COVID-19 UPDATE: A Message From The Chateau Directors
17 April 2020
Dear Valued Clients,
We would like to thank you for your continuing support through these unprecedented times.
As a business, we have existed since 1970 and our aim to be around (at least!) for another 50 years.
The global coronavirus situation is affecting our loved ones, our communities, our way of life as well as the way we all conduct our business.
Since we’re all facing a challenging time together, we need to work as one so we can all stay safe & healthy during this pandemic.
It’s encouraging to see a steady reduction in confirmed Covid-19 cases over the last week, whilst we aren’t out of the woods yet, it means there are no plans for further restrictions.
The Master Builders Association have told us that construction remains operational as an essential service and we are hoping that with continued stabilisation of the coronavirus, construction stays open for as long as it is safe.
We wanted to reach out and update you on how Chateau Architects + Builders are approaching are handling these conditions and how we are doing our part to ensure that the health and safety of our employees, clients, trades and that of the community remains as our number one priority.
OUR PRIORITIES AS A CUSTOM HOME BUILDER
Obviously, our top priority is the health and wellbeing of our clients, staff, trades and suppliers.
We are continuing to take enquiries on building your custom designed home. We continue to design and draft custom homes, and we are also pushing on with construction. For the time being, it is business as usual.
To make sure that we continue to serve our current clients, homes in-progress through the pre-construction phase of the building journey and better answer the needs of potential clients through the sales process, we’ve had to make some changes to the way we operate.
SITE SAFETY DURING COVID-19
If your custom home is in the construction phase, we will continue to operate as normal with additional precautions around social distancing and personal hygiene on each building site.
The guidelines set out by the Housing Industry Association will be the policies which Chateau Architects + Builders will be adhering to at all times whilst working on-site. We ask for us all to cooperate as best we can when working on our sites.
In line with national work, health and safety requirements and the current health and safety obligations to meet COVID-19 working arrangements, the domestic residential building industry commits to making space on site to minimise the risk of exposure to COVID-19. We are compliant with these guidelines across all of our sites.
1. Social Distancing - Limiting access to any building site to essential workers and applying the 1 person per 4 square metre rule across all sites.
2. Social Distancing – Keeping any person displaying cold, flu or similar symptoms away from all sites and enforcing the 14-day isolation policy for anyone returning from overseas or interstate.
3. Ensuring adequate hygiene facilities are provided on site
4. Ensure all workers have access to appropriate PPE on site
5. Project Scheduling – minimising contractors on site by reducing overlap of trades
6. Facilitating contactless deliveries, payments and traveling outside of peak times
7. Facilitating site inductions and updates on the latest Government requirements before allowing anyone on site until they are up to date.
8. Managing the customer by ensuring that the worksite has been free of anyone returning from overseas, is showing symptoms or has had the virus.
CHATEAU’S OFFICE SAFETY DURING COVID-19
If your dream home is yet to get started, we have adopted technology to ensure the safety of yourself and our staff members. Our Design & Project Management teams will continue to progress as normal, with some slight adjustments.
As of two weeks ago, we have been conducting virtual meetings to maintain communication levels whilst keeping everyone safe. We can conduct any related meetings via video conferencing if that is your preference, just let us know!
To ensure the health & safety of our employees within our Castle Hill office space, we have modified the floor plan to keep social distancing in place for those that are unable to perform their tasks from home. We have also provided hand sanitiser around the office along with the promotion of proper personal hygiene practices for every employee and any visitor of the office.
WORKING TOGETHER – WE WILL RISE THROUGH THIS
We will get through this together as long as we work and live according to the guidelines set out by the government and following the advice from respected health experts.
All of the above measures have been designed to ensure that your experience with us at Chateau continues to be a positive and rewarding one.
We appreciate your cooperation and patience during these testing times and thank you for your efforts in the hope that we all staying safe & healthy.
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Call us on (02) 9634 6888.
Email us at [email protected].
Best regards,
Alex & Rod McDonald
Directors | Chateau Architects + Builders