Barriers are now built in, where access to the company is normally as uncomplicated as possible. This is also the case with the Hauswirth carpentry firm in Feutersoey. The customer or supplier must first register by telephone and wait in front of the locked door. Marcel Hauswirth says that at the moment it is still easy for him to deploy his four employees according to the prescribed rules. During the gentle renovation of an apartment, work is done in different rooms. The various companies involved on the construction site have agreed on a certain procedure to avoid having too many workers on the site at the same time.

Health of employees comes first

Jürg Tschanz of Tschanz Elektro feels obliged to his employees to take the instructions of the Swiss government seriously and he is glad that work can still be done. He has rented various rooms for the eight office employees and set up his own office in a construction trailer. All employees are equipped with disinfectants, and employees at risk should stay at home.

Material needs no longer to be fetched in the warehouse, but is provided in the car park. Tschanz explains that small installations, such as those commissioned by private households, are not in demand at the moment. Luckily the renovation work in the Hotel Hornberg can proceed according to plan. There are washing facilities on every floor, which are cleaned regularly. Christian Hoefliger is doing his utmost to ensure that no complaints can be made in the event of any inspection of the construction site. He cannot accept the risk that the reconstruction will miss the deadline.

Creativity and ingenuity

Claudio Thoenen also emphasizes that he is very happy that work is still allowed. All employees were informed about the new rules – in six different languages – and everyone had to confirm with their signature that they understood them. With a lot of creativity and ingenuity, the daily operations are being reorganised. Thoenen tells us that it was very difficult to get rid of ingrained habits. Before the lockdown, all employees met in the morning in the lounge, welcomed each other, drank a coffee and organised the daily routine. In order to avoid this accumulation of 35 employees, the general rule now is to start work later, but without this social get-together.

Some construction projects have been postponed, partly out of fear of possible financial bottlenecks or general uncertainty, says Jonas Wanzenried of Bauwerk AG. The company has organised itself to meet the current rules. Breaks take place at different times and only six employees travel in the 14-seater bus for example. All employees were informed of the critical situation by a multilingual letter from the master builder association and had to confirm this with their signature. Every week, the employees are informed about the latest developments and the foreman in charge of a construction is further responsible for ensuring that federal regulations are complied with. Currently, 80 percent of the employees are working, 20 percent are on vacation or on call, especially seasonal workers from Portugal.

While many industries are suffering from the lockdown and are experiencing financial bottlenecks the construction sector can still operate, though within limitations set by the federal regulations.

Based on AvS/Erich Käser