Commercial Integrator February 2021 - 13

SMB INSIGHT
How to Deal with Pandemic-Induced
Restrictions on the AV Job Site
COVID-19 job site restrictions are costing pro AV integrators time & money on new projects,
but they can be mitigated to an extent. by Zachary Comeau
At one job site where Wisconsin-based
Lifeline Audio Video Technologies is working,
only one employee is allowed in a rack
room at a time.
" The job can get done with one employee
but the overall project will run much
smoother and take much less time with two
people, " Wright says.
At other sites, daily temperature checks
are mandated. These take only a few
minutes, but they still delay the day's work
- especially if several workers have to take
them each day.
" If this costs each employee 15 minutes of
time each day and you have four employees
on a job site for a week, then this can relate
to an extra 5 hours of time that was not
accounted for in the project, " Wright says.
For the time being, there's no real way
around these issues. These are laws put in
place to help keep people safe and healthy,
especially in particularly hard-hit areas of
the U.S. In some areas, companies that
violate these rules can be fined several
thousand dollars at a time.
However, there are some steps you can
take to mitigate these issues and make sure
that your work is done in a timely and efficient
manner while keeping your employees
and other tradespeople safe.
Coordinate Proactively And Often
COVID-19 notwithstanding, AV professionals
will typically walk away from the job site
for the first time with a long list of work that
needs to be done before they can begin,
says Michael Lane, VP of operations at AV
and IT provider 1Path.
Instead, integrators should take this into
their own hands and coordinate times to
come in and survey the site to see if they can
begin work. Be proactive with the general
contractor and make it clear you want to be
able to send a project manager to the site
routinely to check on work, Lane says.
" You cannot rely on the general concommercialintegrator.com
This
is a tough year across the board for nearly every industry, and new construction
projects will require a level of coordination unlike any other.
tractor or somebody else to tell you they're
ready for you, " Lane says. " You have to be
proactive and go to the job site on a regular
basis and check the status of the work. That's
a big thing that some integrators miss. "
Integrators should be proactive with the
general contractor and make it clear they
want to be able to send a project manager to
the site routinely to check on work, Lane says.
Document Delays And Deficiencies
When there are delays - rest assured there
will be - integrators and their project managers
should document them meticulously.
" When that crunch time inevitably happens
at the end, you can either go get more
money to help augment your staff ... or try
to get more time to have things finished, "
Lane says. " If you're not on top of the inevitable
construction delays, it's very easy to
get to the end of the job and not have any
recourse to help you out. "
That could put you in a situation where
you're forced to complete three months of
work in one month.
" Document it every time there's something
not done and when there's a delay by
other trades, " Lane says.
If anything is causing you to spend more
time and money that is a direct result of
another trade not finishing their work, it
should be documented. Or else, it could
cost your company more time and money.
You're All In The Same Boat
For Massachusetts-based integration firm
CommLink Integration, having to take
routine COVID tests, travel restrictions
and mandatory quarantine periods as
technicians work across state lines has
been difficult.
At one job site in another Northeast
state, the discussion amongst the team
was whether to return to Massachusetts as
technicians wait for more finished work to
be done. That would require another round
of tests and quarantines, however.
In these highly regulated areas where
COVID-19 is having more of an impact on
everyday life, every trade working on a project
is subject to these rules.
" We're all just trying to get the project
done, " says Ryan Boda, a project manager
at CommLink Integration.
FEBRUARY 2021 Commercial Integrator
13

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Commercial Integrator February 2021

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