Covid-19:

continuity of architectural services during pandemic

The Coronavirus Pandemic has certainly impacted our lives here in Scotland and the way of life for people all across the globe. Now in Scotland, after over 3 months of lockdown, the rate of new infection has fallen significantly and we are beginning to carefully unlock society and the economy. With this in mind, these are the measures we are currently taking to continue supporting clients as we move forward into the 'new normal'. These will be updated according to the Scottish Government Covid-19 Routemap.

updated 03 July 2020 (further updates will follow as advice changes*)

new enquiries

We are open for business. If you have a potential project you wish to discuss please get in touch via email at enquiries@studiobarc.org and we will follow up with a return email or phone call.

working from home

I have operated from our home in Beith since late 2015. We are therefore fully established with a dedicated studio fully equipped with all that we need to provide continuity for our clients. If your own working from home arrangements have led you to think of adding an extension or making changes to your home then please get in touch to discuss how we might be able to help.

meetings

Unfortunately, until the Scottish Government considers it to be safe, we will not be meeting any clients, contractors or suppliers in person. However, we have installed superfast fibre broadband are able to have virtual meetings using Zoom or other interactive communication software such as GoToMeeting. If appropriate we can arrange a physically distanced meeting outside in open air. We will of course start having in person meetings once lockdown routemap and regulations permit and it is considered safe. We don't think this will be until Phase 3 of the Routemap.

property surveys

On 29 May 2020 the Chief Planner for Scotland issued guidance stating

“a physical site visit can be carried out if that can be done within the scope of physical distancing requirements. Travel for essential work-related purposes is permitted if it absolutely cannot be done from home, while following distancing measures as much as possible…There are similar issues for applicants, for example when needing to access a site to carry out survey work to support and progress their application.”

On the basis of the above advice we consider that we are now allowed to conduct site surveys and view properties under controlled physical distancing measures. Our arrangements for property visits will be as follows:

  • we will not visit if any of our survey team is experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 during all visits we will observe physical distancing.

  • our survey team is from our single household and therefore can work together.

  • please vacate your building when we are on site and ensure that all internal doors are unlocked and in an open position before we arrive. It is also a good idea to leave some windows open to ventilate the property.Leave the lights on in any internal rooms without daylight so we don't have to touch any switches.

  • we will wear gloves and face coverings. If necessary, we will also wear coveralls.

  • we will use alcohol sanitizer before and after our survey. If we do need to touch any surfaces with our hands we will sanitise them afterwards.

  • we will photograph all spaces for use afterwards. Please ensure any private or personal material is out of sight before we start.

  • please do not ask us to carry out a site visit if you are uncomfortable with any aspect of these arrangements.

construction site visits

As of 22 June 2020 the Construction industry moved int Step 3 of the construction recovery programme. This means that construction work can restart so long as physical distancing and enhanced hygiene measures are implemented. Please note that the guidance for construction sites provided by the UK Government does not apply in Scotland. Therefore, the best guidance we can find is from Construction Scotland here. The contractor should be updating his Construction Plan to include arrangement to work with the risk of Coronavirus. During this phase we will following the guidance of our professional institute as regards visiting construction sites. In general we will only be visiting our construction sites where it is an essential duty in our role as the Contract Administrator as physical distancing is extremely difficult to implement on a construction site where many tasks require close working.

This page will be updated when Scottish government advice changes.

Stay Safe. (updated 03.07.20)