New Jersey reopens non-essential construction

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed Executive Order No. 142, which permits the resumption of non-essential construction.

The order also allows for curbside pickup at non-essential retail businesses and car gatherings for the purpose of drive-through and drive-in events.

The construction and non-essential retail provisions will take effect at 6 a.m. on May 18, while the car gatherings provision is effective immediately.


“I’ve been clear that data will determine dates, and what we are seeing gives us confidence that we can begin the careful restart of our economy,” Murphy said in a prepared statement. “Over the past eight weeks, New Jerseyans have taken our stay-at-home order seriously and have created the conditions that make this next phase possible. The steps we are taking allow for important standards of social distancing to continue with the return of safe, responsible business operations.”

Following the start-up of construction, all projects must abide by the social distancing, safety, and sanitization requirements that are described in detail in the governor’s executive order.

Here are some of New Jersey’s latest construction and job site guidelines:

• Prohibiting non-essential visitors from entering a worksite,


• Engaging in appropriate social distancing measures when picking up or delivering equipment or materials,


• Limit worksite meetings, inductions, and workgroups to groups of fewer than 10 individuals,


• Requiring individuals to maintain six feet or more distance between them wherever possible


• Stagger work start and stop times where practicable to limit the number of individuals entering and leaving the worksite concurrently,


• Identify congested and “high-risk areas,” including but not limited to lunchrooms, breakrooms, portable restrooms, and elevators, and limit the number of individuals at those sites concurrently where practicable,


• Stagger lunch breaks and work times where practicable to enable operations to safely continue while utilizing the least number of individuals possible at the site


• Require workers and visitors to wear cloth face coverings, in accordance with CDC recommendations, while on the premises, except where doing so would inhibit the individual’s health or the individual is under two years of age.

Regarding non-essential retail businesses,  they must continue to have their in-store operations closed to customers.  Businesses who choose to offer curbside pickup must abide by the requirements in the order, which include but are not limited to the following:

• In-store operations should be limited to those employees who are responsible for the operations required for curbside pickup,


• Customer transactions should be handled in advance by phone, email, facsimile or other means that avoid person-to-person contact,


• Customers shall notify the retailer by text message, email, or phone once they arrive, or make best efforts to schedule their arrival time in advance.  The customer should be asked to remain in their vehicle, if arriving by car, until store staff delivers the purchase,


• Designated employees should bring goods outside of the retail establishment and place goods directly in a customer’s vehicle when possible, avoiding person-to-person contact, and


• Such businesses must follow social distancing and mitigation practices outlined in previous orders, including requiring workers to wear cloth face coverings when in contact with other workers or customers and gloves when in contact with goods or customers.

Retail businesses operating in shopping malls are permitted to operate by curbside pickup, in accordance with the other requirements, but staff must bring the goods to customers at the exterior of the mall, according to the executive order.

The indoor portions of shopping malls must remain closed, as required by the governor's previous orders.