City of Tampa Requires Masks Indoors

Following closely on the heels of the City of St. Petersburg, the City of Tampa today published its own executive order requiring face coverings be worn to prevent the spread of COVID-19 under certain circumstances. Unlike the City of St. Petersburg, the City of Tampa is not requiring businesses to have a written COVID-19 mitigation plan, but it is applying the face covering policy to a broader group. You can view a copy of the actual order by clicking here.

Important Terms

Face Covering is a uniform piece of materials that securely covers a person’s nose and mouth and does not require hands to hold it in place. These can be home made or store bought.

Social Distancing is keeping at least 6 feet between yourself and others.

Who Does the Order Apply To?

The City of Tampa order applies broadly as follows:

• Every person working, living, visiting, or doing business in the City of Tampa is required to wear a face covering in any indoor location, other than their home or residence, when not maintaining social distancing from other persons, excluding family members or companions

People are not required or allowed to wear face masks to conceal their identity in violation of Florida’s Crimes Against Public Order statute. Further, Medical and surgical face masks, or N95 masks, should be reserved for health care personnel and first responders.

Exceptions

The order does not apply to the following people:

• Persons younger than 2

• Persons observing social distancing in accordance with CDC guidelines

• Persons for whom a face covering would cause an impairment due to an existing health condition

• Persons working in a business or profession who do not have interactions with other persons,

• Persons working in a business or profession who maintain social distancing from another person

• Persons working in a business or profession where use of a face covering would prevent them from performing the duties of the business or profession,

• Persons exercising, while maintaining social distancing,

• Persons eating or drinking

• Public safety, fire, and other life safety and health care personnel, as their personal protective equipment requirements are governed by their respective agencies

• Persons who are hearing impaired who need to see the mouth of someone wearing a face covering in order to communicate

Violations of this order shall be a noncriminal civil infraction, punishable with up to a $500.00 fine.

Key Takeaways

First, the order is limited to those working in indoor locations other than their home or residence. If you are working outside, the order does not apply to you. Arguably, if you are working in someone else’s home, then you would need to wear a mask, or be able to maintain social distancing.

Second, like the St. Petersburg order, this violations can carry a $500.00 fine, and I would not be surprised if code enforcement or other City officers are enforcing this order in the near future.

Keep yourself safe and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

City of St. Pete Requires Employees to Wear Masks; Businesses to have COVID-19 Plan

On June 17, 2020, St. Petersburg’s Mayor, Rick Kriseman, issued an executive order that requires businesses within the city to “implement COVID-19 mitigation and contingency planning” and require “employees of a business in the City [to] wear a face covering while in areas of the business open to the public. You can click here to view a full copy of this order. As usual, the devil is in the details, which are outlined below.

Relevant Definitions

Business is defined in the order to mean any business entitiy that is allowed to operate within the City under any applicable State Order or County Order. By using the word “operate” it does not seem that the City is just restricting its order to businesses with a physical location in the City, so if you are doing work in the City, even though your office may be outside the City, the order likely applies to you.

Employees include actual employees, agents, contractors, volunteers, or any other person engaged in the day-to-day operation of a business.

Face cover means personal protective equipment the covers the mouth and noes, a cloth face covering that cover the mouth and nose as described by the CDC, or any equivalent face covering.

COVID-19 Mitigation and Contingency Plan

Effective 5pm on June 19, 2020, a business must ensure that it meets or exceeds the following requirements for COVID-19 mitigation and contingency planning

1. The business must develop and update a written plan for COVID-19 mitigation and contingency planning that addresses the topics in the CDC Planning Guidance or OSHA planning guidance. Plans can be based on the CDC, OSHA, or both. The plan must reflet any industry specific guidance provided by the CDC or OSHA (e.g. best practices for gyms, restaurants, etc…) In the event of a conclift, the specific industry industry guidance controls. The business is responsible for updatingthe plan as guidance is changed.

2. The plan must be made available to all employees. Employees must receive training on the plan and the business must ensure they comply with the plan.

3. The plan must be available to patrons of the business and aspects of the plan that apply to patrons (such as social distancing or face coverings) are clearly communicated through signage or other means.

