The Welsh Government appears to have updated its guidance on whether or not tradespeople can work in people’s homes. After the announcement of their lockdown, this was the original guidance issued:
Work carried out inside other people’s homes can only take place if it is urgent or to repair a fault which poses a direct risk to people’s safety – for example, emergency plumbing or carry out an adaptation to allow that household to remain in their property, or the property is vacant. Work should not be carried out at someone else’s house if the worker or any member of the household is self-isolating or showing COVID-19 symptoms, however mild.
Like other businesses, people working in someone else’s home must take all reasonable measures to ensure to mitigate the risk of coronavirus spreading when working in other people’s households. Please see the guidance on reasonable measures and on working in other people’s homes for more information.
If attendance is unavoidable (because of an urgent or emergency situation), additional precautions should be taken to keep workers and householders completely separate from each other. In these cases, Public Health Wales can provide advice to tradespeople and households.
As it stood, this would have prevented trades, including fenestration, from working in people’s homes. However, there has been a revision to this guidance. This is the new guidance as per the Welsh Government website:
Work carried out in people’s homes, for example by tradespeople, can continue as long as it is managed in a safe way and both the worker and household members are well and have no symptoms of coronavirus. However, we recommend that people consider whether the work can be safely deferred until after this short lockdown.
Like other businesses, people working in someone else’s home must take all reasonable measures to ensure to mitigate the risk of coronavirus spreading when working in other people’s households. Please see the guidance on reasonable measures and on working in other people’s homes for more information.
It is also recommended that no work should be carried out in any household where someone is isolating, unless it is to repair a fault which poses a direct risk to people’s safety – for example, emergency plumbing, or carry out an adaptation to allow that household to remain in their property. If attendance is unavoidable (because of an urgent or emergency situation), additional precautions should be taken to keep workers and householders completely separate from each other. In these cases, Public Health Wales can provide advice to tradespeople and households. But no work should be carried out by a tradesperson who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild.
So, according to this updated guidance, window and door replacement work can now continue in people’s homes. Whether showrooms and offices should close will be a decision for each business to make, but as I understand it, according to the guidance available they should shut. However, thanks to the technology that is available, office-based work can be done from home which shouldn’t provide too much disruption to that part of a business.
Already started work?
An earlier version of this guidance said the following:
I have already started building, repair or maintenance work in someone’s home, can I complete that work?
Not unless the work is urgent or it would be unsafe to leave the work incomplete. You are able to attend the household to ensure that environment is safe for the householders, collect any of your belongings, for example tools. You should make arrangements to do this as soon as possible and ensure that you spend the least amount of time at the household.
It now says this:
Work underway can continue as long as it is managed in a safe way and both the worker and household members are well and have no symptoms of coronavirus. However, we recommend that people consider whether the work can be safely deferred until after this short lockdown.
Thankfully this bit of contradictory guidance has been rectified as the original version sat at odds with other parts of the legislation. So any new works, or works currently in progress can continue, so long as COVID-safe practices are in place on-site.
As always, if any more clarifications are made or new information provided it will be available on DGB.
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