Contractors are moving forward with ongoing projects—in many cases—but have had the challenge of adapting to new health and safety protocols during the pandemic. This includes social distancing, using new technologies and creating new site plans. Water feature design and construction company OTL, which is known for installing interactive water fountains in commercial properties, says that these new adjustments were among the challenges of operating during the pandemic.

"As the health and safety of our team members and the public is always our top priority, we are experienced in keeping the public out of construction areas for projects like Graham Garden, where we were required to keep active construction areas clear while maintaining passage through the courtyard to the office buildings and on-site restaurants," J. Wickham Zimmerman, CEO of OTL, tells GlobeSt.com. "With the new challenge of COVID-19, we developed ways to work effectively while maintaining social distancing between our crewmembers. Since this is not always possible, engineering controls are required in some cases."

OTL also implemented its own health and safety strategy for workers. This helped keep projects moving. "We also implemented site-specific COVID-19 safety plans that cover items including daily screenings, revised procedures for safety meetings, travel to and from the job, and work on the job, including our interface with other contractors," Zimmerman says.