4. Business must ensure the plan is available to the public so that a member of the business can make informed decisions about patronizing the business.

Face Coverings

Effective June 19, 2020 at 5:00pm, emploees of a business in the City will be required to wear a face covering in certain areas of the business under the following rules:

1. Business owners and their employees must wear face coverings while in an area of the business open to the public

2. The face covering must cover the face and nose

3. A person is not required to wear a face covering under the following circumstances:

   • Wearing a face covering is fundamentally incompatible with a job task performed by a person

   • When eating or drinking

   • While exercising or using exercise equipment

   • While communicating with someone who is hearing-impaired

   • If the person has trouble breathing or is unconscious or incapacitated

   • If the mask yould be detrimental to health, safety, or security

   • When necessary to obtain governmental or medical services

   • If wearing a mask conflicts with the Americans with Disabilities Act or HIPAA

Penalties

Violations of this executive order are considered a violation of City Code, and can be punished by fines of up to $500 and/or imprisonment of up to 60 days.

Practical Takeaways

First, if you have a physical location or office in the City of St. Petersburg, and a portion of that office is open to the public, even if it’s just a reception area, you need to comply with this order. It would not surprise me if City employees or officers performed checks on businesses to ensure compliance given the health concerns at issue.

Second, if you are working on a jobsite in the City of St. Petersburg, I also would attempt to be compliant with the order. The term business is not limited to physical locations, but rather, applies to operations within the City. Maybe this was unintentional, but until it is clear how the order is being enforced, you run the risk of receiving a fine if you are not compliant.

Third, have a written COVID-19 plan. The CDC has provided a checklist that you can view by visiting https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/checklist.html . OSHA also has guidelines you can view by clicking here. These plans to not have to be lengthy, but they do need to be in writing. If you need help putting together a plan, please feel free to reach out to me, or contact your own attorney or HR/compliance professional.

Fourth, put up signs in the areas of your business open to the public. The signs should require them to wear an appropriate face covering. Put a sign on the entrance to the public areas of your business notifying customers of the same. And add a pop up or something similar on your website advising the public of the same. Have hand sanitizer available in the public spaces of your office and indicate this on the signs as well. If you’re on a jobsite, wear a mask and carry hand sanitizer with you. And ensure that your customers are comfortable with you performing work there.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

What Does Governor Desantis' New Plan Mean for Construction?

As you probably are aware, yesterday Governor DeSantis rolled out his Phase I for reopening Florida. For the construction industry, the order changes almost nothing. Essential businesses, like construction, are required to continue to follow safety guidelines issued by the CDC and OSHA. If employee screening or the use of personal protective equipment was previously required, it is to continue to be required. You can click here to view a copy of the actual executive order implementing the Governor’s plan. This order goes into effect on Monday, May 4, 2020 at 12:01 am.

Notably, the new executive order does not expressly extend all parts of the initial, state-wide stay at home order that was enacted on April 1, 2020 and expires at 12:01am on May 4, 2020.

The expiration of the state-wide stay at home order, brings the Pinellas County and Hillsborough County orders that are current, into effect. Pinellas County has indicated that it will determine, what, if any amendments to make to its stay-at-home orders tomorrow, May 1, 2020. Hillsborough County has extended government office closures/limitations through May 15, 2020, and is expected to make decisions on what to do with its stay-at-home order sometime today or tomorrow. Neither county’s orders expire automatically; they have to be rescinded by the relevant county.

The bottom line is that if you have already been safely operating your business, you should continue to do that for the forseeable future. If you are not located in Hillsborough County or Pinellas County, you should also check to see if your local municipality has a stay at home order that expires automatically, or will continue in effect after next Monday.

Stay safe out there, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions

Pinellas County Clarifies Essential Businesses; Orders Non-Essential Businesses to Close

Early Friday morning, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners passed another executive order, clarifying and altering when and how businesses could operate following the implementation of the statewide stay at home order on Thursday of last week. I have an updated summary of the statewide stay at home order that you can read by clicking here.

