It seems like all that’s in the news at the moment is the coronavirus, a.k.a. ‘COVID-19’. Alongside the obvious health-related concerns, the virus is already having a very real impact on many industries. The need for social distancing to help combat COVID-19 means many companies are encouraging working from home.
Here at Potton we’re trying to operate as closely to ‘business as usual’, whilst making sure we follow all the latest government recommendations. A lot of our office staff are working from home, and the others are in the sterile office environment and have been split up to prevent close contact with others. This means your houses are still getting designed, so don’t panic.
Our factory is also a sterile environment and employees are being asked to sanitise before entering. Their shifts are also being split up to maintain the social distancing that the government is advising. This means that your timber frames are still being built, it just might take a little longer so we can make sure our factory workers are safe.
As of Friday 3rd April, however, manufacturing will cease as we’ve decided to stop everything operational in line with the new government guidelines. As annoying as this will be, it’s a procedure that has everyone’s safety at heart. If your home is in the construction stages, then building work will be completed to a safe, secure stage that can be left for a long time, until the risk dies down. Again, this is annoying, but it’s the best way to minimise the spread.
That isn’t to say that your build will completely grind to a halt, though. Whatever stage of a build you’re at, there’s usually a lot of paperwork to go through. Use this time to go through your budget, organise a site layout, or research subcontractors to make sure that, once wheels start turning again, everything’s in place to run smoothly.
History has proven that self builders are a resilient lot. As soon as it’s safe, you can pick up where you left off, and we’ll be right there with you. Until then, stay inside and stay healthy.