On March 28 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued version 2.0 of its Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response. The Guidance now includes construction, building product manufacturing and its supply chain as essential critical infrastructure.
While not a federal directive, this recognition is critical to encouraging and supporting state and local jurisdictional determinations to maintain construction and building product manufacturing operations, including supply chains, as essential critical infrastructure, according to the Window & Door Manufacturers Association.
WDMA worked collaboratively with numerous construction industry allies to assure that construction, building product manufacturers and their supply chains were included in this latest Guidance from CISA. “WDMA emphasized that not only are these industries primary contributors to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product and the economic security of the U.S. as a whole, they are also critical to the collective COVID-19 response,” says Michael O’Brien, WDMA president and CEO. “We also emphasized that maintaining the health of these of industries is essential to the U.S. and global economic recovery from the pandemic.”
Dean Mon, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said: "The nation's home builders want to thank DHS for designating the construction of single-family and multifamily housing as an Essential Infrastructure Business. Americans depend on a functioning residential construction sector to provide safe, affordable housing for our citizens, and this need is especially acute during this pandemic. Moreover, a healthy housing market is critical to maintain a sound economy. I commend DHS for heeding the urgent concerns of the housing community and taking this decisive action to assure the men and women of the industry will be able to stay on the job and serve the needs of the American people at this critical time."
