The latest survey on contractors’ attitudes toward, and experiences with, the COVID-19 pandemic shows that the threat of a second wave of the virus is the industry’s biggest worry.

Conducted over the period between September 8 and 18, the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS) led survey asked the opinions of 300 industrial, commercial and institutional contractors from across the province.

The survey asked contractors to identify their top concerns relating to the pandemic at the moment. Tops among those was the impacts of a second COVID-19 wave. Ranking close behind were concerns about the impacts of supply-chain disruptions, the ability to access skilled labour, and ensuring the health and safety of workers and staff.

“There has been little change over top concerns from previous surveys including supply chain disruptions, skilled labour availability, and ensuring the health and safety of workers and staff,” OCS reports. “There has, however, been a significant decline in concern regarding project cost over-run due to sanitization, safety, and social distancing protocols.”

Contractors were also asked about the percentage of their work that has been impacted by the pandemic. In this latest survey, builders reported that 23 percent of their work had stopped because of the coronavirus, and a further 29 percent has been delayed. Both figures are down from the initial OCS survey in early May, when contractors reported 24 percent of work stopped, and 65 percent delayed. The trend continued downward through the third OCS survey, which showed 28 percent of work stopped, and 41 percent delayed.

In addition, 56 percent of contractors say most or all of their work has now resumed.

Supply chain disruptions have not improved since the pandemic began. Sixty-four percent of respondents reported high or medium impacts on business. That figure is down only slightly from the third survey, which was conducted in mid-June, and is up from the first survey, which was conducted in late April.

Additional impacts caused by the pandemic include delays in processing building permit applications. Fifty-two percent said the process is slower, or significantly slower, than pre-pandemic. Additionally, 46 percent said it was harder finding skilled labour this summer than it was last summer.

Respondents were asked to think about the amount of bidding activity they have experienced since July 1. Nearly half—48 percent—said they were doing less bidding, while 38 percent reported no changes. They survey also showed that most contractors (54 percent) believe there have been fewer projects available to bid on since July 1. A further 35 percent said they thought project volumes were about the same as usual.

OCS asked about bidding trends observed by contractors since July 1. Most (82 percent) said owners are directing them to incorporate new health and safety requirements. Nearly 60 percent said there are fewer small projects to bid on, 51 percent said they’re seeing larger firms bid on smaller projects they normally would not consider, while 48 percent say project owners are putting more risk on contractors.

The COVID pandemic has hit contractors hard, financially. OCS asked a series of questions about contractors’ revenue estimates, expectations for the whole year, and expectations for the final quarter of the year. The answers to those questions were as follows:

• sixty-nine percent said they have less revenue for the year to date than they had last year, and their average revenue drop was 21 percent,
• sixty-six percent said they expected less revenue in 2020, and the average drop was 16 percent, and
• fifty percent said they expected less revenue between September to December than they did a year ago, and they expect revenues to fall by 14 percent.

“The financial impacts of the pandemic remain significant to the industry,” says the OCS report. “Fifty-four percent of contractors said their business was growing before the pandemic and now only 13 percent report growth. Pre-pandemic, just 3 percent said their business was in decline whereas 33 percent report a current drop.”

Contractors were also asked to estimate how much their overall project costs have increased as a result of implementing PPE and physical distancing requirements on construction sites. The answer in this edition of the survey—18 percent—was higher than in the third survey (13 percent).

Finally, the survey asked about the future of site sanitation as a result of the pandemic. Sixty-three percent said enhanced sanitation should continue permanently, while 96 percent said they believe they are meeting enhanced site sanitation standards.