As of Friday March 27, 2020, most construction is not essential and must stop.

Pursuant to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s various executive orders issued this week, and as clarified by the NYS Department of Economic Development, most construction work is not essential and must stop. The only exception is for any “essential construction” and any “emergency construction”.

“Essential construction” is defined by illustration to mean construction on “roads, bridges, transit facilities, utilities, hospitals or health care facilities, affordable housing, and homeless shelters.” “Emergency construction” is defined by illustration to mean construction that is

(1) necessary to protect the health and safety of the occupants within a construction site (such as for occupants residing in a house or building with a broken watermain, a faulty boiler, or a compromised roof, to name a few examples), or

(2) necessary to get the construction site to a place where the site can be deemed safe enough to stop all work until the executive orders are lifted.

Failure to abide by the restrictions may result in a fine of up to $10000 per violation. To see the complete interpretation, click