The new Pinellas County order, which went into effect April 3, requires businesses that are not essential services or essential activities, as defined in the statewide stay at home order, to close. All businesses that remain open, must implement social distancing and sanitization standards recommended by the CDC to the maximum extent possible. You can view that full order by clicking here.

The latest Pinellas County order is pretty short, but subsequently, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office issued guidance on what businesses are considered non-essential and essential. You can click here to view the full list, but it’s important to note that the Pinellas County lists both indicate that they are not exclusive. So if your business is similar to a business on either list, that should give you an indication of whether Pinellas County considers it official or unofficial.

As you might expect, there appears to be some conflict between the Pinellas County list of non-essential businesses, and the list of businesses that the State of Florida considers essential. First, in these situations, the State of Florida’s list is supposed to prevail and be the controlling list. But, I will give you an example, because Pinellas County will be the entity actually enforcing the distinction between essential and non-essential, so you can likely guess which list they will refer to more often.

So here’s the example, under the Florida-wide stay at home order Workers who support the supply chain of building materials from production through application/installation, including cabinetry, fixtures, doors, cement, hardware, plumbing, electrical, heating/cooling, refrigeration, appliances, paint/coatings, and employees who provide services that enable repair materials and equipment for essential functions are considered essential. So are Workers in hardware and building material stores, consumer electronics, technology and appliances retail, and related merchant wholesalers and distributors.

Under the Pinellas County order, décor and lighting sales businesses are listed as non-essential, even though they would seem to fall under the category of providing fixtures or building materials under the statewide list of essential businesses. My suggestion, if you’re in a business that you think could be impacted by the Pinellas County non-essential list, is that you print a copy of the statewide essential business list, and highlight the section you fall under in case you have to deal with anyone from Pinellas County regarding this.

Finally, Pinellas County lists a narrower scope of construction under its essential businesses list than is included in the statewide order. This scope is not intended to be exclusive, but again I suggest keeping a copy of state-wide order listing the essential business categories with you as you travel so that you can justify being out if you are questioned about it. Again, you can access a copy of that by clicking here.

I know some of this is confusing, so please feel free to call me if you have any questions. Stay safe out there!

Governor Desantis Issues Statewide "Stay at Home" Order; Commercial and Residential Construction Still Deemed Essential Businesses

Earlier today Governor Desantis indicated that he would be issuing a 30 day “stay at home” order for Floridians. Similar to the orders issued by Pinellas and Hillsborough County last week, this Florida-wide order allows certain essential industries to continue to operate. Construction is one of the industries, both residential and commercial. What follows is a specific breakdown of Governor Desantis’ order and how it describes the segments of construction that are allowed to continue. A copy of the full order can also be accessed by clicking here. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at, and stay safe out there!

Under the order, Essential Services are listed in three separate places: (1) the US Dep’t of Homeland Security’s guidance on critical infrastructure workforce, (2) the businesses and activities listed in Executive Order 20-89, and (3) other essential services approved by the State Coordinating Officer and the State Health Officer.

First, construction is most clearly allowed under item #2 above – the list in Executive Order 20-89, which allows the following construction related activities:

- Contractors and other tradesmen, appliance repair personnel, exterminators, and other service providers who provider services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences and other structures;

- Landscape and pool care businesses, including residential landscape and pool care services;

- Open construction sites, irrespective of the type of building;

- Architectural, engineering, or land surveying services.

Second, construction is also allowed under item #1 above. Most of that list can be found at www.cisa.gov, but it can be vague. Many specific types of construction are allowed, for example telecommunications towers. But, under the public works and infrastructure support services, the following are specifically allowed, which should encompass most construction:

- Workers who support the supply chain of building materials from production through application/installation, including cabinetry, fixtures, doors, cement, hardware, plumbing, electrical, heating/cooling, refrigeration, appliances, paint/coatings, and employees who provide services that enable repair materials and equipment for essential functions

- Workers such as plumbers, electricians, exterminators, builders, contractors, HVAC technicians, landscapers, and other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences, businesses, and buildings such as hospitals, senior living facilities, any temporary construction required to support COVID-19 response.

- Workers in hardware and building material stores, consumer electronics, technology and appliances retail, and related merchant wholesalers and distributors.

