also under huge pressure from the COVID-19 crisis.