Like all of you, RAND is closely monitoring the latest news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because the health and well-being of our employees, clients, and community-at-large are of utmost importance to us, we are continually modifying our policies and procedures as needed during this rapidly changing situation. We want to share the measures we’re taking to safeguard the health and safety of our employees while ensuring that we are conducting business operations as close to normal as possible under the circumstances.
While following the recommendations of the CDC, WHO, and local and state agencies, RAND has implemented a flexible telecommuting policy with robust remote access capabilities, including enhanced internal communication systems and the use of collaboration tools with built-in video conference capabilities, which gives our staff the ability to work from nearly anywhere and from any device. During this time, our staff is, as always, available to answer your questions and relay updates via telephone, email, or video conference.
We’ve also established the following precautions regarding site visits to further protect the health and safety of our staff, clients, construction crews, and their families and neighbors:
- Members of our staff will not be joining board meetings in person, but are readily available to join all board and project meetings via telephone and video conference calls.
- Construction meetings will be held outdoors instead of indoors in groups of 10 persons or fewer.
- Before arriving at a project site, RAND will call to check whether the client has enacted any specific regulations regarding visiting vendors or contractors. We also ask that clients inform RAND of any building staff, property managers, and/or residents evidencing possible symptoms of COVID-19, or confirmed to have contracted the virus.
At this juncture, we anticipate some limitations in our ability to access city agencies, which may affect project commencement, approvals, and sign-offs, and there are also signs of supply chain delays and the inability of some construction workers to access job sites. As circumstances continue to evolve, please know that all of us at RAND remain committed to ensuring our projects proceed in as timely, logical, and safe manner as possible.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. As New Yorkers, we have risen to many daunting challenges over the years, in a spirit of compassion and cooperation; there is no doubt that we will do so once again.
Stephen A. Varone, AIA, President
RAND Engineering & Architecture, DPC