- Workers performing housing construction related activities

- Workers supporting the construction of housing, including those supporting government functions related to the building and development process, such as inspections, permitting and plan review services, etc..

- Workers who support sawmills and the distribution of fiber and forest products, including, but not limited to, timber, paper, and other wood fiber products.

- Workers engaged in energy sector construction

- Workers in the electricity industry (electricians, and many more)

- Workers in natural and liquid propane pipeline construction

- Infrastructure construction

- Workers performing road and line clearing related to transportation, energy, and communications

- Workers ensuring the effective removal, storage, and disposal of residential and commercial solid waste

- Installation, maintenance, and repair of communications and information technology services and hardware

- Workers to ensure the continuity of building functions, including, but not limited to, security, environmental controls (e.g. HVAC), and the permits and inspections for construction supporting these items.

- Workers distributing, servicing, repairing, and installing residential and commercial HVAC systems.

Third, the State Coordinator’s list will be available at www.floridadisaster.org and www.floridahealth.gov. Nothing new is listed on either website yet, but you should check there for updates.

As always, feel free to reach out to me at 727-743-1037 or jason.lambert@hwhlaw.com with any questions you have and stay safe out there!

Hillsborough County Issues Safer At Home Order; Most Construction Activities Still Deemed Essential

Earlier today, the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners voted to issue a “safer-at-home” order requiring people to remain at home, absent certain exceptions. The City of Tampa has posted a great summary of the order, along with many frequently asked questions. You can access that by clicking here.

While the order impacts many businesses, I want to zero in on the impact on construction. First, the order restricts businesses, unless they are engaged in providing Essential Services or conducting Necessary Activities. As an initial matter, the following construction-related professions/businesses are listed as Essential Services:

- Hardware and building supply stores and nurseries

- Pool supply stores

- Plumbers, electricians, exterminators, custodial/janitorial workers, handyman services, funeral home workers and morticians, moving services, HVAC installers, carpenters, landscapers, gardeners, pool maintenance, property managers, private security personnel and other service providers who provide services to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation to properties and other essential activities.

Further, the construction and infrastructure are expressly addressed as Essential Services in another section of the City of Tampa’s explanation of the order as follows:

Infrastructure and construction falls within the 1st and 2nd categories of Essential Services, therefore, individuals may travel as necessary to perform work in one of the listed critical infrastructure sectors. For example,

- Construction of new, and renovation/repair of existing, public works projects and private commercial, institutional, retail, and residential buildings and housing

- Airport operations, food supply, concessions, and construction

- Port operations and construction

- Water, wastewater, gas, electrical, oil extraction and refining

- Roads, highways, public transportation and rail

- Solid waste collection and removal

- Flood control and watershed protection

- Internet and telecommunications systems (including the provision of essential global, national, and local infrastructure for computing services, business infrastructure, communications, and web-based services)

- Manufacturing and distribution companies deemed essential to the supply chains of the above industries

Once a full copy of the order becomes available, I suggest printing and keeping a copy of it with you, so you can show it to anyone who asks if you are engaged in providing Essential Services.

Pinellas County Issues Stay At Home Order, But Finds Constuction to be Essential

In case you hadn’t heard, about an hour ago, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners entered a stay-at-home order that closed non-essential businesses. You can view the final version of the order that was voted on by clicking here. The order goes into effect tomorrow. Thankfully, the construction industry was considered an essential industry, and the following businesses are still allowed to operate:

- Hardware, gardening, and building material stores

- Contractors and other tradesmen, building and apartment management and maintenance (including janitorial companies servicing commercial businesses), home security firms, fire and water damage restoration appliance repair personnel, exterminators, and other service providers (such as landscape and pool maintenance service providers) who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences and other structures

Most construction work, particularly that being done on an incomplete project, will fit into the category of performing safety, sanitation, or essential operation of residences or other structures. If you are asked about why you are out, you should be able to answer that you are a contractor (or working for one) and that this is the type of work you are doing. Even if your business is not located in Pinellas County, you need to be aware of this if you have any projects in Pinellas County.

Despite this, please take appropriate measures to keep you and your co-workers/employees safe during these times.