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Spokane construction companies get back to work after Gov. Inslee's order

Construction projects were put on hold in Washington when Gov. Inslee issued a stay-at-home order on March 23.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee announced on Friday that low-risk construction can resume in Washington, one of the first steps the state is taking to slowly reopen the economy during the coronavirus crisis. 

Construction projects were put on hold when Inslee issued a stay-at-home order on March 23 that deemed commercial and residential construction non-essential activities. 

“I think this is a very thorough, and thoughtful, approach allowing construction to move forward," Inslee said on Friday.

Corey Condron, owner of Spokane's Condron Homes, said this is exactly what he has been waiting for.

"It feels good. The guys want to get back to work. I mean, they were getting paid, but they wanna work," Condron said.

Inslee's decision meant construction reopened right away on Friday, and Condron's company took full advantage of this.

"They went back to work as soon as he mentioned that," Condron said.

The governor put together a task force from the building industry, state workers and the trade unions to come up with safety recommendations. The recommendations given to him are posted on the Washington Building and Trades Council website and list a number of new guidelines to try and keep workers safe at job sites.

They include things like having a COVID-19 site supervisor to monitor the health of employees and to make sure a safety plan is followed. Workers would be provided with personal protective equipment, like gloves, goggles, face shields and masks. They have to stay 6 feet apart, and soap and running water have to be abundantly provided for at all job sites for hand washing. 

Condron is worried about PPE for his workers.

"The masks are scarce. We did round up some, and we spent a couple days searching for rubber gloves," he said. "We found some, but we were only able to buy a small amount. [We're] running multiple construction site, and we need more than we were allowed to buy."

Condron added that he had enough to get his crews back up and running.

The job sites will also need extra cleaning and workers will need extra training. 

If physical distancing is not possible on a job site, then the project will not be able to move forward. 

But construction companies weren't the only ones wanting to be able to go to work, as homeowners who were in the middle of having work done to their house also felt the effects of the stoppage.

Spokane homeowner Brand Price was one of these people, as the stoppage meant her and her family had to work around a half-finished kitchen for the last few weeks.

Now, Price is happy that work will start back up.

"We had to reinstall the dishwasher, so I was no longer washing dishes by hand three times a day." she said. "I'm excited that construction is opening back up. I'm just curious of where we're going to fall in that."

Local leaders, including City of Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward, called on Inslee for several weeks before Friday's announcement to reconsider his moratorium on home construction.

RELATED: Spokane Mayor Woodward joins calls for Gov. Inslee to allow home construction

KREM also reported on a Kettle Falls family of five whose reconstruction of their home after the 2018 Boyd’s Fire had been halted amid the stay-at-home order.

RELATED: 'Stay home' order halts construction on Kettle Falls family's home lost in wildfire

Gov. Inslee said he could not say when other businesses in the state could reopen.

“Obviously we cannot say when other businesses will reopen. We can’t make decisions based on arbitrary dates, we’ve got to make it on real data," Inslee said. 

"The day of reopening our whole economy is certainly not today...If we did reopen today, this virus would return with a vengeance," he added. 

Inslee said he is still working to restart elective medical procedures at facilities with enough personal protective equipment. 

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