Having tradespeople in your home during coronavirus

If you are planning to have work done on your staircase during the coronavirus pandemic, you’ll likely have a few questions around what can and can’t happen, and what precautions to take. We’ve compiled this handy guide to help you through the process.

As the UK eases out of lockdown, tradespeople like carpenters, joiners and decorators have been given the green light to go back to work and into people’s homes.

The most important thing to remember is that no work should be carried out if either the tradesperson or anyone in your home has coronavirus symptoms – however mild. If that hurdle is passed, consider these measures when inviting someone to do work in your home:

Quote digitally

If you’re still in preparation mode and have not had quotes from experts to carry out the work yet, you might want to ask if your tradesperson could quote over a video call? An increasing number of tradespeople are using apps such as WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, FaceTime and Zoom to quote for jobs and keep in touch with their customers. It keeps both of you safe, and you can both ask all the questions you need answering. Importantly, they will be able to see your home and the job at hand.

Ask the right questions

Before anyone visits your home, ask all the questions you need to. Has the tradesperson got coronavirus symptoms? Have they had symptoms before? Have they previously tested positive for coronavirus? What other jobs have they done recently, and did they come into contact with anyone with coronavirus symptoms? What precautions are they making to visit your home? If you do not feel comfortable with any of the answers, you should be prepared to postpone any visit or work done in your home.

Communicate clearly

Make sure both you and the tradesperson understand what is expected of each other. Set guidance around kitchen and toilet facilities. You could, for example, ask your workers to bring their own mug or kettle, and to stick to the use of a single toilet and to thoroughly clean it at the end of each day.

Prepare your home

Make sure your home is clean before tradespeople arrive, particularly door handles and other areas they are likely to be working in and touching. Try to keep as many internal doors propped open to minimise touching.

If your home has lots of people in, try and keep people away from the area where the work is taking place – and definitely if your home contains someone classed as vulnerable. Pets should also be kept out of the way of your tradespeople. If your stairs are going to be out of action for a while, consider moving items either upstairs or downstairs and stay in that area while you have tradespeople in the home.  

Keep your distance

In line with social distancing measures introduced across the UK, it is important to keep at least two metres from anyone you let into your home. However, be mindful that sometimes, if multiple people are working on your staircase, they may not be able to socially distance themselves from each other to get the job done.

Protect yourself – and others

Personal protective equipment (PPE) may not be required, over and above what a tradesperson would normally wear to do their job safely. However, a mask covering noses and mouths could be worn by everyone interacting with each other to protect other people just in case the wearer is infected but has not developed symptoms yet. Workers may be able to work back-to-back, and stagger arrival and departure times to protect themselves

Keep clean

You should keep your hands clean, regularly washing them with soap and water, and insist any workers in your home to do the same. Make sure your workers have hand drying facilities, like paper towels for example. Ideally, your tradespeople will carry their own hand sanitiser. You should also wash down surfaces more often, particularly areas most in use and high-touch areas around the staircase such as handrails.

Keep it brief

We are a friendly nation and often love a chat with tradespeople, but it is important to keep the time someone spends in your home to a minimum. That means no waiting around while paint dries – or if it does, make sure any waiting is done outside if possible.

Clearing up

When the work’s done, make sure your tradespeople arrange to dispose of their waste properly – and ideally off-site. If work spans a few days, make sure they remove any of their waste or belongings at the end of the day. And when you have your nice new staircase, make sure you do a thorough clean of all of its parts and any areas where workers may have been.